The Family: Ties That Bind (VOL. 2)

Chapter 26

"I've got a plan," I announced, almost wishing I hadn't. It wasn't the best plan I've even devised, but it was the only option I could work out that would solve both of our problems before it was too late.

"Well, spit it out?" Deetz urged me. She was growing impatient and antsy.

"Do you trust me?" 

"We have no choice but to trust you."

Not the answer I was looking for, but it'd have to do. "That's good enough for me."

Grabbing the knitted blanket draped over the footboard of Loretta's bed, I sprawled it out and laid Thomas down on the center. My hands trembled as I wrapped him up like a baby burrito. Tears slipped from my eyes and I smudged them away with the back of my hand. Now was not the time to get emotional. 

Lifting him back into my arms, I pressed my cheek against his and whispered, "I'm doing this because I love you, Thommy. God, I love you so much." I raised my eyes until they met the faces of the two I intended to entrust my precious cargo. "These nice people are going to take really good care of you. They're going to get you help, sweet boy. So I need you to be good for me, okay? We'll see each other again really soon. This isn't goodbye."

Combating reluctance, I held my swadled bundle out to them and they both looked at me like I had sprouted a third eye. "What are you doing?" Deetz asked, shifting her eyes between me and Thomas.

"Please, you have to take him with you. He's sick and needs a doctor."

"Are you insane?! Are you actually out of your freaking mind?! That's not a plan, that's a suicide mission. If you want him to see a doctor then why can't you come and bring him with you?"

More tears rolled down my cheeks and I fought the urge to fall to pieces in front of them. "You don't understand."

"No, I understand completely. If we get caught with him, they'll bring him back to you and we'll be the ones to die. You and the kid will get to live on like nothing ever happened. That's why you want us to take him."

She was only partially right. I wasn't staying behind as a contingency plan. The motive behind my part in our scheme was intentional and I was the only one who could fill the role. "Look, Deetz. You need a diversion to get out of here and I need my baby taken to a doctor. You scratch my back I scratch yours. Deal?"

"So you're planning on distracting them while we escape?" Dwight questioned, cutting the tension in the room.

"Only if you take Thomas with you. That's the only way I can see this working."

"We don't have time for going back and forth." Deetz begrudgingly held out her arms. "Give him to me. If taking him with us means getting out of here then It's worth it."

I looked down at Thomas sleeping in my arms. His eyelids fluttered as he slept and I wondered what he was dreaming about. Were he thinking of me? Or Bubba? Maybe he was dreaming about Comet and how silly he looked begging on his hind legs for leftovers. If I didn't do follow through with the plan, those sweet, innocent, dreams would turn into nightmares. The older he got, the more that place would warp him into some unrecognizable fiend. Not him. Not my baby. As much as it hurt, I'd do what I must to keep that from ever becoming a possibility.

Nestling him into Deetz's arms, I adjusted his blankets so he wouldn't be exposed to the elements outside. "Please, take care of him. And when you give him back to his real family, tell them not to let him forget about me. That's all I ask, please."

"We'll make sure they won't, Matilda. You've done a good job keeping him safe amidst all this craziness. Now let us do the rest." Dwight's face drooped. He pitied me and I hated it. The look on his face only made it more difficult to hold back my emotions. Breaking down and sobbing wasn't going to help any of us, but staying strong and level-headed would.