Fighting For What's Missing

23.

Two days later...

"Hey, Will!" Someone across the parking lot yells for me. I stop mid-swing then turn in the direction of whoever's calling me and place my ax on the tree stump. "It's your kid!" I drop my ax and jog over to the main building.

It's only been two days and it's hard to tell, but Agnes seems to be doing well in school. She says the teacher's nice, the work's easy, and the other kids are annoying but tolerable-I laughed when she told me that last part. She doesn't talk about sleeping much though, so I had to ask Tisha about it. "Poor thing looks awful," Tisha said. "I don't know what to do, WIll. I asked her if she wanted to sleep with me, she said no, I asked her if she wanted to sleep downstairs-you know just to get a few minutes of shut-eye, but she said no. I don't think she wants to sleep."

"I'll talk to her." And I did, but every time I brought up sleeping, Agnes grew depressed and apologized for not being brave enough. I couldn't take hearing her so broken, so I stopped asking her about it and made Tisha do the same.

And that's when I started to wonder if I was doing the right for Agnes. I knew parenting was hard, but to question every single freaking thing I do is madness. What if I spoil her so bad she turns into a complete brat? What if I ruin her by depriving her of a mother figure? What if I'm not strong enough to be her father?

"Will?" Stan waves his hand in front of my face. I snap out of my own darkness and shove his hand away from my face. "Your kid," he gestures to the phone on the desk.

"She's not...thanks." I snatch the phone and for Stan to leave to put the phone to my ear. "Agnes?"

"William!" She beams, destroying my eardrums. Despite her lack of sleep, she's always so energetic on the phone.

"Hey, kid," I chuckle. "How are you feeling?"

"I," she breathes, then huffs. "I'm just so tired."

Whoa, okay, I was not expecting that. "Okay, um...if it's the room, you can try sleeping in Tisha's room or the living room."

"It's not that. I tried, William, I truly did, but something's wrong with me."

I take a deep breath, running my fingers through my hair. "Agnes, there is nothing wrong with you. If you still feel the same way tonight, then I'll ask Tisha to get medicine for you, alright?"

"If Tisha's fostering me and you're her son, can't I stay with you?"

"Not on a school night. Plus it won't look good for Tisha if you stay with me."

"Okay," she whispers, sounding defeated.

"Can you tell me about school? Is the work getting any harder?" I ask to change the subject or lighten the mood.

"Nope, and because it's so easy for me, my teacher's making me work with the other students. Its annoying-they're annoying."

I fight the urge to smile. "She's only trying to help. It's important to have social skills."

"I have enough social skills to get by."

I chuckle. "Try helping the other kids, you'll see they're not so bad."

"Will?" Charlie's suddenly at my side. I hold up my finger, telling him to wait.

"Is that what you did?" Agnes asks. "Tried working with people?"

I'm completely thrown off by her question, it takes me a moment to answer. "Um...Agnes, I promised you that I would be honest, so no, I didn't try working with others, and that's why I need you to try. I know what's it's like to not be able to connect with people." I really wish Charlie wasn't here to hear me.