The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 503

Later that night, the sound of holiday festivities outside had faded.

Felix tossed and turned in his little bed.

He had slept until seven in the evening, so he wasn't exactly tired now. His mind was entirely consumed by how strange his dad had acted at lunch.

And in the evening, too.

While watching TV, his mom had held onto his dad's hand the whole time. Usually, it was his dad who reached out to hold hers.

Felix pursed his lips.

Adults always assumed kids didn't understand anything, but the truth was, kids just didn't know how to explain what they saw.

He climbed out from beneath the covers and, guided by the moonlight streaming through the window, dug into his toy box. He pulled out his absolute favorite possession—a black SWAT toy vehicle.

He treasured it more than all his Lego sets combined, and barely let anyone else touch it.

Because this truck was his dad.

When they bought it, his dad had told him that he used to drive cars just like this one. They were black, super fast, and could catch any bad guy.

Clutching the toy, he quietly pushed open the nursery door and padded barefoot across the floor, inching toward the master bedroom.

He accidentally stepped on Orange's tail. The cat let out a sharp meow, startling Felix so badly he ducked behind the sofa.

After listening for a long time and hearing no movement, he crept forward again.

When he reached the master bedroom, he didn't go inside. Instead, he carefully placed the SWAT vehicle right in the center of the doorway.

His dad had told him that SWAT teams saved people and rushed into danger.

Protect Daddy, Felix thought silently as he stared at the toy, and then tiptoed as fast as he could back to his own bed.

Early the next morning, Clara woke up before the sun.

She went to pour a glass of water and sort out Rhys's medication out of habit.

As she pushed open the bedroom door, her foot caught on something hard, nearly sending her tripping.

She looked down and froze in shock.

Bending down, Clara picked up the little vehicle.

She knew how fiercely protective Felix was of this toy. Why would he leave it here?

A heartbreaking suspicion crossed her mind, but she kept her silence.

Over the next two days, the entire family noticed a shift in Felix's behavior.

The normally energetic boy had grown unusually quiet.

He was introverted by nature, often content to read or play with his blocks alone, but this was entirely different from his usual focused silence.

He flat-out refused to let Rhys play foam dart guns with him. Before, he had begged to play every single day and never wanted to stop, always demanding Rhys show him how to aim and hold the blaster.

When Rhys brought it up over the past two days, Felix found every excuse to brush it off.

"I don't wanna play today."

"How about tomorrow?"

It was Felix, standing motionless on Rhys's side of the mattress in his pajamas.

Clara was just about to call out to him when the little boy slowly raised an index finger. He carefully held it right beneath Rhys's nose.

Warm breath fluttered against his tiny fingertip.

Felix stood there for a long moment feeling the steady rhythm of air before silently retracting his hand and creeping back out of the room.

Clara lay frozen on her side, unable to move a single muscle.

Staring at the door clicking shut, tears slid down her cheeks without warning, soaking silently into her pillow.

Due to the heavy side effects of his medication, Rhys no longer woke up at the slightest sound like he used to.

In his sleep, he rolled over and reflexively pulled Clara into his chest.

Clara pressed her face against him, staying awake until dawn.

It all came to a head the next evening.

After dinner, around nine o'clock, Rhys drove Clara's dad and mom back to Oakridge Avenue, leaving Clara and Felix at home.

Once washed up, Felix crawled obediently into bed. Orange hopped up beside him, curling into a purring ball at his feet.

Clara tucked the blankets around him as she usually did, grabbing a storybook. But as she lifted his pillow slightly, she spotted a piece of drawing paper hidden underneath.

She paused and pulled the paper out.

It was a drawing of their family of three, but this time, the stick figure of the dad was heavily encased in thick layers of red crayon circles.