Sitting in the dark, waiting for her son to come home, Melissa tapped at her phone, debating whether to bother John this late. Facebook wasn't even proving to be a distraction tonight. Where was Scott? He should have been here when Melissa got home, but it felt like they were rarely in the house at the same time anymore. A lot of that was her own fault, Melissa knew. First thing tomorrow she was requesting to go on day shifts only for a while, with night shifts only in an emergency. Who knew if she would actually get that, given that they were short staffed, but it was worth asking.
Hearing a sound, Melissa pressed the button to turn the light off on her phone and sat incredibly still and listened. For a few seconds she thought it was just her imagination, but she felt it in her gut. Scott was home. Reaching up to the wall behind her, Melissa clicked on the living room light and turned as she rose to her feet.
"Where have you been, Scott?" she asked, working hard to keep her voice even and avoid sounding like the shrill worried mother she actually was.