“It’s okay, Madeline, you’re my friend.”
Her lip started to shake like it usually did before she cried because Mommy and Dad began to bellow louder. I helped her sit up a little to sit in my lap as I hugged her and let her hug Teddy. I wish Mommy and Daddy would stop fighting.
I sat on the floor, twisting the wind-up car. Madeline was now almost one my mommy kept telling me. Madeline sat across from me, taking one of my cars and putting the car into her mouth. The hallway was the best place to play with the cars because it was the longest road. Madeline then started to hit the car against the floor.
“Hey! Don’t do that!”
Her green eyes grew big as she stared into mine, and I was still mad at Madeline. She already broke one of my cars. I miss that bright red car.
“Okay, Madeline, it’s naptime.”
Mommy came into the room and gave me back my car as Madeline started to cry. Madeline then grabbed on to my mom’s star necklace. The two disappeared up the stairs. Her spit covered the car, gross. A few minutes later, mommy came back downstairs and kissed me lightly on the forehead, then sat down next to me.
“My little Sawyer, you’re such a good boy, and I want to thank you for being so good to Madeline.”
“She’s okay for a girl.”
My mom laughed as she ruffled my hair that was the same color as hers. I looked into her green eyes and smiled. My mom started to twist the chain of her necklace.
“Melanie, what are you doing?”
“I’m sitting here with our son, Robert. What does it look like I’m doing? I can see how spending time with our son seems foreign to you.”
“Where is it?”
“Madeline is now asleep since it is her naptime.” Her voice was sharp.
I looked up at the tall man that was my dad. He wasn’t looking at me but at my mother, who was sitting down at my level.
“Son, go up to your room. Your mother and I need to talk.”
His voice made me scared. Something didn’t sound right. So, without glancing back, I started to head up the stairs to hide in my room. There were some loud voices and a slamming of a door. Then everything was silent.
I started to get hungry for dinner when my dad came into my room. His eyes were flat as he frowned. My dad sat down on my superhero covers and took off his glasses, then rubbed his eyes.
“My son, please sit down next to me. I have to try to explain something to you that you’re too young for.”
I tilted my head. Quietly I climbed up on the bed next to my father. His brown hair was short, unlike mine. He turned to look at me, but his gaze was nothing compared to mommy’s.
“Sawyer, my son, your mother…she left.”
“Did Mommy go to the store?”
He was quiet for a moment, then sighed.
“Not like that Sawyer, you’re too young for this, but she won’t be coming home again.”
I was confused. What did Dad mean Mommy wasn’t coming home? How could Mommy not be coming home? Tears started to sting my eyes.
“What do you mean?”
Dad put a hand on my shoulder as I looked at the ground. Teddy sat on my floor, staring up at us, still smiling because he wasn’t confused like I was.
“My son, your mother doesn’t want to be near us because she can’t take this family anymore with Madeline.”
“But Mommy said she was happy at how I was a good boy.”
“Women are complicated, son, never forget that. Your mother doesn’t want to be with us, so she decided she didn’t want to be a wife and a mother, so she just left.”
Mommy didn’t want to be a mommy anymore? She didn’t want to be near me? I could feel the tears roll down my cheeks as I still didn’t understand what my dad was trying to tell me.
“I’m sorry, son, I know you probably don’t understand this, and this is going to be hard, but Sawyer, I’m here for you; just remember that.”
With that, he stood up and left the room, leaving me alone.
2
Madeline
If I keep my eyes closed, I don’t have to worry about seeing the scary monsters. Especially the ice woman with her frozen stare. I held the thin blanket tighter to me as the cold tile floor made me shiver. I hated how cold Dr. Vodola kept his lab. I’ve been in other rooms when he has taken me to talk to people, and these rooms or labs weren’t as cold as this one. I’ve told him I was freezing, and he didn’t seem to notice that I was even talking.
“Are you awake?”
I cracked one eye open to see who was there. Dr. Vodola standing there in khakis, a blue dress shirt, a tie, and his white coat in his hands.
“Yes, sir, I’m awake.”
“Good, now get changed into your clothes, and we’ll get going.”
I stood up and grabbed my dress and went into the lab’s bathroom. Slowly I took off the dark pink nightgown that I wore at home in the lab and into the regular clothes that I was only allowed to wear when I was going outside the house. I tugged on my light pink shirt, and blue skirt then skipped out of the bathroom. Then I sat in my corner of the lab to put on my white socks with the little pink rim then my white shoes. I ran a brush through my hair quickly.
“Where are we going?”
I was excited to be leaving the room, but I was afraid of what was outside these walls. The
