Nursery

8

Alex's office looked like it had before I trashed everything. The couch cushions were clean and neat on the couch. His desk had a small stack of papers on it beside a new phone. He had a new computer on his desk though the screen was black. The room itself was quieter than I was expecting.

I'd taken a nap on the couch after getting a bath. All the crying I'd done had made me tired and with being so small, I needed sleep sooner than I normally did. Plus, I needed to be by myself for a while.

Alex was flipping through a stapled stack of paper when I woke up. I sat up on the couch cushion and rubbed my eyes. My bunny was tucked in the crook of my arm.

He looked up and rested his arms on the papers in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

I yawned. "I'm hungry."

"What are you in the mood for?"

"I get to pick?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in surprise. I assumed, especially after everything that had happened, that all my decisions would be made for me.

He laughed. "Unless you want a burger or a steak, yeah."

I bit my lip. "I can have anything?"

He nodded.

"Um... can I have chicken nuggets?"

"And fries?"

I nodded.

He got to his feet and walked to the door, keeping a few feet between us. "I'll be back in five or ten minutes. Try not to destroy anything while I'm gone."

I stared at the door as it shut behind him. I couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. But I knew in my current state, I couldn't do much.

I slid off the couch and my brows rose in surprise. My legs held me up though they were a little shaky. I was going to have to get used to being significantly shorter and slower.

I walked over to Alex's desk and climbed into the computer chair. I had to pull myself up onto it, hoping the entire time it wasn't going to tip over on me. I pulled myself closer to the window and pulled my bare legs up to my chest.

The window behind Alex's desk didn't offer much light. It was on the wrong side of the building to get anything nice but the sunset was pretty. It was a soft orange color, making me feel warm and comforted. The field outside didn't tell me where we were. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen the place before. If it wasn't on the way to school or the grocery store, I didn't know it existed. Maybe it was on the side of town I'd never been to before. In some way, I knew it was there and existed but in another, I didn't think something so scary could be real. There was a lot I wasn't expecting to be real.

The door opened and Alex stepped inside. He had two plates in his hand and two drinks tucked in his arm. He said nothing when he saw me at his desk. He set the plates down then set the drinks down, one being milk in a bottle. I was so used to drinking from sippy cups that I wasn't expecting a bottle and stared at it.

"I forgot to ask if you wanted ketchup so I included it anyway." He spoke so casually, like there was nothing wrong with everything that had happened to me. Like I wasn't still mad at him for ruining my life and betraying me.

But I was hungry and couldn't stay angry at the same time. I pulled the paper plate with my food toward me and picked up one of the crinkly fries. He had a ham and cheese sandwich with kettle chips on the side, something I was glad he didn't bring for me.

He carried his plate and soda to the couch and sat down, facing me. "I guess I need to get more furniture in here."

I took a bite of a chicken nugget and spun myself around so I could look out the window. I really wasn't interested in holding a conversation. Especially not with him.

Seeing the sunset made me feel homesick. I missed the warm colors coming into my bedroom and making the butterflies on the wall look like they were alive. It highlighted the smiles on everyone in the pictures that were placed around the room. It gave me such a happy, hopeful feeling.

I didn't feel that way now.

Alex cleared his throat. "I'm leaving early today so we won't have to be here long."

I turned the chair back around so I could see him. "I'm going with you?"

He nodded, the corners of his lips turning upward. "I didn't think you wanted to stay here. I offered to keep an eye on you for a while."

"I thought I was getting a new family." I was still mad about it. Obviously.

"You need time to adjust. Being put in a new family right now isn't the best option."

"I don't know how much it could help being alone with you."

"You can always stay here. We can set up a room for you."

I stared at him, not sure what kind of game he was playing. He knew, he had to have known, that I was terrified of the place. After everything I'd been through, it was the last place I wanted to be. But I only hated it so much because he had brought me there and made me a baby.

He opened the can of soda he had and took a sip of it.

I picked up the bottle and sucked on the nipple. The milk that came from it tasted off. Weird. It wasn't what I was used to.

I scrunched my nose up and set it down. "What is that?"

"Formula. You'll get used to it."

"It's gross."

He laughed. "I think you'll like it the longer you drink it."

I shook my head. "I don't."

"You got used to carrying around a stuffed animal. This won't be any harder than that was."

I threw a french fry at him. "Shut up."

He caught it in his mouth then grinned at me. He stood and tossed the empty plate in the trash can beside the desk. "It'll be fine, Lyla. We're leaving in half an hour so finish eating."