MiaAlexander bounced on his toes like a spring had been released inside him. "Yes! Yes yes yes!"He spun toward Kyle, words tumbling out so fast they blurred together. "We always eat at six-thirty except on Sundays when we have pancakes for dinner which is backwards but fun and after dinner we play games or read stories or sometimes watch a movie if it's Friday and—" He paused to gulp air, then continued without missing a beat. "Do you like board games? We have Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders and Ethan always wins at checkers but I'm better at the memory game where you flip over cards—"I felt my chest tighten watching him. Kyle's lips parted slightly, as if Alexander's enthusiasm had stolen his breath. Madison's hand tightened around mine, her small fingers pressing into my palm like she was anchoring herself. She tilted her head up to look at me, her eyebrows drawn together in that small frown that always made my heart ache. "Will there be enough food?" she asked quietly.Madiso
Mia's POVThe school hallway stretched ahead of us, lined with construction paper artwork and alphabet posters. This kind of cheerful educational décor that felt surreal after what had just happened. Kyle walked beside me, his footsteps uneven on the polished linoleum. I could hear the slight wheeze in his breathing."Their classroom is down here," I said, though he hadn't asked. We passed a bulletin board displaying "My Family" drawings, stick figures holding hands under crayon suns. I wondered if Alexander and Ethan had contributed to this display, if their pictures showed a family of three. Mom, two boys, and a dog, or if they'd included the various adults who drifted in and out of their lives. Thomas. My mother. The memory of a father they barely knew.Kyle's reflection moved beside mine in the glass of classroom doors as we passed."Here," I said, stopping outside Room 4B.Through the window in the door, I could see Ms. Rodriguez reading to a circle of children seated crisscross
Mia's POV"Could we talk?" Ms. Rodriguez reached us, slightly out of breath. "Of course," I said, "Is everything alright?"Ms. Rodriguez glanced down at the children, then back at me. "Perhaps we could step inside? The principal would like to speak with you as well."The principal?"Kids," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady, "why don't you go to your classroom? I'll be there in just a minute."Ethan looked up at me with those serious brown eyes that were so much like Kyle's."Nothing happened, sweetheart. I just need to talk to your teacher about some grown-up stuff."Madison's grip on my hand tightened. "Do I have to go to class?"I knelt down to her level, meeting her gaze. Her face was still little pale from yesterday."You're not in trouble either, Madison. But yes, you need to go to class. Alexander and Ethan will look after you, okay?"She nodded, but I could see the fear.I watched them walk toward the building, Alexander taking Madison's free hand while Ethan flanked h
MiaI walked Kyle to the door, both of us moving quietly to avoid waking the children.He nodded and stepped into the hallway, his footsteps echoing softly as he made his way to the elevator. I stood in my doorway until I heard the elevator doors close, until the building settled back into its late-night quiet.I sat holding the butterfly keychain, thinking about the house that was apparently now mine. I could picture every room, every corner where memories lived like dust in the sunlight. The house where I'd been happy before I'd learned that happiness was something that could be taken away by adult choices and adult failures.The next afternoon arrived gray and cold, with the kind of dampness that seeped into your bones and made everything feel heavier. I stood outside Bright Beginnings Preschool with the other parents, my breath forming small clouds in the December air as I waited for dismissal. The key Kyle had given me sat in my pocket.The school doors opened, and children began
Mia's POVI sat across from Kyle in my kitchen.Kyle's hands were resting on the table between us, and I could see the fine tremor that ran through his fingers. The IV site on his arm had begun to bruise more deeply, a purple-black mark."Mia," he started, but I held up my hand."Wait." I pushed back from the table, my chair scraping softly against the kitchen floor. "I need to check on them."I pushed the door open just enough to slip inside, breathing in the familiar scent of bubble bath and the faint mustiness that seemed to cling to all children's bedrooms. Both boys were asleep in their twin beds, Alexander on his stomach with one arm hanging off the mattress, Ethan curled into a tight ball with his favorite stuffed elephant clutched against his chest.In the soft light from the hallway, they looked impossibly young. I knelt beside Alexander's bed, brushing a strand of dark hair away from his forehead. His face was peaceful in sleep. I pressed my lips gently to Alexander's templ
KyleUncle. I looked at this child, this perfect small person who shared my DNA but not my history, and felt something break inside my chest. He was beautiful in the unconscious way that children were beautiful, all potential energy and curiosity and trust in the world around him. His pajamas were slightly too big for him, the sleeves covering his hands except for his fingertips. There was a small scar on his forehead that hadn't been there in the photographs, probably from some minor childhood accident that I hadn't been there to prevent.This was my son. My child. A human being I'd helped create but had never really known."He is sad," Mia said quietly, her voice gentle. "But he's okay. Why don't you go back to bed, sweetheart? It's very late."Alexander looked between us again, his four-year-old brain trying to process this."Are you sick?" Alexander asked."Yes," I said before Mia could answer. My voice came out rougher than I'd intended, scraped raw from cigarettes and fighting