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“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Is Kiyah having a bad night?”
“She is, but you’ll never know it by the morning. She’ll be bright-eyed and bushy tailed as if she didn’t cry herself to sleep.”
“Mhm. I’ve been reading this book on children and grief.”
“You have?” I asked in disbelief.
“I have. I’ve been trying to educate myself because I’m so afraid of saying something around Kiyah and upsetting her or not being able to help her through her grief if you’re not present.”
This man is literally perfect. I’m convinced that Eliza was chugging on embalming fluid when she fucked up with Jonathan.
“And what did you learn?”
“There are four essentials a child needs when he or she grieves: routine, love, honesty, and security. I also learned that it’s important to not tell her what she’s feeling or ought to feel and that it’s better to ask. And as I say these things out loud, I realize it’s no different than how you should treat an adult. Children are little adults, after all. How are you feeling, Kierra?”
I sat there dumbfounded as I tried to find the answer. I heaved a sigh of relief when the doorbell rang repeatedly.
“Saved by the bell. To be continued.”
Chapter Twelve
Kierra
I followed behind Jonathan and intercepted the boys as soon as they entered the house with gigantic smiles plastered on their faces. They obviously had a wonderful time with their mother, and I loved that for them. Still, the overt miscommunication, deception, and power move were disrespectful on so many levels.
As promised, Jonathan called law enforcement at 6:01 on the dot. They came to the house, and he filed a report, giving them his legal documents detailing their custody arrangement and schedule. He also showed them the phone calls he made to Eliza and her sister and the text message that was left on “read” hours earlier.
“Ms. Kierra, look what I got!” Casey greeted me excitedly, showing me a blow-up lightsaber.
“That’s so cool, Case! I can’t wait to play with it after school tomorrow.”
His shoulders slumped. “Can’t we play now?”
“No, it’s late. You need to take a bath and go to bed. I’m assuming from the sauce at the corner of your mouth that you ate pizza for dinner.”
“I had two slices,” he confirmed, holding up two fingers. “I had cotton candy and ice cream, too!”
“That’s a lot, Case. I hope you don’t get a stomachache in the morning.”
“I hope I do. Then I can stay home from school.”
Lord, please put your protective and healing hands on this little boy. He needs to go to school.
“I hope you don’t. I don’t like to see you sick. Go upstairs and get ready to take a bath. I’ll come and run your bath water.” Casey took off, swinging the lightsaber around his head and making whooshing noises. “Did you have fun with your mother, Grant?”
“I did.”
“What did you guys do?” I asked as I took the stairs with him.
“We went to the movies. Then we went to an arcade and played games and ate pizza. Mom said she is going to take us to the aquarium this weekend.”
“That sounds like so much fun,” I replied, not wanting to derail his excitement. After the stunt Eliza pulled, I wouldn’t be shocked if Jonathan put a stop to unsupervised visits.
Let me stop. Jonathan wouldn’t do that to his kids, but Eliza has to realize that this is the way things are. She had joint custody of the children but blew it by acting like a goon.
“I see you got a stuffed duck.”
“Yeah, I won it in the claw machine. I’m giving it to Daisy. I had won a stuffed bear too and told Mom that I was giving it to Kiyah, but—”
