Displaced

Timber - Forty-Six

The day of the barbeque get-together, I had two kids to watch. Chevelle left me for her support group, and stayed a lot longer than I expected, and of course, Lara was at school. According to the bathroom calendar, it was a Saturday. The students at school took bizarre intervals of time off. Sometimes Lara went to school for three or four days and took two off, others she learned for longer periods of time. I'm pretty sure it was another tactic of the Achlivans to further throw off our sense of time.

I packed up the diaper bag for Monique and grabbed Vance's favorite stuffed monkey, Mops, from out of the nursery. Vance was kid number two. He was three years old, and freshly potty-trained. At first I was nervous about him having accidents. As it turned out, he was diligent with going to the bathroom in a toilet.

"Mops!" Vance said when I brought out the monkey. It was one of the toys that I had found in the room. He loved it so much I was just going to give it to him. The kid was adorable with little blonde ringlets for hair and bright blue eyes. Watching the two of them was not the nightmare I had been imagining, though it still left me out of my comfort zone. Big time.

Handing the monkey to Vance, I did one more check to make sure we had everything we needed. "Okay, I think we're ready to head over to your parents."

Not like I'd met their parents. Paul brought them both over every day. He told me to meet him at the park with the kids, and I'd get some formal introductions. I still hadn't told him I was going to accept his job proposal. Somehow, I'm pretty sure he already knew how I was going to answer him. Man, I was nervous about this party. Moreso than I probably should have been. The thing that had me on edge was Chevelle. If she ditched me and left me to fend for myself, I don't know if I'd be able to forgive her.

Right as we were about to head out the door, the balcony moved. A few minutes later, Chevelle came up, waving and smiling.

"Well, there's a sight for sore eyes," I teased. Couldn't help but wonder if the Achlivans brainwashed her or hijacked her body. She was awfully happy.

Then she flipped me off and I knew she was still her normal, usual self. "Just getting comfortable here."

"Isn't that betraying our species?" I chided. Probably not smart, but I had to test her a little bit so I could at least figure out what was going on in her head. She still didn't just pour her thoughts out like an open book. The best way to get her to communicate with me was to tease and press her buttons, challenge her.

"Someone said something that really struck me. Just because I don't want to be here, didn't mean I had to suffer either. It doesn't make me more brave or special than anyone else. They talked about a movie they saw once about a guy who was in prison camp, and he made the whole thing a game for his son so it was more bearable. Not that I want to make this a game, but the point is more, you have to make the most of your situation so you don't become so depressed you quit."

I nodded, pretty sure I had told her those things myself. If she wasn't going to listen to me, I'm glad she was catching on from someone else. "I've seen that movie. Life is Beautiful. And you're right, you don't have to be miserable."

"I owe you another apology."

"For?"

"Just giving you so much crap about everything."

I reached down to pick up Monique. "It's water under the bridge. Okay?"

"I'm going to try harder to respect you," she added. "You're an adult and you can make your own decisions. I still don't agree with your way of thinking, but I'll stop being such a baby now."

Slowly, I walked over and put a hand to her forehead. "Are you sick?"

"No."

"Drugs?"