Nursery

27

I rested my arms on the bars of my crib and stared at the digital clock that sat beside the baby monitor. It was almost five in the morning but I couldn't sleep. I'd done plenty of that in Alex's office.

After we got back to his apartment, I ate two servings of frozen vegetables that Alex had warmed up for me. He didn't want to give me anything fried though there wasn't much else to choose from.

I tried to sleep but I wasn't tired anymore. Which left me bored. I couldn't get out of my crib on my own so I had to wake Alex up.

"Lyla, you're supposed to be sleeping." He said as he walked into the bedroom.

"I slept all day; I'm not tired anymore."

He sighed and lifted me out of my crib. He set me on the floor and started walking from the room. "Come with me."

I glanced back at the crib and saw my bunny still inside. I couldn't reach it over the side that was still raised. "Wait."

He stopped in the doorway, exhaustion radiating from him. "What is it?"

"My bunny."

He walked back and grabbed my bunny, handing it to me. "There. Happy now?"

I rolled my eyes as I followed him from the room. He walked across the hall and into his room, getting right into bed.

I stood awkwardly beside it, not sure what I was supposed to do. I didn't like sleeping in the same bed as him so I wasn't sure why he brought me over with him. And I knew, for a fact, he wasn't going to just let me walk around the apartment on my own.

"I'm still not tired."

He handed me the remote for the TV that was on the bedside table. "You can watch TV but keep the volume down. I need some sleep before I go to work."

I sighed and walked around to the other side of the bed. I pulled myself up and sat back against the pillow. I turned the TV on and tried to find something good on. It was already a struggle finding anything decent to watch without getting yelled at for it being inappropriate for my age and shows overnight were known for either being awful or just an infomercial. And I knew I wasn't going to be buying anything any time soon.

I waited until the clock said five-thirty before I woke Alex up. I knew he wouldn't be happy about being up so early but I figured it was a decent time considering he would need to get ready for work.

He groaned as he pulled the blanket over his face. "Lyla, go back to sleep."

"That's the problem. I haven't been to sleep."

"That's not my problem."

"It is though. You're taking care of me so making sure I get sleep is your responsibility."

He glared at me over the edge of the blanket. "I'm starting to regret letting you live with me."

I frowned at him. "I don't want to go anywhere else."

"You actually like being here?"

I nodded. "It's not the worst place I've been."

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "I haven't been that nice to you-"

"No, you haven't."

"Will you let me finish?"

I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut.

He ran a hand through his brown hair. "I haven't been fair to you and I want to make up for that. I can't change anything that's happened but I at least want to make things better as much as I can."

"What's going to happen to me?"

"I don't know. Nothing has been decided yet."

"Don't you have a say in how things run around here?"

"I have more of a say than most but I'm not in charge of making decisions."

"But... I'm your experiment. Wouldn't you be in charge of me, in a way?"

He looked over at me. "My father sets the rules and oversees the people here in town. Monica and I just work for him. We might have more of a say than someone who isn't related but my father is hard to reason with."

I sat on my heels and looked at him with wide eyes. "You're telling me that your dad runs the town and makes all the rules? Does that mean your family, like, founded the town?"

He let out a deep breath. "Several generations back, yes."

"No wonder you're so screwed up." I had a bad feeling in my stomach about him being so heavily involved in everything. I wanted to believe he was a good guy and was trying to right his wrongs. But he didn't know any better because it's what his parents taught him.

He gave me a look that made me think I was crossing a line by asking so many questions.

I set my bunny down on the bed between us. "I hate not knowing what's going to happen to me."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Lyla."

I looked away from him and stared down at my bunny. "Can I go back to school? I don't really want to go with you to work today."

"My office is too boring, huh?"

A small smile appeared on my face. "Kind of."

"Alright. But no fighting today."

"No promises."