Page 39 of Single Teddy
I made my way toward them, even though I should keep my distance. I couldn’t exactly talk about the twins out in the open, but I’d be damned if I could go a whole afternoon avoiding him.
“Hi, Bear, so glad you came,” I told the little one whose plate was empty, and he just smiled at me. The pink dragon was all squished up in his arm. It had gone everywhere with him this week, which was probably not very sanitary, but if it offered him some comfort, then that was more important.
“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked him.
“You don’t have chicken nuggets so…” Teddy sighed, wiping his mouth, and it took everything in me not to stare at those beautiful pink lips of his and dream of all the things they could do to me.
“Oh. I’m sorry. Do you want me to check with the cafeteria staff to see if they have any they can whip up?”
He shook his head and glanced at his nephew, who was just staring at his empty plate, not paying us any mind.
“It’s okay, honestly. I don’t think eating nuggets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is healthy anyway.”
“Oh,” was all I managed to say. I made a mental note to do a little lesson on food and nutrition in hopes of helping Bear eat better. “Has he eaten anything for lunch?”
Teddy shook his head. “Are you sure you don’t want pizza? You liked it the other day with Mac.”
“Oh you met Mackenzie? That’s wonderful.” I kneeled in front of Bear and looked him in the eyes. “You know, she’s probably around here somewhere. Do you want to go find her with me?”
Bear shrugged, and I offered him my hand, hoping he’d take it. He did, but when we started to move away from Teddy, he turned around and stared at his uncle until he joined us.
We found Mac behind the bleachers, preparing for the fifth grade show, but as soon as she saw Bear, she dropped everything and gave the tiny guy a hug.
“How are you, Bear? How are you, Bubblegum?” She leaned with her ear close to the dragon and nodded along as if it was speaking to her, and then she greeted Teddy and me.
“Are you ready for the dance show?” I asked her.
Mac’s smile deepened as she answered with a resounding yes.
It was so nice to see her genuinely happy and enjoying school. Such a one-eighty from the miserable shell of a kid she’d become last year. Bullying was such a disease.
“Say, Mac, Bear is really hungry. Do you think you can take him to the buffet to help him find something to eat?” I requested, and she was all too happy to oblige.
And Bear, for a change, followed her without needing Teddy by his side. Not that we didn’t follow them anyway, but at a distance
“How have you been?” Teddy asked.
“Stressed as heck,” I replied. “Any…updates?”
He shook his head.
“They’re coming up with a plan, but it’s complicated.”
“Are you going to tell me the plan? If the boys are in danger, we need to get them out.”
“I know. And I agree with you. And if this were my choice, we’d go in there guns ablazing and save them, but…” He sighed.
Yeah.
It was a little more complex than that.
For one, doing that would make us public enemies number one, and we couldn’t risk it with Bear, the twins, and hell, even my class. Who could guarantee they wouldn’t target my kids?
“Are they here?” he asked, and I scanned the room once more, but of course, I didn’t see them anywhere.
“Of course not,” I said. “Wasn’t expecting them to be here after what happened on Wednesday.”
If that visit proved anything, it was what a shit parent Mr. Barnes was. We might not know if he was involved with the syndicate, but that was the one thing I was certain of.
