Joseph stormed out of the kitchen without saying a word to me. His eyes were wide, and the colour had drained from his face. His bedroom door slammed shut, but the floor continued to creak upstairs. Was he pacing around his room? Did something happen outside?

Miles came inside a few minutes later. When he looked at me, his face softened into a small smile. His brief expressions of happiness had become more common since our hunger disappeared. I was finishing preparing dinner when Miles placed his hand on my waist. His familiar scent of dirt and sweat filled my nose. He said nothing as he dragged his hand up my back. The sound of Joseph's pacing did not stop.

"Your father seems upset," I said.

Miles let out a deep breath. His hand moved up between my shoulder blades. I looked up to see he was staring down at the platter of meat.

"He knows what we did," he said.

It did not need to be explicitly said because I knew he was talking about Oliver's body. My stomach also twisted at the use of his word we. The cannibalism was my suggestion, and I was the one who had been cooking it every night. Miles felt my body shiver and ran his hand higher to the back of my neck.

"But we aren't always going to be doing this," I said. My voice wavered as I tried to comfort myself. "When we no longer need to eat this, we will stop. We would have starved."

"He is being emotional," Miles said. "I doubt he will join us for dinner. He will calm down soon."

"What if he doesn't?" I asked.

"He will."

"But, what if-"

"Maisie." Miles's voice turned cold as he silenced me. "Stop with all the questions. I know him. You need to trust me."

I bit on my lip and nodded. Miles tightened his grip on the back of my neck as he pressed his lips against the top of my head.

"This was a good idea," Miles said. "You don't need to have any doubts."

He stepped back, and I kept my head down as he went up the stairs to wash up for dinner.

–

Joseph did not eat dinner with us for three nights. Neither he nor Miles spoke when we ate breakfast together, and tension was creeping back into this household. Why were our moments of happiness brief? We would overcome this, but why were we always being tested?

I was lying in bed next to Miles. He had been snoring for over an hour, but my mind was racing with too many questions. I could not push away my anxieties far enough away to settle myself to sleep. After Briar's death, I would often sneak downstairs at night to make myself a cup of tea. It worked every time I thought I would cry over her death.

Lifting the edge of the blankets, I slid out of the bed. I tiptoed around the room to grab my robe, careful not to wake Miles. My grip on the front of my robe was tight as I crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. I froze when I saw Joseph sitting at the dining room table.

His elbows were on the table, and his hands were clasped in front of his face. His eyes were closed, but he must have heard me. The staircase was incredibly loud. I said nothing as I filled the teapot with water and placed it on the stove. A few times, I looked over my shoulder at Joseph, but his eyes remained closed. He was upset, but we have not spoken to each other in days.

I made two cups of tea and brought them over to the table. Joseph did not open his eyes until I set one cup in front of him. His hands did not move and were still clasped in front of his face. I gave him a soft smile as I sat across from him. The room was dark, but the moonlight caused shadows to streak across his face.

"I don't want it," Joseph said.

"You have barely been eating," I said. "Something in your stomach will make you feel better."

"You know why I am not eating."

I bit down on my lip, unsure what to say. My gaze left Joseph as I looked down at the tea. I wrapped my hands around the cup and let the warmth spread through my body.

"Maisie, how could you let him do this?" Joseph asked. "I know my son has always had issues. There had always been accusations about him, but he had never done anything like this before."

"It was not Miles's idea," I said. I took a few deep breaths to calm my pounding heart. Slowly, I raised my chin so I could look at Joseph. "I was the one who told him to do it."

Joseph's brows furrowed together. I focused on my breathing so that my head would not bow in fear again. The silenced that passed between us was deafening, and I prayed he would say something.

"You?" he said in disbelief. "You told him to do this?"

"I suggested it," I said. My voice wobbled, and I hoped I would not start crying. They hated my crying. "I thought it would be a good idea to stop us from being hungry. If we all remained hungry, we would get sick. After Briar, I do not think I could handle losing someone else in our family. We did this to keep the three of us healthy. Miles did not have bad intentions."

Joseph lowered his hands from his face. He opened his one hand, and something fell out of his grip. The circular object rolled across the table toward me. In the moonlight, I could see that it was Clara's wedding ring. Why did he have it with him? Had he carried it everywhere with him since she died?

"Clara always worried about Miles," he said. "She knew his mind was different and that he struggled with his emotions. One of her biggest concerns was him spending his life alone. When she saw how happy he was with you, she was just ecstatic. Someone was actually able to love him."

My stomach twisted as I listened to Joseph ramble. In the past, his words would be a drunken slur. There had been no alcohol in the house for months. His thoughts were sober, but he looked like he was still trying to process what he was saying. If he kept speaking, at least I would not have to justify telling Miles we should resort to cannibalism.

"I knew you would love him," he said. "You are so beautiful, but are also so loving. You were a sweet lonely soul that needed a family, and that was what I gave you. Miles did not like the idea at first, but he quickly realized you were perfect."

The first day I meet Miles was now a distant memory. Everything was so new, which made me so scared. How long ago was that? It must have been almost two years. Time seemed to melt together in this house.

"He never hurt you, did he?" Joseph asked. I shook my head, afraid I would start crying if I spoke. "Of course not. He is not like those disgusting men you would sell yourself to in order to survive. He would never hurt his family. He protects the ones he loves because the outside world has been so cruel to him. Just like how those men were cruel to you."

I nervously shifted my weight on the chair. Was coming down here a mistake? Should I have gone upstairs with my cup of tea? I was hoping if we spoke, it could ease his tension. Stress was creeping into this house again, and I wanted to fix it. I needed to do something.

"He murdered those people because they wanted to hurt us," Joseph said. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can still see Clara's lifeless body laying in her blood."

He closed his eyes and gave his head a slight shake, like he was trying to push away the haunting visual.

"That cannot happen again, so I let him keep killing," he said. "We have to put our family first, especially since everyone wants to hurt us. But this? I never thought he would do this?"

"He had to," I said, amazed that my voice did not crack. "I told him to. It is something else we need to do to keep this family safe. We cannot starve. This is just a temporary solution."

Joseph chuckled. The sound seemed foreign compared to the way he had been rambling. He ran his hand over the stubble on his jaw before grabbing the cup and taking a sip of the tea.

"We both know this is not temporary," he said.

Miles told me he was prepared to continue the cannibalism, but I was confident that he would soon realize that the idea was ridiculous. As each day passed, he never mentioned stopping and I started to grow doubtful.

"It could be," I said. My voice was soft, unable to even convince myself. "This may never happen again."

"Someone else is going to come onto our property wanting to hurt us," Joseph said. "Miles will kill them, and we will not be hungry."

"What if no one else comes onto our property?" I asked.

Joseph took another sip of his tea. I lifted my cup, but the tremble in my hands was noticeable and caused the tea to splash. I set the cup down and looked away from Joseph.

"We can't be emotional," Joseph said. "We have to learn to accept this because it won't change. We are safe, and that is all that matters."

I nodded. Joseph reached across the table and grabbed Clara's ring.

"Go back up to your room," he told me. "Miles will be worried if he wakes up and sees you are not there."

I nodded again. Without a word, I stood, grabbed my cup, and emptied the cold tea into the sink. I crept back up the stairs, down the hall, and into the bedroom. Miles was asleep and laying on his stomach, but no longer snoring. I dropped my robe on the floor before crawling back into the bed.

The tea did not calm my racing mind, but Joseph did. All of these choices were to keep the safe. With Miles, I was not in danger. All of this was for the family.