by Mariah Lynde
“Is…I mean…what do I need to know? Is there anything he needs?” Struggling to focus on all of this, to make amendments to my plans for the day with this new development, I floundered a bit.
“I’ll leave a couple of boxes on your back patio with some of his toys and clothes. There will be paperwork you’ll need, like his birth certificate and I’ll print out some documents about you being his legal guardian.” As she finished speaking, Maya gave a hacking cough and I found myself jumping back a little.
“Sorry.” I whispered as she peered up at me.
“Don’t be. Better to be safe, especially now.” She nodded towards the silhouette bouncing a little in my back seat. “Take care of him, Angel.”
“I promiseI will do all I can for your son, Maya. Don’t give up…you may be back here before you know it.” Uttering the soft reassurance and praying for once that I might be right.
“We can hope, but if I’m not…you know what to do.” She spoke in a steely voice that I had heard many a time from my own mother.
“Listen, in that stuff you drop off for Christian, will you put in a few pictures of yourself. Please?” Why that seemed to be so important to me in that moment, I couldn’t have told you. I just knew it would be imperative to have it.
“Yeah, sure.” She spoke softly and turned on her heel to walk off. When she was only a few steps away, she paused and turned to look back at me, “Angel…thank you.”
“I…” Exhaling a little, my protest died on my lips as I offered a small nod, “You’re welcome, Maya. See you soon, yah?” Even as I spoke those words, I knew them to be a false hope, for both of us.
“Yeah.”
Watching as she walked off I felt a heavy weight settling on my heart. This whole event had only just begun and already the price for some was greater than anything I could imagine. The small boy now settled in the back seat of my car had become an orphan with only a handful of incidents taking place. From where I was standing I could see Maya’s shoulder’s shaking as the tears she had refused to shed in front of her son now flowed freely.
The sight shattered what was left of my composure as my heart broke into a million little pieces and I turned my head to look at Christian now pressing his face against the interior glass of my Explorer. As he giggled and made fish lips against the glass, I knew that Maya had done what she considered most important. For her, putting Christian in my care meant he’d be safe and taken care of. No matter what else happened in the coming days, I would not let her actions be in vain. Her son would live and grow up safely. No matter what price I had to pay, I would honor what his mother had done today.
Moving to pull open the car door, Christian fell out and landed on my chest with a soft thump. Smiling as I hooked my arms underneath him and lifted him off the seat, I winked down at him and spoke, “So, what should we do while we’re waiting to leave, little man?”
“We’s need music ‘cause it’s time to dance Angiel!” His infectious laughter rang on the air and for these first few hours I’d give this kid the moon and anything else. Later on, there’d be time enough for tears, while we sat in the darkness and prayed for nothing more than death to pass us by.
At that moment the only thing which mattered was dancing with the small golden haired boy in my arms underneath the light of the sun.
Chapter Twenty-Seven –Planting the Seeds
By the time Cal had come out of Teena Hawthorne’s office, Christian and I had moved from dancing on the sidewalk to wiggling around on the pavement next to my car. As he walked towards me, I could see the look of confusion on his face as he eyed the little boy beside me.
When Cal drew closer, Christian immediately stilled, his small hand moving to clench mine as he stared up at the male barreling towards us.
“Who’s you?” To say I was impressed by the child’s bluntness would have been putting it mildly. His small body moving to stand in front of me with his back pressed against my leg.
“I’m a friend of Miss Warren, here.” Cal lifted a hand and motioned in my direction. Sadly, with a four year old, those subtle social queues were without meaning.
“I dunno any Miss Warren. Auntie Angiel he’s a stranger!” In two seconds the little boy in front of me went from a ball of sunshine and laughter to wailing siren of impending doom. To top it off, Cal looked absolutely mortified…and me?
All I could do was laugh at the whole situation. Thirty seconds into meeting him, it seemed that Christian had about as much trust for this guy as I did. I had always heard people say that out of the mouths of babes you’d find more truth than you likelybargained for. If this child who had only just met Cal didn’t trust him, it seemed likely that all my reservations about him could be well founded.
Snickering softly, I moved to lift Christian up, settling him on my hip and smiling a little at Cal. “Christian, he means me…I’m Miss Warren.”
“Nu-uh. You’re Auntie Angiel.” Small lips pressed together in a visible frown which caused me to chortle.
“Well, you know how you’re Christian Lucian Walker? Auntie Angel’s name is Angel Marie Warren.” I bit back a chuckle while he seemed to consider that a moment.
“I like Auntie Angiel better.” Puckering his lips in an almost sour appearance I could only laugh and nod.
“Well then, you just keep calling me Auntie Angel. Don’t worry about the rest.” Exhaling, I turned to look to Cal before nodding towards my car, “Alright boys, time to head out for the day.”
“Yayyyy!Chick’n!” Christian stuttered in a sing song voice.
“Yep, we’ll get chicken but only if you behave while we are doing the other things we need to do.” I moved to open the back door to the Explorer and settle Christian into his seat.
I have to hand it to Maya, I had no clue that she’d fully installed Christian’s car seat. Seeing it fully adjusted and installed made me aware of just how much I had to learn about such things now. While strapping the toddler in on his own seemed easy enough, seeing the way that the seat was hooked into the car made it look like something as complicated at a minotaur’s labyrinth of horror. I made a personal note to look up the specs for the car seat online at some point tonight so I knew how to get it in and out of a vehicle.
Settling Christian in to his seat, I had just snapped the belt closed when I noticed the small bag that sat on the other side of the bench. Marked with the little boy’s name, I assumed it had to be the toddler’s equivalent of a care bag for when he was being watched by someone else. Out of the top, a small stuffed dinosaur stared at me, so I leaned over and gripped the plush toy and held it up for Christian.
“Friend of yours, little man?” I asked softly.
“Tha’s Rexy. Can he rides wif me in mah seat?” Brilliant hazel eyes peered up at me with such innocence and hope that I couldn’t for the life of me think of a reason to say no.
“Rexy can ride with you, if you keep a tight hold on him and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.” As far as answers went, I thought it could be considered a good one. Not that I really had anything to judge by, this whole parenting thing was kind of new to me.
The happy squeal that followed told me I’d been right on the money about my answer and closing the door I moved towards the driver seat. Before I even had a chance to open the door, Cal was grabbing my arm and yanking me around to face him.
“What the hell?” His voice hissed out at me before he glanced past my shoulder and into the back seat before turning angry gray eyes back towards my own. “We have things to get done today, how the hell are we supposed to do that if you’re playing babysitter to some brat?”
His callous words had me again thinking I’d be far better off without him. Sure, I’d told Robbie that I wouldn’t risk going anywhere alone, but every time Cal opened his mouth I found myself debating homicide in some form or another. I couldn’t fathom just how selfish he had to be in turning his anger on a child. If anything, survival dictated that children should be protected to ensure a fut
ure.
Pulling my arm back out of his hold I hissed back, “You’re welcome to go out on your own. I sure as hell don’t want or need you.”
“What the hell, Angel?” His eyes widened even as his anger seemed to cool to be replaced by surprise. As it stood, I’d had my fill of bullshit for the day.
“You can walk back to your car and go do whatever the hell you want with your day. I’m done.” Lifting one hand I planted it firmly on the center of his chest and pushed with every ounce of strength I could muster. Without waiting to see the result, I had already flung open the car door and crawled up into the driver’s seat. Shoving the key into the ignition, I vaguely registered Christian giggling in the back seat behind me.
“BOOM! Boom! Boom! Boom! Big guy fall down and go whoop!” The childish litany in the backseat did little to cool my ire. In that moment, Cal could have cracked his head open and spilled brain on the sidewalk and I wouldn’t have blinked twice over it.
Pressing the button to engage the locks on the doors, I shifted the Explorer into reverse and turned slightly to start backing out of the parking space.
Just as the car began to roll backwards a solid thump hit my window and had me slamming on the brakes. Christian giggled behind me, unaware of just what was taking place between myself and the man currently plastered against my car door. Frowning, I cracked the window, just enough that he could hear me as I spoke.
“Did I stutter? You can go back to your car now. I have things to do today.” My eyes narrowed in warning as I peered up at him.
“You’re supposed to be taking me with you. Or have you forgotten you aren’t supposed to go anywhere alone? I’m sure Robbie will love to find out you ditched me.” This time, gray eyes shifted to peer at me with enough anger that they seemed like molten quicksilver. Impressive as such a display might be, I had reached my limit with Cal Mitty for the week.
“Go ahead, call him. I hope you do, so when he calls me I can tell him how phenomenal of a jack ass you were. Any question we had about accepting outsiders is now answered. We should let you all rot. Now get the hell off my car!” This time I let my foot slide off the brake, letting the car begin that slow roll backwards as a warning.
Almost immediately, Cal let go of the door panel. Furious gray eyes watched me as I pressed my foot down on the gas and spun the car out into the open area of the parking lot. Peering back at him and narrowing my eyes I made a show out of grabbing the gear shift and pulling it down into drive. Giving Cal a cool smile, I slammed my foot down onto the gas pedal again. The engine gave a small roar as it revved up and then the Explorer peeled forward at a little faster speed than I would normally be comfortable with as I headed to the gate of the subdivision.
In the whole of that amount of time, my mind was pretty much swirling with a litany of curses to lever in Cal’s direction even though I did not speak one of them aloud. More than once the word asshole danced across my mind and I found myself muttering softly as I flipped on my blinker and waited for traffic to clear.
Not surprisingly, the road just outside was busy. Cars whizzed by at ludicrous speeds towards the exit ramp for the interstate. In a way, this more than anything made me glad I was staying local, at least for the time being.
Shifting my gaze up to the rear view mirror, I saw the small luxury sedan pulling up behind me. Seeing who was behind the wheel, I let my gaze travel elsewhere as if I’d not seen him, and let my foot slip off the brake so I could creep forward enough to see around the curb. The soft blaring of the horn behind me was ignored as I found my opening. Admittedly, if I’d thought about it a little more before acting, I probably wouldn’t have tried something so dumb since I had a kid in the car, but I couldn’t change what I’d already put into motion.
In less than a second I made the decision, shifting my foot onto the gas pedal once again and flooring it. The Explorer revved up and shot forward, moving across the lanes of traffic so that I could complete a left turn before the lines of traffic in the opposite lane picked back up.
Breathing a sigh of relief as I escaped being clipped by an oncoming minivan, I grinned. Mission accomplished. It’d take Cal a good three to five minutes to find an opening in that kind of heavy traffic.
Guilt flooded the back of my mind as I let my eyes drift up to the mirror to check on Christian. Thankfully, the toddler seemed unaware of the danger we’d been in only moments before. Relaxing a little while he giggled and spoke gibberish to the small plush dinosaur he held, I was settling into my seat and starting to relax as we cruised down the road.
I could never say that today had not been eventful. In the course of a few hours, I’d inherited a child, gotten a new neighbor, and ditched the person I’d been paired with according to the group rules. Still, Christian's reaction before Cal had even opened his mouth to speak had me wondering just what the real deal was with that man.
Oh, there was no denying I’d be dealing with him again. Sooner rather than later since he now owned the other side of my duplex. Something had been irking me about him since the moment I spoke with him on the phone Wednesday afternoon. I did not, could not, understand what about him evoked such a response but I needed to find out.
“Auntie Angiel, where we goin’?” Christian’s sing song voice came from the back seat and brought me back to the present.
“We’re going shopping for a few things that I need for my trip.” I doubted explaining things as they stood to a toddler would really get me anywhere, but a vague answer could possibly help. It most certainly couldn’t hurt.
“Da man back there make you angryswif me?” This time there was a small quiver in the little boy’s voice and I drew in a shaky breath.
Even though the car doors had been shut and my conversation with Cal had been whispered, it seemed the little boy behind me was more than aware he had been a part of it. Frowning, I can admit to having a small, internal debate as to what exactly I should say to Christian. Less than two hours as his guardian and I found myself faced with a choice of whether to lie or tell the truth. I always hated when my parents would tell me something that was not necessarily the way things were.
Still, didn’t we all perpetuate happiness in children by lying about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? At least we did for the first several years of their life to give them a small bit of hope and wonder. So what did you do when the situation could be hurtful? How could you tell a child that their presence had caused an egotistical asshole to be a dick?
Honestly, this kid was in for a rocky road the next few weeks anyway and I didn’t have the heart to fess up with the truth. Looking into the rearview mirror to see the almost pure cerulean color of his eyes looking at me as if my answer would break his little heart, I just…couldn’t. God help me, my ovaries were going into overdrive and making me soft…again.
“Nah, little man, I’m not angry with you. I just have a lot to think about.” No sooner had I finished my sentence then the ring tone of impending doom sounded from my pocket. I flinched, knowing full well the reason why I happened to be getting this call. Damn Cal and his annoying interference. Sighing, I let my gaze flick up to the mirror to peer at Christian for a moment, “Okay, buddy. I got a call, you and Rexy need to be really quiet for a couple of minutes.”
Without waiting to hear his reply, my eyes turned back to the road in front of me while my free hand flipped my phone out of my pocket and onto the passenger seat. Without looking, I swiped my finger across the surface and fumbled a little while I raised my voice to be heard, “Hold on, hold on! Trying to put you on speaker!”
To say it was a trial to keep driving and try to manipulate my damn phone would have been generous. The whole situation had the makings of a disaster waiting to happen. Finally, after several fumbles and the phone nearly sliding into the floorboard, the speaker cut on with a sharp crackle.
“- the hell? I get a call from that spooner telling me you ditched him for no reason after you promised me that you would make sure you had a partner. I can
handle your bitchiness when it’s warranted, Angel, but this…”
“Ooooooooooooooooooooo, AuntieAngiel he saids bad word!” As one could expect, the little boy in the back seat had completely forgotten about being quiet in favor of excitement in pointing out someone else had done something wrong. I chuckled before peering up into the rearview mirror to offer a wink before turning my gaze back to the road.
“Hello, Robbie.” The amusement I felt was obvious by the waver in my voice to indicate I was fighting off laughter.
“Um, Angel? You have a child with you?” More than anything, Robbie sounded confused and not just a little bit worried. Truth be told, he likely had every right to be.
“Yes, I do. Christian, say hello to my best friend, Robbie.” If nothing else, I had just bought myself some time on an ass chewing. With my best friend’s love of his little sister, he had a lot more tolerance for kids than most…as long as they weren’t his.
“Hello, Robbie!” Christian’s sing song voice filled the interior of the car and made me chuckle. I knew if it seemed loud to me, it could possibly be deafening to Robbie on the other end of the line.
“Hello, Christian.” With his plan to bliss me out thwarted at least for the moment, Robbie seemed more than a little perturbed, “How did this happen?”
“His mom asked me to watch him for a while.” I put emphasis on the last word so that Robbie knew the implications of a while. “I figured I would fill you in on things later tonight.”
“How much later?” Robbie’s sigh echoed through the car and I couldn’t help but feel a tad bit guilty about this whole mess.
“Probably around the same time as last night.” I spoke softly, “Well, as long as everything goes according to plan.”
“Does your…new friend have anything to do with why you bailed on the spooner?” Leave it to Robbie to still use this as an opportunity to gather information.
“Yes. I find it hilarious that he didn’t tell you that part. Perhaps we should be rethinking his inclusion to our little party.” My lips tightened and each word that I spoke was punctuated with an audible hiss. If there’d been any question as to my outright annoyance with Cal Mitty before, it became obvious to anyone now.