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Adam sat in the driveway for however long he needed to ensure that every last drop of blood was washed off in his shower at the district and his eyes were no longer red. He called Kim on his way home, but he could not let their daughter see a trace of blood on him or that he had been crying. It reminded him a lot of the night when Kim was missing and he left the search to be with Makayla. But this time was different - he was her dad now and his friend was not still alive out there somewhere.
As soon as his Jeep door slammed, he could hear Makayla yell out, “Dad, you’re home!” She greeted him with a huge hug as he walked into the kitchen and he almost broke down again right there on the spot, but he stood strong.
“Hi bumblebee, how was school? I talked to Mom on my way home and she’s so excited to come home on Friday.”
“Yay, I miss her! It was good. I have a lot of homework to do tonight though.” Adam sighed at the mention of homework as that was the last thing he wanted to do tonight.
“I tried to help her with some of it, Adam, but we ran out of time.”
“No worries, Lindsay. Thank you for picking her up from school. We’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, I’ll pick her up tomorrow and take her to dance practice. Bye Makayla.”
Makayla hugged her babysitter goodbye and continued talking her dad’s ear off about her homework and the school day. Adam felt bad as he was only half listening, but he was still trying to process the events of the day.
“Hey Mack, what do you want to order for dinner?”
“Ummmm.” Before she could even offer an answer, there was a doorbell ring.
“Mack, you didn’t invite any friends over today at school, right?” Entertaining was not something Adam wanted to do tonight at all.
“No, I promise.” She ran to the door and looked at the camera to see who it was. “UNCLE Kevin and Torrrrrrres!!!” (She had been taking Spanish at school and loved to practice rolling her “r”s.) She opened the door with Adam standing behind her and gave both of their visitors a hug. “I guess we’re having pizza, Dad.”
With a puzzled look on his face, Adam asked “what are you guys doing here” and finally noticed that Dante was holding a huge box of pizza. Makayla led him into the kitchen, so he could place the pizza down.
Kevin hung back by the door and gave his best friend a hug and quietly answered, “Bro, we couldn’t let you handle this night alone. It’s been a tough day for all of us, but yours doesn’t stop when you get home. Plus I needed to see my little queen.”
“Thanks man, I really appreciate it. But now that you’re here, I’m gonna need you to help Mack with her English homework please. That’s usually Kim’s department.”
“I got you,” Kevin replied as he smiled and they joined Makayla and Dante at the table to eat.
The night was full of cheesy pizza, a game or two of Twister, and lots of laughter - a sound they hadn’t heard in hours. And they even managed to finish all of Makayla’s homework. It was not how any of them expected their night to end after wrapping up the first case this morning, but after the events of the day unfolded, it was exactly what they all needed.