The Bone Collector

15

Albie's soft cries woke me and I found Cristobal walking into his little brothers room as I shut my door behind me. Miguel was sleeping soundly and we didn't both need to be awake this early. I found Cristobal holding Albert's hand through the bars and singing him Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

"You're going to be the best big brother sweetie." I smiled as he beamed at the compliment.

"Mommy told me to look after him." Cristobal said as he played gently with Albert's fingers.

"When did she say that?" I asked quietly.

"When we went to live with our new daddy." He answered.

I didn't even know how to respond to that. He was obviously fed a lot of bullshit by Emily and it just reconfirmed the need for a child therapist. I picked up Albert, who was kicking his legs around getting angsty.

"Do you want to pick out his clothes today?" I asked Cris as I changed Albie's diaper. "I reckon a big boy like you could choose a great outfit."

He grinned at the inclusion and pulled the drawers out messily before coming back with a superhero themed romper. I took the outfit and pulled it over Albie's head and clipped it on.

"Thank you darling. Now, how about pancakes for breakfast?" I asked Cristobal and was rewarded with a big nod. "Come on then, I'm starving!"

Missing out of dinner last night left me feeling ravenous as we descended the stairs and turned the lights on. The sun was only just starting to rise and it wasn't quite light enough to see everything in the kitchen. I made a bottle for Albert since my milk had stopped, probably from stress, and he swayed happily in the Nuna Leaf as Cristobal pushed him. I gathered all the ingredients first before I lifted the eldest child onto the bench to help me. I was busy picking out egg shells when I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"I hope we didn't wake you." I said as Miguel rounded the corner and gave me a kiss before picking up the giggling toddler.

"I'm making pancakes." Cris announced proudly to his dad.

"What a clever boy you are, not even I can make those." Miguel replied putting him down and ruffling his hair.

With the slow help of a distracted toddler, Miguel finally got the table set and I placed the tower of pancakes in the middle. The grandfather clock chimed 7am and a knock sounded at the door. With a sigh I rose from the table to see who was here.

"A little early for a house call Marcus." I said as I opened the door wider to let him in. "He's at the table, I'll set you a plate."

I grabbed another plate and cutlery set and put them in front of Marcus and pushed him the maple syrup. "Help yourself, there's plenty."

I cleared away mine and Cristobal's plates and took him upstairs to give the men privacy. I ran him a bath and let him play with the water toys while I gathered him some clothes. I rummaged around the drawers for some home clothes, since he would only get them dirty as we played. I pushed all the fancy, branded clothes aside and found a piece of paper caught at the bottom. I tugged but it didn't come out so I pulled the drawer out.

There were clothes scattered across the room as I tipped the drawer upside down. Without the weight of the clothes, the paper slid out when I pulled and lifted the thin wood panel up. A handful of pages had been hidden between the drawer and a fake bottom. I quickly put the bottom back on and shoved all the clothes in once more. Cristobal was still happily splashing in the bath tub when I returned with his clothing.