vehement

8

• AMALIA •

I wake up to the sound of my sons cries, and I rush out of the bed, out of my room and into his. The door is already open, and panic swirls inside of me until I get to the doorway.

Alexandra is sitting by Enzo's bed on the floor, tiredness weighing down her features as she tries to make him laugh, to no avail. When he sees me, he sobs, "mama!"

I walk over quickly and lift him up. Alexandra stands up, too.

"I'm trying to sleep, and your baby won't be quiet!" She exclaims. This only makes Enzo cry more, and I frown as I hold him close to me, trying to calm him down.

"Ally." Archer warns, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

"What?" She challenges, narrowing her eyes. "I'm not allowed to have a nice sleep now? Do we all have to bend over backwards for this random woman and her random kid?"

Random woman.

Tears prick at my eyes.

"I'll go get him some milk." I whisper, walking out and deciding to let them talk. I take Enzo into the kitchen, checking the time. It's six a.m., so I may as well just stay awake now.

I set him in his high chair, then warm up some milk and pour it into his cup. I pass it to him, and he grabs it with his little hands, sniffling as he gulps it down.

I plant a kiss in his blonde hair. "It's okay, baby."

He pulls the bottle away. "Mama."

"Hm?"

"LEGO with Archie."

My heart softens. "Archer has to go back to sleep, honey. Maybe when he wakes up he'll play with you."

He tilts his head. "Oh.."

     "I'm sorry." I say. I lift him out of his seat, setting him on my hip. He keeps his grip tight on his bottle, leaning his head on my shoulder. "Let's watch some television."

     I sit him on my lap after settling onto the couch. He wraps his little arms around my waist, snuggling into me. I turn on a kids show, and he turns his head to watch it.

"Mama." He whispers.

"Yeah?"

"Why was she yelling?"

I frown. "She just misses home, I think. Don't worry."

He doesn't say anything else, and I begin to lightly scratch his back. I end up falling back asleep with him in my arms, and when I wake up he's asleep too.

My head snaps over to the clock, and my eyes widen. It's ten a.m.

I can hear talking from downstairs, and I furrow my eyebrows, rushing over to the door with my son in my arms and down the stairs. When I get to the shop, I pause.

Archer is behind the counter, passing a bouquet of flowers to an old woman. He says goodbye to her, and she leaves. He leans back in the seat and glances at me, then turns his whole head to look at me.

     He stands up. "Hey. Sorry, you were sleeping and every time I tried to wake you up Enzo shook his head and I was kind of intimidated." He lets out a small laugh. "You said last night you wanted to open the shop for the day so I figured I'd do it for you. Sorry. I shouldn't have."

     "No. Thank you." I whisper. "Did many people come in?"

     "A couple, yeah." He responds. "I have a boxing match later. Do you wanna come?"