Page 37 of Keepsake

Lachlan looked good today, even though he was still quiet and refusing to do anything on his own. I was learning quickly, that if I didn’t, Dash would. But once he was fed and dressed, silence took over the both of us.

“What do children do all day?”

I knew I couldn’t let him watch TV the whole time, but right now it was helping to keep him occupied as I thought about my next move.

All my early childhood books showed the stages of development Lachlan should be on. Not that he wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell. I had no idea about his motor skills, because someone always had to feed him. I didn’t know if his speech was ok, because he never talked.

Nodding to myself, I got my laptop and opened two tabs. One to help me find a bed for him. Another to find him a doctor. I bit my lip as I scrolled down the search. I didn’t want to tell Dash about it. I knew he was going to find a way to see me as the bad guy for wondering, but…

Lachlan had been through a lot.

Sofia reached out to me when Lachlan was just a baby. David had finally left, and she described it as coming out of the fog. She had time and energy to think of something that wasn’t related to him.

For fifteen years, all that she thought about was his reactions to things. Things that she did, things that others did. The fucking weather.

Without David, she said she could see clearly, and she missed me as a friend. Now, I wished I pushed more, that I asked more questions. At the time, I didn’t want to upset her. I thought it was better if I let things be breezy between us. Let our friendship rekindle little by little.

But Sofia was a single mother of three children. She was always working and when she wasn’t working, she was with the children. We couldn’t go to a bar and talk shit about her ex.

I wanted to know what happened in the years he managed to separate her from everyone.

That conversation was meant to be had face to face, I thought. One day we’d meet and I’d ask.

When you’re an adult, one week turns into a month, and then a year… or two.

I blinked, and my friendship with her was online. We never met up. Our lives clashed. The things we talked about were superficial.

Did she likeStranger Things?

What about the newest Taylor Swift album?

Things that I wondered about her, things I wasn’t so scared of asking.

And then one day, I opened my social media expecting to see a message from her and instead I found out Sofia was dead. The attorney’s call came after, when I already had spent my day reading the sad messages left unread on her timeline.

Time.I thought I had time, but I didn’t. I thought I understood what was happening, but I didn’t.

I was determined not to make the same mistake with her children. I might think I understood what was happening to Lachlan. I might think he only needed time.

No.

With renewed will, I checked the credentials of the first two doctors in my search, deciding on one and calling to make an appointment.

“They give lollipops at the end,” I mumbled to myself. “Kids like that.”

“Livinginafancypenthouse, and now he thinks he can roll in later than everyone.”

Mike chuckled, making the other men follow his lead. I had barely locked my truck in front of the site and they were already on my case.

“Dropping the kids at school,” I mumbled, not in the mood.

“Missus got you whipped?”

Mike was a good guy. He just liked to run his mouth, make people laugh.

“I’m still the boss, Mike,” I reminded him. “Where’s Dustin?”

Mike nodded to the building. “Up there,boss.” I didn’t care for the snicker that followed.

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