After work, Mia walked out of thepany doors, making sure what happened in the morning wouldn’t bhappen /bbagain/b.

    Her day had been long and draining, but the moment she saw Aiden waiting at the school gates, his bright little face lighting bup /bbas /bhe spotted her, all the heaviness in her chest loosened.

    He came running toward her, his small backpack bouncing on his back.

    “Mama!” he shouted with joy, his little arms flinging around her waist.

    Mia smiled, bending down to scoop him up, holding him close to her chest. She kissed his cheek. “I missed youb, /bbaby.”

    “I missed you too,” Aiden said.

    At home, they decided to cook together. Aiden insisted on helping, and Mia let him. He was still small, but he loved being involved.

    After dinner, Aiden pulled out his toys and sprawled across the floor, creating a little world of his own.

    Mia sank into the couch, her body finally giving in to the weight of the day. She picked up her phone, scrollingzily, her eyes growing heavy.

    She didn’t even realize when her eyes drifted shut.

    One moment, she was lying on the couch. The next, she was running.

    Someone….was chasing her but she couldn’t see who, she felt the panic, the desperation. Then, just as quickly, she wasn’t running

    anymore.

    She stood still.

    The world around her shifted, and suddenly she was in a huge house.

    She turned, confused, and her eyesnded on Esther ckwell. Esther’s face was twisted with anger, her sharp voice echoing through the air. She was arguing with Charles ckwell./

    Her heart hammered in her chest, and before she could even process what was happening, the scene changed again.

    Esther was falling.

    Her scream cut through the air, sharp and chilling.

    “No!” Mia shouted, reaching forward, but she was too far. Too helpless. She could only watch as Esther’s body hit the ground with a sickening thud.

    Mia’s eyes widened in horror. She stumbled back, her throat closing as bile rose in iher /istomach. Esthery there, lifeless, iher /ieyes open but empty, the life drained from her in an instant.

    Mia screamed.

    Her hands trembled. She took one step back. Then another. Her chest tightened until she couldn’t breathe.

    And then-

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    11:48 Fri, 22 Aug DOC

    “Mama.”

    The voice was soft. Innocent. Real.

    She turned.

    “Mama.”

    Mia’s eyes snapped open. She blinked, her breath ragged, sweat clinging to her forehead. She found herself staring into the wideb, /bworried eyes of her son.

    Aiden was standing over her, his little face trembling as though he was holding back tears.

    “Mama, wake up,” he said again, his voice breaking.

    Mia’s heart ached as she realized she had frightened him. She sat up quickly, pulling him into her arms without hesitation.

    “Oh, baby, I’m so sorryi,/ii” /ishe whispered, her voice shaking as she hugged him tight. “It’s okay, baby. Mama’s fine, I’m fine. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

    She kissed his hair, breathing in his familiar scent.

    She rubbed his back gently, rocking him in her arms as though she was trying to soothe not just him, but herself too.

    Aiden’s small hands clung to her shirt. “Mama was crying…” His voice was fragile, heavy with fear.

    Mia’s chest tightened. She pressed another kiss to his hair and whispered again, “It’s okay, baby. I’m here. Mama’s fine.”

    She kissed him again and again, all over his head, his cheeks, his little face, until Aiden finally let out a shakyugh.

    The sound of hisughter, even though weak, was like the healing she needs right now.

    Mia held him tighter, blinking back her own tears. She didn’t want him to see her cry.

    But inside, her soul was breaking.

    The Nightmares… They are happening too often now. Every time she closed her eyes, it was the same. The running, the huge house, Esther ckwell, the scream. The fall. The lifeless body.

    She rubbed her face against Aiden’s hair, inhaling deeply.

    What kind of life is this? How is she supposed to live like this?

    Mia closed her eyes briefly, pressing her lips to Aiden’s temple: She whispered again, softer this time, almost to herself. “Everything will be fine.”

    She sat frozen on the bed when the words slipped out of Aiden’s little mouth.

    “Mama… will dada evere back?”

    Her whole body tensed.

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    11:48 22 AUD 19

    For a moment, she didn’t breathe. She just stared at her little boy who was looking up at her with innocent eyes that carried both curiosity and hope

    Theard his voice today….she wanted to whisper.

    She wanted to tell him that his father was not far away at all.

    But she couldn’t.

    Her chest tightened as her son blinked up at her, waiting, trusting, believing his mama would give him an answer that would make everything better.

    Her heart broke even more.

    Slowly, Mia forced herself to turn fully toward him.

    “Yes, baby,” she said softly, her voice trembling, but she forced her voice ito /isound steady. “Yes… one day.”

    The words tasted like des on her tongue.

    She wanted to give him hope, wanted to believe in that hope herself–that someday, somehow, his little eyes would finally see the man who had given him life.

    But in the dark corners of her heart, Mia wasn’t sure if she would ever let that happen.

    Oh baby…

    Her little boy smiled, the corners of his mouth curving up in an endearing way.

    His smile was so bright,so pure..

    And for a moment, Mia wanted to cry.

    Every day, Aiden was beginning to ask about his father more often.

    His tiny voice was innocent, curious, but his questions carried a weight that was far too big for his little shoulders.

    Mia studied his face quietly, her chest aching. I heard him today, she thought again, He’s so close to you, baby.

    Her eyes scanned over her son’s little face, the curve of his jaw, the shape of his eyes, the stubbornness already hidden in the way he frowned when he didn’t get his way.

    She sat down slowly on the bed beside him. She reached out and let her fingers run gently through his soft hair, smoothing it back the way he liked.

    Aiden shifted closer to her, his body seekingfort…. Within minutes, his eyes began to grow heavy, his longshes fluttering closed. His little hand rested on hers, as if he didn’t want to let go even as sleep pulled him in.

    Mia watched him quietly, brushing his hair until his breaths became slow, even, and peaceful.

    She smiled faintly…

    “You look so much like him,” she whispered, her voice breaking in the silence of the room.

    insert

    Her words weren’t meant for Aiden to hear…he was already sleeping. They were meant for her.

    A chuckle slipped out. It sounded cracked, raw, almost like she was crying andughing at the same time.

    “So much like him…” she murmured again, brushing her thumb over his small forehead. Her voice shook as if she was confessing to a wound she could no longer hide.

    “It’s as if the universe wanted to punish me,” she whispered into the quiet room. “To remind me… to remind me that I can’t hide you, no matter how much I want to.”