A Night We Won't Forget

It was a "normal" night like any other. The only difference was Brian and his brother Phillip were going to pick up a washer and dryer that I had arranged to buy from someone on craigs list. They left in Phillips truck about 7:30. I put the boys to bed and watched TV waiting for them to return. Well, it turns out the man I spoke with didn't tell his wife that they were coming, so when they got there she was currently doing some wash. So Brian and Phillip went to the nearest cold stone to wait it out. By 10:00 they still weren't home. I'd been up since 5, and decided to head to bed.

One of my most irrational fears is taking a shower when I'm home alone. I'm not sure where this fear comes from. I've never seen the movie psycho, but I'm very familiar with the shower seen. Anyway, I thought twice about jumping in the shower before heading to bed, but decided to deal with the fear and get in. A few minutes later I hear this weird noise that sounds like taping. It happens a few times and I think, hum...maybe Kyler has gotten out of bed, so I continue to shower knowing he'll find his way into the bathroom. I hear more noise and more taping, but no Kyler and I start to freak out. I think to myself, stay calm, I'm sure everything is ok. But nothing is making sense, Kyler would have just come in, Brian would have at least been calling my name, so who is taping!! Then I start hearing loud banging and commotion down stairs, and I know it's not Brian because I would hear his voice and that's when I start realizing someone is breaking into the house. I hear the taping again and turn off the water to try and figure out what it is, but it immediately stops. I'm so terrified I don't know what to do. Someone is in the house. I lock myself in the bathroom and pray harder then I've prayed in a long time that Brian will come home NOW before something terrible happens. I'm paralyzed with fear, hunkered down in the bathroom when I hear Brians voice screaming my name running up the stairs and I knew I was right. He must have come home, realized someone had broken in and was frantic to make sure I was ok. I open the bathroom door, grab a hold of him and we both break down in tears.

Then he grabs me and says, "I've been looking for you for 45 min! I called the police, I couldn't get in, I thought you were hurt or worse!" That's when I realise that everything I'd been hearing was Brian trying to get in the house. Because he had gone with Phillip in his truck, he hadn't taken his keys, and couldn't get in when they got back. Brian must have gotten home shortly after I had gone upstairs. He called, knocked, and rang the door bell, but I didn't answer. So they figured I was in the bathroom and waited. After 5 minutes they called, knocked and rang again...nothing. 10 min....nothing. Then they started to get worried. Phillip opened the mail slot in the door and started calling my name...nothing. He could see the baby monitor through the mail slot and could see by the lights that his voice was reaching upstairs, so why wasn't I answering. Brian jumped the back fence and started taping on the windows...nothing. So they decided if they could wake up Kyler maybe they could figure out what was going on, but no matter what they did, no one inside was responding. Brian feared the worse. He called 911 and the fire department was on its way. The operator told him the fire department would probably have to break down the door, so Brian decided he couldn't wait and was going to break a window if he had too. He grabbed a hold of the storm window and yanked so hard he pulled the screws right out of the frame. Then luckily, the actual window wasn't latched and he was able to open it and dive through. He ran upstairs calling my name and found me scared to death in the bathroom.

That whole night we had a hard time shaking the feeling that we had almost lost each other. I'm so thankful that nothing really happened and that we were both safe. In the mean time we are enjoying feeling a renewed sense of gratitude and love for each other. I'm also grateful that we can laugh about it now, and that what was a terrible night has only brought us closer.