Kathryn Dahne - Curse of the Nun

She opened Mike’s first, discovered his hair brush, and tossed it into the suitcase as well with an amused noise. His hair was short enough that she supposed hair brushes weren’t quite as high a priority on the Do Not Forget List. She opened hers next. A tube of face cream and a nearly empty bottle of lotion were also summarily tossed into the suitcase.

Tucked away in the very back corner of the cabinet, Anna found an old bottle of narcotic painkillers. She looked at them with a deep frown. She didn’t remember them and didn’t know why they were there. They shouldn’t be there. She had been very careful to avoid temptation since rehab, removing anything from the house stronger than basic acetaminophen tablets.

She turned the bottle over in her hands and chewed on her bottom lip, considering. It was impossible not to think of the bliss that could be found in that bottle. The little white pills had been a perfect escape from the pressures of life. Today had been long and frankly awful. She shook the bottle, the pills clattering inside. A familiar music to Anna. The thought of unwinding, letting go of all of her worries for just a little while, was a sweet siren song in the back of her mind. She ran her fingertips along the ridged sides of the pill cap in something that was almost a caress.

Unnoticed, the word “STAY” slowly etched itself into the foggy glass of the mirror behind her.

Anna flushed angrily as she realized where her thoughts had gone. She wasn’t that person anymore. She moved over to the toilet and yanked up the lid, twisting the pill-cap off harshly. She dumped the entire contents of the bottle into the toilet and depressed the flusher. She shut the lid decisively and tossed the empty bottle away in the trash. It might have felt good for a while, but Anna knew exactly how high the price for that pleasure could be. Her past had no place in the new future she was building.

The bathroom door swung open and Anna turned to face Mike. She found herself immediately trying not to laugh, her earlier thoughts vanishing at the image Mike was currently presenting. Her wonderfully silly husband stood there in boxers and a t-shirt, a rose clamped between his teeth, and a rather hilarious impersonation of a “come-hither” expression on his face. God, she loved that man.

Anna arched an eyebrow at him. “What’s this?”

“I’ve found a way to repay you,” Mike said in the sultriest voice he could manage with a rose-stem in his mouth.

Anna chuckled even as she allowed him to lead her into the bedroom.

Later, Anna cuddled up against her husband, tracing idle patterns on his chest.

“Claire is so excited for tomorrow,” Mike murmured contentedly.

Anna walked her fingers up his chest as she made a non-commital noise.

“She is, but I’m still not sold on the whole private school thing.”

Mike nipped at her fingers as they came too close to his mouth, drawing a laugh and reproachful look from her.

“What’s wrong with private school?” He protested.

“Private school is like, second place awkward to homeschool,” she replied.

“I went to private school!”

“And look at you, you’re a mess,” Anna teased.

Mike chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” he said more seriously.

Anna shook her head. “Nah, their gifted program is supposed to be amazing. She’ll get the attention she deserves.”

“I still think you should have gone to a gifted school.”

“As if,” Anna scoffed. “Claire didn’t get her brains from me.”

“Well, she sure as hell didn’t get them from her dad,” Mike commented thoughtlessly.

Anna swallowed hard and went tense against him. Claire definitely didn’t get her brains from Lex, that was true.

“I’m sorry,” Mike said, suddenly apologetic. “I didn’t mean to bring him up.”

“Actually,” she said carefully. “It’s interesting you mention him.”

She needed to tell Mike that he was calling again. Anna knew that Lex could become a serious problem again all too easily.

“He’s not calling again, is he?” Mike looked at her sharply.

She could feel the sudden tension and alarm radiating from him, Anna immediately backpedaling in her own thoughts.

“No, no, nothing like that,” she assured him, albeit untruthfully.

She could handle Lex. Mike was doing enough for her, he didn’t need the added worry.

“The move was just reminding me of him and all that shit with the divorce and going to rehab,” Anna continued. “I’m realizing how far I’ve come.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Of course it is! It’s just hard to stop associating yourself with all that sometimes.” She added, quieter.

Mike drew her in closer to his side and pressed another kiss to her head. Anna could only think about how lucky she was to have him. Sometimes it didn’t even seem real, to have found someone who cared for her as much as Mike.

“All you need to worry about now is moving past all of that,” he said softly.

Anna smiled to herself and chuckled.

“Maybe I should go blonde then.”

She could feel the rumble of Mike’s laugh under where her head was pillowed.

“Be my trophy wife?” He flashed her a teasing grin.

“I think on the inside, I’ve always been blonde.”

“Oh totally,” Mike agreed. “Very, very, very dark blonde.”

Anna laughed and lightly whacked him on the chest even as she snuggled closer. Tomorrow everything is going to change , she thought as she drifted off.

The darkness of the room obscured the figure that watched them from the doorway.

The next day dawned bright and sunny, the morning sky a pure, crystalline blue with only a few fluffy white clouds drifting lazily overhead. Anna checked over the last few boxes that had been loaded into the moving van. She couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning to start the next chapter of her life on. Mike walked out of the house, dressed for work in pale blue medical scrubs. She smiled at the sight of him and whistled her appreciation of the uniform.

Mike did a mock runway twirl. “Like the scrubs?”

“Totally, you have that hunky medical show vibe going for you.”

Anna tugged him close by the back of the neck to kiss him goodbye. “Get to work, those wisdom teeth aren’t going to pull themselves.”

“They’d better not,” he agreed. “See you at the new house at six?”

“Yep, I’ll drive the moving truck.”

“Perfect.” He pulled back a little to get a better look at her. “You ready for Aunt Donna?”

Anna rolled her eyes. No one was ever really ready for Aunt Donna, but she could handle it.

“Oh yeah,” she replied. “I’ve got my gun in my purse if she gets too feisty.”

The gun, of course, was more out of concern about Lex showing up than anything Aunt Donna could possibly do, but the comment got an amused head shake from Mike.

Claire dashed out of the house moments later, dressed for the first day of her new school. She practically flung herself into Mike’s car in her obvious excitement. Anna smiled widely as she followed. She crouched down to help buckle Claire in, not because her daughter really needed the help anymore, but just to feel a few extra moments of closeness on such a big day for her little girl.

“Look at you,” she murmured. “Excited?”

“Yeah!” Claire declared enthusiastically.

“Don’t be shy,” Anna reminded her.

She was still so worried about how Claire would adjust to such a huge change once she was there, no matter how excited she seemed at the moment.

“I know,” Claire rolled her eyes.

“The last thing she has to worry about is being shy,” Mike remarked, coming up behind Anna and laying a hand on her shoulder.