Two years passed, and Zero became more protective over Sonya. Now that he could almost walk, every time Sonya cried, Zero would stumble over to see what was wrong.
Also, things got easier. I got a job at the store, putting stock on shelves. The store owner paid me a dollar an hour, and he let the babies stay in the back as I worked.
This afternoon we had gotten an order of assorted candies, I'd been setting them on shelves. When I was finished, I walked to the back. As I opened the door, Sonya started to cry.Zero reached over, grabbed the pacifier off the floor, and got up. Then stumbled over to Sonya, sat down, and popped the pacifier in her mouth. The owner, Johnny, snorted. I stifled a laugh. I walked over and sat down next to them. Sonya looked at me, the purple pacifier in her mouth.
"Ska,Ska!" Zero warbled, " ook, ook!"
I turned to look, Zero was pointing at Johnny. He handed me a bag.
"Oh sir, I just can't -" I started, but Johnny interrupted.
"Take it. It's just some bread, cheese, and formula ."
"Okay." I sighed, "Thank you,sir... I best be going home now."
"See you Monday. You can take the weekend off."
Thank you, sir!"
I picked up Sonya, and took Zero's hand. We strolled down the block to our house.
Over last summer, I'd fixed it up. Push mowing the lawn, repairing broken things, repainting the porch, and making an area where Zero and Sonya could play.
We even have a kitten now. It had shown up during the winter, hungry and cold. Now as sleek and strong as ever, it has cloudy gray fur and stormy blue eyes.
"Meow, Meow?" Zero called.
The kitten appeared in a tree and climbed down, then came and rubbed his head on Zero's hand. Zero giggled, and Sonya leaned as far as she could, trying to grab the kitten. I put her down, and she crawled to the kitten. The kitten jumped into her lap, purring. Zero walked over to the small pile of toys, grabbed a bouncy ball, and walked back over. Then sat down beside Sonya. He tapped her on the hand three times, and she looked at him. He handed her the bouncy ball. She leaned over and hugged him. I smiled.
