Sweet Like Honey

chapter four

ISAAC woke with a start, sweat beading down the sides of his face as his chest heaved. He looked to the nightstand, where the clock read 6:02 AM - the sun was dull and barely allowed any light into his bedroom.

Amelia was off to work already - she had left over an hour before. But something felt weird to Isaac; the air was thick and it felt impossible for him to breathe.

"Gavin," he said suddenly, and he shot out of the bed.

How could he be so dumb to leave Gavin in the nursery with Lainey in the house? He practically sprinted to the nursery, slinging the door open and walking quickly to his son's crib. He wasn't there, nothing was there besides a blue blanket and a bottle that had spilled onto the sheet.

"Oh, God," Isaac cried out, his heart throbbing in his chest as he then moved out of the nursery and into the hallway.

Frantically searching, he swung every door open that he walked past. There was no noise downstairs, which only filled his mind with uneasy thoughts.

"Gavin? Gavin? Lainey?" Isaac cried, walking as fast as he could down the stairs to the kitchen. There was nobody in the kitchen, so he looked in the living room where Lainey had slept on the couch.

Nobody was there. The blanket and pillow that Lainey must have used was folded and neatly placed on the couch cushion. Isaac's face was on fire - perspiration formed a thick layer on his skin and his heart was in his throat. He was fully panicking.

"That bitch!" he cried out, continuing to search frantically around the house.

He walked outside to the front yard, ignoring the humid summer air that only worsened his anxiety. He ran to the edge of the street, looking down both ways, his chest heaving.

"Holy fuck, holy fuck," he said under his breath, moving his hand through his sweat soaked hair as he then walked to the side of the house to swing the gate to the backyard open.

The second he opened it, he spotted Lainey sitting in the grass with Gavin as he crawled around. A wave of relief washed over him as he threw his head back and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He didn't waste one second before practically running towards the two of them, ripping Gavin up from the grass and away from Lainey.

"Mr. Walker," Lainey said, tilting her head and staring up at him as she sat cross-legged. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Isaac asked, laughing in disbelief. "What's wrong? I couldn't fucking find my kid, that's what's wrong."

Gavin whined, reaching his arms out to continue playing with Lainey.

Lainey recoiled, her eyebrows furrowed. "Why didn't you just look out here-?"

"No, how about I ask you why you took it upon yourself to take him out of his crib?" Isaac cut her off while running his hands through Gavin's curly hair, checking him for any signs of harm.

"I was bored and couldn't sleep. He was awake, so I figured why not-"

Isaac cut her off again. "Listen, okay? Just because Amelia trusts you for some reason, doesn't mean I do too. Stay away from my son, I'm serious."

Lainey stood to her feet, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Isaac. "Mr. Walker, I don't want to hurt your kid, or your girlfriend, or you. Why do you think that I'm like that?"

"Don't act innocent," Isaac shook his head, turning to walk back inside the house with his crying son.

Lainey followed hot on his heels. "We were just playing, God, Mr. Walker. Why are you getting so angry? I'm only your student - I haven't done anything wrong."