After dinner, Haley still couldn’t rest easy. She insisted on pulling Alex back to the children’s room, lifting his shirt to check him over.
She needed to see for herself—was he really unhurt?
What if he was just hiding his injuries to keep her from worrying?
She checked his back, stomach, arms, and legs, going over him carefully.
When it came time to check his bottom, Alex clutched his pants tightly and begged for mercy.
“Mommy, my butt is fine! I didn’t get hurt at all! Daddy—”
He quickly corrected himself.
“Uncle Justin protected me really well. He got hurt instead—really badly. Those people hit him with iron rods, hard, right on his back.
“One of them was even about to hit my head, but Uncle Justin shielded me with his body.”
Out of Haley’s line of sight, Alex secretly stuck out his tongue.
Luckily, he caught himself in time.
If he had said "Daddy," he would have given himself away.
It was all because he had called him that so much in the car—now i
