I try to calm my beating heart as I go into the nursery. I carefully lift the screaming baby into my arms. I rock her back and forth in my arms, soothing her. I don't know how long it takes, but she eventually falls back to sleep in my rocking arms. Once I am sure that she is all the way asleep, I gently place her back on the mattress.                                

I sit down on the floor in front of the crib. I can do nothing to stop the tears as they begin pouring out of my eyes as though my eyes are waterfalls. I am quiet, silent in the night. Neither the baby or the strange man will hear me. Once I have no more tears left to cry, I get up slowly and go back to my bedroom, remembering to not close the door. I want to be able to hear if the baby wakes or the man starts to come out of Brendan's room.

    I look around my room. I have two choices at this point. I can go back to sleep and try to calm down enough to go back to sleep, or I can take advantage of this quiet time to begin to catch up on my schoolwork. I choose the latter.                                 

 Before I know it, the sun is rising, and I have finished a week and a half's worth of English and math homework. I have just clicked save on my last assignment when Addison begins to stir in the room next to mine. I stand up and stretch my cramped back. I quickly make my bed and clean up my bedroom before she is all the way awake.

    I go into Addison's nursery and lift up her squirming body out of the crib and bring her to my chest. I press her tiny body into mine too hard and I accidentally let out a yelp of pain. I had temporarily forgotten about my injured ribs. Now that the pulsating pain has returned, it will not be likely to happen again. At least not today.

    I rub my hand on the baby's soft face and calm her eager cries. I place her delicate body on the changing table, leaving one of my hands on top of her chest as I bend down to get a fresh diaper and the package of baby wipes. Once I am done changing her, I put her in the carrier, this time ignoring the pain it calls to my ribs.

    I walk the few steps down the hallway until I reach my brother's bedroom. I knock on the door, lightly enough to not wake up the whole block, but loud enough that it will wake him out of his sleep.

    "Yeah," a voice calls groggily through the door. Well, I think to myself, at least someone in the house got some sleep.

    "I'm feeding the baby and making coffee if you want some. Also, we need to figure out how this whole thing is going to work."

    "Okay," he says, the sleep slightly less heavy in his voice this time, "just give me a moment to get dressed."

    "I'll see you downstairs." He does not bother to respond, so I begin making my way downstairs.

    I go into the kitchen and begin to make Addison's bottle. When it is done, I manage to feed her while simultaneously making a pot of coffee. When the maker has started brewing, I go over to the couch so that I can feed Addison while sitting down. I hear the man's footsteps coming down the stairs. I do not know what is going to happen over the next hours, days, and weeks, but I do know that I will always have Addison. She is my whole world now.

    For the first time in almost two weeks, I feel safe again. I know that I shouldn't. I know that this man could be tricking me, but I can feel that he isn't. I don't really know how to explain it, all I can say is that if you feel it, you will not doubt it.

    "Hey," I say as he walks into my kitchen, "you never told me what your name is."

    "Oh, yeah," he says as he begins perusing the kitchen.

    "What are you doing," I say getting annoyed that he is opening all of the cabinets in my kitchen.   

    "I'm looking for a coffee mug," he says as though it is his own house that he is searching.

    "Above the coffee maker to the left."

    "Ahh," he says satisfied when he finds a mug that suits him. There is no way that he could know this, but it is my father's favorite one. We had this little game where we would see who got to it first in the mornings. My mother would always glare at us for being wild so early in the morning, but we didn't care. We were having fun.

    "Dude," i say teasingly, "what is your name."
    "About that," he starts. Well, this doesn't sound good. "I don't think we should tell each other our real names. You know, in case one of us gets arrested. We can't tell them information about each other that we don't know."

    "I wouldn't squeal on you."

    "Look, I'm not saying that you would, it is just a precaution for both of us. I don't think you should tell me your real name, either."

    "Fine, you're probably right," I sigh. Addy wiggles in my arms, sensing my growing annoyance at the man. In the morning light, I can look closer at him. He is bustling around the kitchen, ignoring me. It is the perfect opportunity to watch and inspect him.

    He is even sexier than I previously thought. He is wearing a tight black t-shirt and dark jeans. His black hair is messily lying across his forehead. Although he is still pale, it in no way detracts from his appearances. It might even add to them, in a strange sort of way.

    He turns around. His piercing blue eyes catch mine. I am caught. My body betrays me and I can feel the heat rising up to my cheeks to form a blush. I curse my treacherous body in my mind. Why must it betray me in such ways?

    I look away from the mysterious boy and return my attention to my baby. She has snuggled up against my chest while she continues to suck on the bottle. She is adorable.

    I look up to see the boy coming into the living room where I am sitting. He is carrying two cups of coffee. How sweet! He stops in front of the couch where I am sitting.

    "I'm sorry. I just think it will be safer this way."

    "Yes, I know."

    "We can give each other aliases though," he said grinning mischievously. "Come on, it will be fun. You can't possibly say that you have never thought of another name for yourself."

    I relent and smile back at him, showing that I have, indeed, thought of this before.     

    "Hayden," I say. He smiles broadly at me.

    "Nice one. I'll go with Phoenix."

    "I like it. Rising from the ashes. Very metaphorical." Addison finishes her bottle and I set it down on the table next to me.

    "So, we need to discuss the plan."

    "Yes, we do," and with that, our planning stage begins.

A/N: I had trouble thinking of a name for this section, so if any of you have a better one, I'd be glad to hear it! Also, I will try to update than more than once a week, but life is crazy right now. Thank you for any votes and comments! You are awesome, my readers ❤️❤️
~Kat