After making her way outside, Alace settled into a lounger, lifting her legs and crossing them at the ankles, presenting a façade of relaxation to anyone watching. No one is watching. She reached into the diaper bag Kelly had left near the chair and retrieved a lightweight blanket to protect Lila from the sunshine beaming down from the sky. Alace leaned her head back and closed her eyes, soaking in the warmth.
“Miss Alace?”
She opened her eyes to find Kelly next to her. Looking past him, she saw Shiloh was still running drunken circles, giggling when she staggered sideways as she spiraled in a tighter circuit.
“Yeah, Kelly?” Underneath the blanket, Lila shifted, snuffling again as she moved. Alace moderated her voice. “You need a drink?”
“That boy, the one who came to the house a few weeks ago. Is he gonna be okay?” Alace froze, concentrating on Kelly, his breathing, his face, the tiny muscles twitching his expression into one of concern. “Don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to see. Promise. I woke up and thought maybe I’d heard Shiloh, so I checked on her and saw the light on in Doc’s workroom. It’s been bugging me, but I didn’t want to worry Owen.” His forehead crinkled, brows drawing together. “I figured I could ask you.”
“What do you know about him?” No use denying Rodney had been in their house, not if Kelly had actually seen him. Better to mitigate any possible fear or concern and play off the occurrence as something normal. “What did you hear that makes you worried for him?”
“Well, he was there to see Doc.” Kelly shrugged in that effortless way little kids always had, like their bones were fluid. “And he sounded like someone had hurt him bad. I just wanted to make sure he’s gonna be okay.” He glanced around at his sister, who had fallen to the ground on her back, arms and legs sprawled akimbo, her laughter floating towards the sky. “Like me and Shiloh are.”
In her mind, Alace reviewed a video she’d been sent of Rodney’s homecoming.
Once Rodney underwent initial treatment at the Aurora Children’s Hospital, things moved fast. Too fast to transport his parents to Colorado, not with Alace expediting everything from behind the scenes. The children’s hospital in Atlanta was prepared to receive him, but Alace diverted the ambulance to his parents’ house along the way from the airport. The driver had recorded the encounter, from moments before the door burst open until the back of the ambulance closed, Rodney’s mother seated on the gurney with her son in her arms.
The glimpse into the woman’s life had ripped at Alace, building an inferno where a flame had barely kindled before. In the room behind her had stood an unseasonable Christmas tree, seven years of unopened presents piled underneath. On the mantel were montage photo frames declaring things like “Happy 10th Birthday,” two of the available slots filled with photos of Rodney’s siblings, one rectangle standing empty. When the woman leaped toward the ambulance, Alace had noticed a tattoo on her arm. A quick online search surfaced not only the tattoo but the meaning. A tree, the main branches made from renditions of her children’s signatures, one space starkly blank. Waiting. Everything was about waiting for Rodney, even as her other children had forced time to keep moving forwards.
Rodney had already endured one reconstructive surgery, with two more planned as soon as his wounds healed enough. For a certain sum of money, that same ambulance driver had happily transferred to a hospital staff position and was feeding Alace more videos as things changed. Even swaddled with bandages, tongue stitched and swollen, Rodney had talked about his savior. “The man with kind eyes,” he’d called Owen. “My hero,” his mother declared.
Yeah, Rodney was going to be absolutely fine.
“He’s with his mother and father again.” Kelly tilted his head to one side, considering her response. “I get regular updates on him. Do you want to know he’s okay going forwards?”
“Yeah.” Kelly’s smile was without subterfuge, bright and loving. “That’d be great, Miss Alace.” He held out his hands. “Want me to take Lila for a little bit?”
Lila’s movements hadn’t ceased this time, and Alace looked down to see her daughter’s face peeking out from underneath the blanket. Her toothless grin was as brilliantly innocent as Kelly’s smile. Alace drew her closer to plant a kiss on her forehead. “Wanna go with Kelly, baby girl?” The grin widened, Lila’s approval of the offer clear. “Here you go, kid. Bring her back when she gets heavy.”
She handed Lila over, watching as the little girl gripped tight to Kelly’s shirt, holding herself close so she could wobble forward and plant an open-mouthed kiss against the boy’s cheek. True to form, Kelly held her securely, one hand splayed across Lila’s upper back. When Lila pulled away, her mouth was shiny, wet with saliva. Kelly grinned at her and swiped his face against his shoulder. “Hey, kiddo.”
Alace kept an eye on them as Kelly wandered into the yard, both of his arms wrapped around Lila. Alace pulled her phone from a pocket, unlocked it, and launched her text string with Eric. Snapping a photo, she uploaded it there, and then after a moment’s thought, sent the same picture to Owen and then Doc. Kelly was half-turned away, staring into Lila’s face, both children in profile while behind them Shiloh was falling out of an attempted handstand, hair in a tumbled halo as her legs came down.
Sunshine AND outdoors with children. It’s like I don’t even know you.
That text was from Owen, of course. In between his words, she read gratefulness for how she was taking time for his kids and had sent him a reminder of why they did the work.
Sunscreen is your friend.
That text came in from a different contact, quickly followed by a second.
Looks like fun. Tell them I love them.
Both were from Doc, unsurprisingly. He was the most open of any of them with his affection, and she enjoyed that about him.
My heart.
Eric.
You’ve convinced me. On my way home.
Alace blinked back tears.
These three men were such unexpected gifts, filling places in her life she hadn’t known were empty.
Eric, her heart, forcing her to explore emotions for the first time.
Owen, her head, bulldozing past fear of motivation and forcing her to develop an unexpected trust and friendship.
Doc, everyone’s careful balance, his healing the yin to the yang of their violent retribution.
“Lila.” She called across the yard, loving how her daughter’s attention zeroed in on her mother. Kelly watched them both, standing where he could see Shiloh, also. He’s definitely a caregiver kid. She’d seen evidence of his nature time and again and treasured this side of the boy. “Daddy’s coming home. Are you excited?”
Lila released her grip on Kelly but never wavered, his hold on her secure. She clapped her tiny hands together and squealed loudly, joined by Kelly’s echo of Alace’s words. “Daddy’s coming home.”
Shiloh lifted her head and looked excited. “Daddy?”
“No, Shiloh. Not our dads, Lila’s daddy.” Kelly jumped in place, his movements cautious and slow. “Lila’s daddy, Lila’s daddy, Lila’s daddy.” Shiloh surged to her feet and joined in, her leaps much more enthusiastic. “Lila’s daddy, Lila’s daddy, Lila’s daddy.”