The horizon and the balcony

Chapter thirty-nine

The appointment in question came sooner rather than later much to John's dismay. He was jammed in the children's waiting room as the adult one was too stuffy. It made John's skin crawl to see that many children in such a limited space, so many germs. The shrill cries of newborns getting their first shots rang through his skull like a bullet. He growled under his breath and tried to make himself comfortable in the tiny plastic chairs. A little girl with brown skin and black braided hair walked up to him and smiled kindly. His fight or flight instincts kicked in in full affect. No no no no-

" 'scuse me Mr. can I use that pink crayon?"she asked pointing next to him. He let out a sigh of relief and put on a polite smile sliding the crayon over.

"Thank you!"She said and took the seat right next to him at the circle table. He was inwardly screaming and tried to make as much distance between the two as possible.

"My name is Theodosia, what's yours?"she asked. Theodosia...that sounded familiar, maybe Alexander said somethin about it-

"Oh Theo there you are!...I see you made a friend" low and behold there was Aaron burr. It was unusual to see him in casual wear, he had on a pair of jeans and a Kings college sweatshirt. The tension in the room grew as John sat there frozen.

"I did! His name is...well...I don't know what his name is but he's nice! He let me use the pink crayon! That's my favorite color daddy"she said. John's head spun at how quickly she changed topics but Aaron just chuckled and sat down next to her.

"I thought your favorite color was yellow, princess?"He asked. She shrugged and stared longingly at the pink crayon, a much too serious look on her young face.

"Pink was mommy's favorite color...so it's mine now too"she said softly. John's breath hitched and suddenly he understood.

"Well I think pink is a very nice color"he said softly. Theo looked up at him with an almost shy smile.

"Ya think so?"she said.

"Mhm, it's actually one of my favorite colors too"he said.

"Was it your mommy's favorite color too?"she asked. Aaron's eyes went comically wide as he tried to diffuse the situation.

"Theo!-"he started but John shook his head.

"She's a kid burr, it's cool"he said softly. Aaron took that as answer enough but Theo was looking at him expectantly.

"My mommy's favorite color was blue, it reminded her of the ocean"he said. Theo's eyes lit up and she bounced in place, the yellow beads in her hair jingled with every bounce.

"That's awesome! My mommy liked the beach a lot! She was so pretty, was your mommy pretty?"she asked. John let out a shaky chuckle and fiddled with his hands, childlike innocence was so pure.

"My mommy was the most beautiful woman in all of Puerto Rico."he said.

"Even prettier than Beyoncé!?"she gasped. John was full on laughing at this point, this little girl was growing on him.

"Yeah, even prettier than Beyoncé. Her name was Eleanor"he said. The name was sweet on his tongue, reminded him of home.

"My mommy's name was Theodosia, just like me!"she said. She was no longer looking at him as she started on a tinkerbell coloring sheet. He felt his eyes blur with tears and he blinked them away straightening his posture. This is what he was afraid of. Kids are inherently harmless but they make you admit so many things, things you're not ready to relive. Aaron looked at him with what can only be described as pity and tapped Theo's shoulder.

"I think that's enough Theo, why don't we look at the fish tank in the other room?"he suggested.

"Fish tank!"she cheered and immediately jumped out of her seat clutching on to his hand.