“Walk into a straight line and don’t open up your eyes until I say so, okay?”
Tara and Frankie giggled and the sound warmed his heart. He made himself a promise right then and there as he watched them smile while following him to the front door of their home. He would do anything to keep his girls this happy.
He opened the front door and stepped inside the house. “You can open your eyes, now.”
Frankie squealed and immediately ran inside.
“Ooooh! That’s so cool!” she said, sitting down on the sofa in front of the TV.
“You like it?”
“I love it, Dad.”
He plunked down next to his daughter, his throat tightening up.
“Good,” he said, unwilling to make a big deal out of his daughter calling him ‘Dad’ again. She did it every once in a while, and it still made him a marshmallow on the inside.
Tara smiled knowingly at him as she sat down next to him.
“I love it, too,” Tara said.
The living room was the last bit he’d needed to renovate. They were going to sleep in their home from this day forward and he was never going to spend another night without them.
After witnessing Eric Houston that day, fourteen weeks ago, he finally understood what had made Tara run that night. He thought he understood, but he hadn’t fully.
It wasn’t after looking evil in the eye, feeling that every moment could be his last that he understood that Tara had tried to keep everyone safe. Even after giving birth to Frankie, she still couldn’t find it within herself to contact Owen since she knew what her father was capable of.
Owen often woke up in the middle of the night in these past weeks while they’d slept in the big house. He would see Eric in his nightmares as he wrestled Tara. Thank God, she had been strong enough to keep her shit together and fight him just long enough so Jenny could shoot him.
Owen still had trouble with the fact that both Adam and him had lost their fight with Eric. Caitlin had been right in her assessment though, Eric had been waiting for them upstairs and he had the upper hand.
Tara laid her head on his shoulder while Frankie put on some cartoons. Owen placed his boots on the coffee table and smiled when Tara narrowed her eyes at him. He didn’t move them, though. He kissed Tara’s lips until she smiled at him again.
“What time do we need to get up tomorrow?” he asked.
“The game is at nine,” Frankie said.
Frankie had joined the girl’s soccer team in Almida and Owen had offered to be their new coach. Even though Tara didn’t have much with soccer, she came every game, supporting them the loudest out of everyone.
“Does anyone else want something to drink?” Tara asked as she got up from between him and Frankie.
Frankie waggled her eyebrows, almost giving away their surprise.
Tara arched a brow, silently asking Owen if he knew what was up with their daughter.
He shrugged and said, “I would like a beer?”
Frankie giggled, and Owen gave his daughter a look.
“Is everything all right?” Tara asked her daughter.
“Yeah, yeah. Just go into the kitchen, Mom!”
Owen smiled as he shook his head. Now Tara would definitely know something was up.
Tara walked over to the kitchen and both Frankie and him got up from the sofa. He watched Tara falter her step the moment she looked into the fully decorated backyard with their dressed up family and friends smiling at her.
“Oh, my… what is going on?” Tara said in a wobbly voice.