Page 13 of Defending A Promise
“Shh, baby. It’s okay. These are Mommy’s friends.”
Mommy? She’s a mommy? Where the fuck is her husband when this is all going on?
I watch as she picks up the little boy and he wraps his arms and legs around her body and lays his head on her shoulder. “I had a bad dream.”
“Shh. It’s okay. I’ve got you. Nothing’s going to happen to you.” She rocks the little boy as he snuggles up against her.
I turn to Kowalski, “Are they alone here?”
She nods.
“Then they’re staying with me.”
She nods again. “Good. I’m not sure what this is, but I am sure I don’t have the entire story. I’m not too comfortable leaving them alone in this house tonight.”
“Don’t worry. They’re both coming home with me.”
Once the detectives and crime scene personnel finish doing their thing, I go looking for Riley and find her in River’s old room. It now looks like a little boy’s room and the memories come flooding back of so many times that I played as a child in this exact room with River. But now, there is another little boy and his mother in here – and they both look scared to death.
“Everyone is leaving. Why don’t you pack a few things for the both of you so we can get out of here, too?”
Riley’s looking down at her son who is awake but is lying with his head on her lap as she sits on his bed. She’s stroking her son’s hair with one hand and rubbing circles on his back. His eyes are heavy even though he is fighting to stay awake.
“I don’t want to put you out Declan, but thank you for the offer.”
“You both staying here isnotan option. Either you come stay with me or we go to a hotel. Which is it?” I’m angry that she’s having to go through all of this and that I wasn’t her first phone call. I’m also mad that I didn’t know she had a kid, and where the fuck is the father or husband? All of this is evident in the tone of my voice, so I try to soften it up a bit. She doesn’t need my attitude right now. “Unless you really want to stay here, then I can sleep on the couch. Whatever you want to do.”
Riley’s quiet for a few minutes as she’s thinking about her options when the little boy sits up in her lap.
“Mommy, are you okay? You look scared. Like I was that one time those monsters came to the door on Halloween. Are you scared Mommy?”
I watch Riley stroke his hair out of his face, “Yes. Mommy is scared.”
The little boy kneels up and wraps his arms around her neck, “Don’t be scared Mommy. I’ll protect you from the monsters.”
Riley pulls him into her arms and looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “Can we stay with you?”
I answer immediately in case she changes her mind. “Of course. Let’s get your stuff and get out of here. It’s getting late.” Hell, it’s only ten o’clock, but that’s too late for a little boy to be up. Right?
She pulls her son away from her so she can look him in the eyes. “Nicholas, this is Mommy’s really good friend, Declan. He was also best friends with Uncle River. Can you introduce yourself to him?”
He looks up at me as if he’s deciding if I’m worthy or not and suddenly I want to pass this test with everything I’ve got, so I make the first move and hold out my hand to shake. Nicholas climbs off of Riley and stands in front of me.
“Hi. My name is Declan.”
“Hi. I’m Nickels.” He shakes my hand, and his little fingers get lost in the largeness of my own.
Immediately, I pick up that he can’t pronounce his name correctly, but I’m not dumb enough to try to correct him. It’s his name – he can pronounce it however he wants to.
“It’s nice to meet you, Nickels. How about you grab a few of your favorite toys and we’ll go to my house. Make sure to pack a bathing suit. I’ve got a pool.”
His eyes light up, “You’ve got your very own pool?”
“Yep. And a dog named Bella.”
He whips around to his mother, “Mommy, did you hear that?”
She nods with a small smile, “I did. You better hurry up.”
