My lips tremble as he rises from his seat, crossing the kitchen on legs that are shaking from fear that refuses to go unseen. I watch him advance, expecting him to do what he always does and cage me in, trapping me between the counter and his body, but he doesn’t. The moment he reaches me, he sinks to his knees, both of his hands going to my waist, his tear soaked face buried in my stomach. But it’s the sobs that get me. The way he still manages to speak through them while I look down at him in shock, wondering if this is how it feels to fell a giant, to slay a dragon, to conquer a king.
