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“Life hasn’t exactly been easy for Theo,” she continued. “Almost everywhere he goes, he’s alone a lot. Making friends has been something of a crutch. Even for kids, he’s hard to keep up with. Because he’s so…active,sometimes he throws or kicks a ball too hard. Sometimes, he’s too talkative and doesn’t have a handle on inside and outside voices. Eventually, he pulls away because he’s sensitive to rejection and would rather be alone than,” she swallowed, pushing down the threat of tears, “be left out. Stuff like that.”
She’d assumed that leaving Theo at preschool for his first day would have been easier to manage as she’d already experienced it with Josiah. Then Theo started coming home sad virtually every afternoon, and she could never get him to tell her why.
However, the little kids’ playground had been visible from Josiah’s classroom. So, Josiah saw that every single day, Theo played alone. Josiah, being older, wasn’t permitted to go outside to spend recess with Theo, and it broke her heart into so many pieces that some remained behind in Maui.
She wasn’t sure whether the trend continued in Sweden. Although he never came home as sad as he used to, he never talked about friends.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “I kept him with me more because he had so many problems in daycare. Socialization isn’t innate. I’m not sure how I expected him to learn to make friends if I never allowed him to have any.”
Joel squeezed her hand. “First of all, ‘we’ kept him with ‘us.’ It was ‘our’ decision to keep Theo at home with us as much as we could. It was less stressful for him that way. Once the weather gets warmer, we’ll put him on a soccer team or something. Give it time. He’ll make friends. He’s too amazing not to make friends.”
She shook off memories of Theo by himself in their yard with his soccer ball whenever Josiah was busy, at school, or out with friends and she couldn’t play with him. Joel had been more of a blessing in Theo’s life than she’d realized. Whenever Joel visited, they played together. Joel eventually visited so much, outside of school, all of Theo’s lonely moments vanished.
“What do you guys think?” She looked from Gage to Joel. “Do you think what he’s drawing is something he’s seen or that it’s representative of something he’s too young to articulate?”
Joel and Gage exchanged a look.
“Things have been quiet,” Gage said. “We assumed that would have been a good thing, but it’s…unsettling. My hope is that the drawings are a conduit for his feelings.”
“Do you think something that like could happen, and he’d keep it to himself?”
Tayler nodded. “Definitely, but I’m not saying someone’s causing him physical harm. You’d be surprised what kids will keep from their parents. Sometimes, it’s fear. Sometimes, they think it’s their job to protect their parents. We all know that the child’s brain is self-centered, so if something goes wrong, they immediately blame themselves.”
Now that Theo, Thandie, and Josiah were enrolled in school, only the guys could drop them off unless she or Ari had to be there. They wouldn’t even risk Mo. The situation with Central was too delicate to trust anyone else, even people in the area the guys had trusted for years.
“Could he spend some time with me?” Joel asked. “Just me and him? We haven’t done that in a while.”
Ayesha smiled. “Of course, Joel. You know he’d love that. You don’t even have to ask.”
Their joined hands moved in sync, fingers brushing and stroking. Lately, she’d had Joel, Xara, and Mike to focus on, so it had been a while since she’d last sat with the knowledge of how tough things could be for Theo from time to time.
It wasn’t like he could help some of his traits. Notwithstanding his recent difficulties, Theo melted hearts with his little face, his eyes, and that giggle of his.
The emotion returned.
This time, there would be no burying it.
She stood. “I’ll be right back.”
After letting Tayler know she’d be okay on her own, she headed for the restroom. Thankfully, it was mostly empty, and she locked herself in a stall and reeled off tissue paper, dabbing at her eyes until they stung.
Since Theo didn’t have an extensive enough vocabulary to articulate his frustration, the figure could have been a symbol. If he saw himself as a danger or nuisance, the man could represent his fear of hurting her and Josiah.
Theo also wanted Joel to be his father. Perhaps he figured that if he had a living father, many of his problems would disappear. There was only so much she could do on her own, and Theo knew, to a certain extent, that Curtis and Joel had capabilities to keep him safe that the average father didn’t.
Usually, it would all be too much.
Now, she had Joel in her corner.
She blew her nose, left the stall, washed her hands at the sink, and checked her makeup. Joel, Tayler, and Gage knew what she’d come in here to do, but she didn’t want tolookit.
She wiped her hands, tossed the paper towel, and left the bathroom only to run smack dab into a solid chest. The person wrapped their arms around her waist to steady her—and didn’t let go.
“Ayesha?”
She looked up.“Adrían?”
“Querida, you look beautiful.” He drew her close. “It’s so good seeing you.”
