Joe and I were snuggling on the couch, enjoying that rare time alone that we only seemed to get when Liam was in bed. A soft creak emanated from the staircase behind us. Liam was standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching us. "Liam buddy, what are you doing up?" Joe asked, motioning for him to join us on the couch. I wanted to stay up with you guys daddy" Liam said rubbing his eyes. "You have to go to bed now baby, you’ve got big boy school tomorrow" I said, scooping him up. "But I don’t wanna go to bed daddy, the man with no eyes is waiting for me in the closet" Liam whined, fear laced in his voice. Joe and I exchanged glances. "Baby the man in the closet isn’t real. He’s just in your head. He won’t hurt you" I reassured him. "But daddy he IS real! He comes out of the closet door every night and tries to hurt me" Liam sobbed. "Do you want daddy to go up to bed with you and check your closet?" Joe asked, glancing at me. Liam nodded, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Come on then" I said, taking his hand as he led me upstairs to his bedroom. I opened his closet door and flicked on the light, pretending to look around. The air felt heavy in there. A feeling of dread washed over me. "See, nobody in there buddy" I said, trying to feign calmness and confidence. Liam looked unsure. "Do you want me to sleep beside you in your bed tonight?" I asked. Liam nodded. I tucked him in, flicking the bedroom light off and laying down beside him. He fell asleep and I felt myself slipping into a slumber.
I awoke a couple of hours later to a crushing feeling of dread, and Liam quietly sobbing. His eyes were locked on the closet door. I followed his gaze, realising the closet light was now switched on and the closet door was slowly swinging open. We watched as the door opened fully, and a tall, pale figure with holes where its eyes would be stood in the doorway. I wrapped my arms tighter around Liam, bringing my hand up to cover his mouth. The man with no eyes. He was real. He wasn’t just a nightmare my son had every night. He walked towards the bed, "looking" at us the entire time. I flicked on the nightlight, only for the figure to disappear. "Okay, let’s go sleep in daddy’s room tonight" I said, taking Liam through to mine and Joe’s room.
"Well, maybe you were just hallucinating. I mean, you’d just woken up, right?" Joe said when I told him what I’d witnessed the next morning. "I don’t know…" I hesitated. "Look, Ian you’re not buying into this are you? It’s just a figment of Liam’s imagination" Joe said, sipping on his coffee. "Well strange things have been happening lately. Things going missing, strange noises" I pointed out. "We’re probably just misremembering where we put things. And all houses make noise. It’s just the house settling" Joe rationalised, rubbing my arm. "Maybe you’re right" I said. But I just couldn’t shake the feeling.
Liam asked me to sleep beside him again that night, so I tucked him in and laid down beside him, pretending to fall asleep. I made sure to stay fully awake, determined to prove myself wrong. To prove that it was just a hallucination last night, like Joe suggested it was. My hopes were dashed when a couple of hours later the closet light flicked on and I saw the shadow of something or someone behind the door. Liam stirred, and at the same time the closet door started to slowly swing open. Liam gasped beside me and I hugged him tighter. The door swung open fully, the same pale figure walked towards the bed and once again disappeared into thin air when I flicked the nightlight on. The man with no eyes wasn’t a hallucination. I shivered, that same feeling of dread washing over me. I had to find out who, or what, this man with no eyes was…
"Happy birthday Grace!" Jax exclaimed, raising a glass of wine in my direction. My friends and parents cheered, all raising their own glasses. I gave a little smile, sipping on my glass of water. Jax kissed my forehead as the chatter of the guests started back up. A sudden wave of pain jolted through my stomach, almost making me gasp in pain. I breathed through it, trying not to let on that anything was wrong. I puffed out a sigh of relief as the contraction faded. This one had felt different from the others. I was hit by a sudden, crushing urge to pee. Too late, a gush of fluid rushed down my legs. I excused myself, walking to the bathroom to clean myself up. As I walked, I realised this fluid was still leaking out of me. Oh god, I hadn’t peed myself, my water had just broken. I stopped dead in my tracks. What was I supposed to do?! I couldn’t leave my own birthday party, and I didn’t wanna make a scene! "Grace, you alright?" Jax asked, coming to my side. I swallowed hard. "My water just broke" I whispered. "What?! Hospital! Now!" he said, turning to face our guests. "Okay everyone, party’s over. Grace and I are going to the hospital, she’s going into labour" he shouted. We were met with cheers and "good luck"s as everyone piled out of the house. I gasped in pain as I felt another contraction. "Breathe" Jax told me, holding me close and breathing with me through the contraction. As soon as it faded, he frantically ran round the house grabbing the hospital bag and making sure things were locked up. He bundled me into the car, and we sped off in the direction of the hospital.
Our beautiful daughter Addelyn was born 2 hours later; at 10pm. Turns out I was already halfway through my labour when we arrived at the hospital. That’s how I learned I’m prone to fast labours. Precipitous labour they call it. She is the best birthday gift I could have ever gotten, and nothing will ever top my daughter as a gift.
