Page 44 of Shattered

Shane has often referred to me as an “old fogey” because I prefer to spend my weekends with Adi, and besides working throughout the week, I keep to myself. He on the other hand, parties often and is constantly out with friends. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, but his immaturity, arrogant personality, and insistence that everyone else should be living the same way as him always manages to rub me the wrong way.

“That’s right. I have plans with my recliner and plaid blanket,” I reply, keeping my irritation in check.

He widens his eyes dramatically. “Shit. It’s worse than I thought.”

Harley comes stomping back from the direction of the open deck, probably to check what my hold-up is, and almost snarls when he sees Shane. He dislikes him more than I do, and I’m sure it’s because Shane’s the type of guy his daughter usually dates.

“Don’t you have a job to do?”

“You’re right,” Shane replies to Harley with a sarcastic lilt. “The whole building might get delayed because I stopped for five fucking seconds.” With a roll of his eyes, he turns and continues down the hall.

“One of these days,” Harley grumbles, glaring at the back of Shane, then shakes his head. “Looks like we’re done with unloading for now. Let’s get some of these sheets up, then we can get out of here early.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I quickly check my phone to make sure Navi got my message and knows I’ll be picking him up, then we get started.

Two hours later, I’m pulling into the parking lot of the daycare Adi goes to, choosing a spot that isn’t surrounded by a puddle of water from the rain. This is the first time I’ve had to pick him up from here since he started coming a year ago, and I’m a little curious as to what it’s like inside. It’s been renovated and updated since I lived in Plainfield, though I’ve never actually been inside to know what it looked like before.

I push through the front door and find the smell in here reminiscent of elementary school. An older lady wearing a bright pink cardigan sits behind the front desk, and she raises her head and smiles at me as I approach, the creases beside her mouth and eyes an indication of a life filled with laughter. “Hello. What can I do for you?”

“I’m Neilix, here to pick up Adi Kumar-Adams. His mother should have notified you.”

“Oh, yes, little Adi.” Her face fills with affection as she says it. “Navi did call. I just need to see some I.D.”

Slipping my wallet from my back pocket, I show her my license, and she checks it against a sheet in front of her.

“Great. Thank you, Mr. Adams. You can go ahead and take your boots off, then head on through that door. I think he might still be napping with his favorite person.”

Confusion has my face contorting while I slip off my steel-toe boots. “Favorite person?”

A gentle smile tips her lips up. “Yes. When he’s having a tough time falling asleep, like he was this afternoon with the stormy weather, she’s the only one who can get him to sleep. And if he’s cranky, she’s the one who can easily cheer him up.” I nod slowly and then start toward the door she indicated. “Oh, that’s his little backpack in the cubby to your right.”

“Thanks.”

After retrieving his bag and sliding it over one shoulder, I walk through the door and find it to be much quieter than I had assumed. A few kids are playing blocks on one side of the room, while others are reading or painting quietly on the other, with a couple of adults—who, I assume, are daycare workers—sitting with them.

I scan the rest of the area until I find the words “Dream Land” printed around an arched doorway across the room. Assuming that’s the napping room since the lights seem to be dimmed in there, I head in that direction.

Soft music hits my ears as I cross the threshold, helping to block out the chatter from the other room. Two little bodies lay on soft mats on the ground, but when I get a closer look, I can see that neither is Adi. My gaze shifts around some more, and I’m about to turn and search in another room when my eyes snag onto a figure sitting in a rocking chair in the corner.

I freeze.

It’s a woman, and in her arms lays a little boy.

But it’s not just any woman with any boy.

My thoughts scatter into the background along with the music, and my emotions go haywire, unable to make sense of how I’m feeling about what I see.

Sienna sits there, her eyes closed, rocking the chair gently with her feet, while my son sleeps curled up on her, his face buried in her neck.

Her words from the other night drift to the forefront of my mind, and I recall her telling me she works with children. It just never crossed my mind that she worked with my child. Is that something she purposely left out? Or did I just not give her the chance to tell me?

Silently along the padded floor, my feet draw me closer to them on the side of the room. Neither of them stirs with my approach, though it feels like the loud and erratic thumping of my heart should wake them.

Even in the dimness of the room, I can see them clearly, and I trace my eyes down the gentle slope of Sienna’s nose and over her tiny stud, then across the cupid-bow pout of her lips. Her creamy white skin looks as soft and smooth as it always did, and I’m reminded of how it felt to hold her hand in mine, even briefly. My eyes continue down to her arms wrapped around my son, and something pulls at my heart. Adi has always liked sleeping with something in his hands, and I can see that he’s settled for a fistful of Sienna’s sleeve.

I’m still trying to sort through the weird onslaught of emotions that seeing them together has stirred when Sienna’s eyes flicker open and then widen upon registering me standing over her.

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