Page 82 of Broken
Rebel chuffed out a laugh. “It’s the hardest job on earth, but I still wanna do it.”
Forty minutes later, Prescott had put the crib together in the bedroom closest to his, while Rebel took Ethan out back to play with his new football.
Next, Prescott unpacked Ethan’s clothes, skimmed both books he’d bought on death, then went outside.
Ethan was running, the Nerf football clutched in his small hands while Rebel chased after him. Prescott had planned to uncover his built-in swimming pool but there was no way in hell he was gonna do that now. If Ethan darted into parking lots, he might also wander out back and fall into the water.
A chill slid down his spine.
“How are you so good with kids?” Prescott asked Rebel.
“Iamone, plus I got six nieces and nephews. It’s like my brother and sister are completing for who can have the most children. All their kids are young, so it’s still fun.”
They played catch with Ethan, who loved running around the yard more than he loved catching the football.
“Thanks for helping,” Prescott said. “I’m gonna grill. You wanna stick around?”
“I gotta take off,” Rebel replied.
Rebel lifted Ethan. “I had fun with you, Ethan. I’ll come back sometime and play more football with you.”
“Okay. I like running.”
With a smile, Rebel set him down. “I’ll talk to you,” he said to Prescott.
After Rebel left, Prescott suggested they go inside. “I bought you a dinosaur book,” Prescott began. “How ‘bout I read it to you?”
After giving Ethan a drink, they sat together on the sofa, and Prescott read it to him. “Dinosaurs are cool, huh?” he asked. “They lived a long time ago.”
“This one died.”
He inhaled deep. “He did.”
“That’s sad.”
“It is sad, bud.”
Dread crept into his soul. While he’d planned on reading him the second book, he just needed to tell him, straight out, that his mom had died.
He set the book down. “Ethan, do you remember that I told you your mommy wasn’t feeling good and she had to stay in the hospital?”
Large, innocent eyes stared up at him. “Uh-huh. Is she better?”
“No, she isn’t better. I’m very sad to tell you that she died.” Prescott’s heart exploded into a million pieces. He wasn’t sad for his loss, he was wrecked for Ethan.
“Like the dinosaur?” Ethan asked.
He nodded. “Just like the dinosaur.”
“Is she coming back?”
“No, Ethan, she isn’t.”
“Can I see her?”
His heart broke. “Ethan, I’m sorry, but you can’t.”
This was much harder than he’d anticipated. He had to balance being honest with saying too much, or worse, scaring the child.
