Page 3 of A Lie so Dangerous and Fragile

“Depressing, as always. I had twelve rooms to clean today,” I said with a sigh. “Hope Kayden didn’t cause you too much trouble.”

“You know him, honey. He kicked me in the eye today when I tried to change his diaper.” She laughed. “I had to chase him around the house with the diaper,” she said.

“Young man, didn’t I teach you to be a gentleman?” I asked Kayden.

He giggled at my statement and tried to repeat what I’d said, but his vocabulary came out funny.

“I’m sorry about that,” I apologized to Mrs. Porter.

“Oh, please, don’t apologize. I needed the chase anyway. It made me realize I need to give my yoga trainer her job back.” She laughed, brushing it off.

She was like a mother to me. It was nice to have Kayden here to keep her company. She didn’t have anyone, and sometimes, I could feel her loneliness. She lived in the big house all by herself and sometimes gave me free rein to the cars she rarely used. Every day, she got Kayden a new toy, every nook and cranny of this house was littered with them.

“Ouch!” I groaned when Kayden pulled at my earring.

He giggled and did it again.

“You’re hurting Mommy.” I frowned, holding his tiny hand to stop him from doing it again.

“No.” He shook his head.

He stood up on my thighs, and I put one arm around him to avoid any accidents. He began to jump and sang something I couldn’t understand.

“Kayden, honey, your mom is tired,” Mrs. Potter said.

“Mommy tywad?” He spoke indistinctly as he played with the embroidery on the sleeve of my uniform.

He looked at my face, and I nodded. He giggled and jumped again. He got tired and sat back.

“I hope the pressure from school is not too much?” Mrs. Potter asked.

“I’m getting used to it. Besides, the semester doesn’t start till next week. I get more time with Kayden,” I said, looking at him, my heart flooding with gratitude and love for this tiny human.

“Mommy,Cocomeywon,” Kayden said, pointing at the scattered toys in the big living room.

I followed the direction of his little finger. He showed me the large screen TV, where his favorite nursery rhymes were playing. He moved his head side to side to the song playing. I laughed softly and put him down. He ran to the living room while I smiled. I loved him more and more every day, and I just wanted to protect him from the wickedness of this world. I was giving him my best and keeping him safe from my past.

“You should be proud of yourself,” Mrs. Porter said, touching my hand.

I turned to look at her. Her thinning gray hair suited her facial features. Her eyes always squinted when she smiled.

“I know it hurts, living like this, hiding him, but I assure you, it’s for the best. Once you move to New York, it will get easier.”

“I’m looking forward to that.” I chuckled.

“Isn’t that your bag?”

I looked behind me to where Mrs. Porter was pointing, Kayden was removing everything in my bag. He stopped when he found my phone. I knew what he was about to do.

“Kayden, put it down.”

He stared at me for a long second without doing anything. He stood up and started running toward the kitchen.

“Kayden.”

I went after him, and he looked back and giggled as he saw me coming after him.

“Don’t do that,” I said as he stopped in front of the trash can.

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