Psychopathy

Chapter 44- Broken And Broke

Isabel was worried. The only other time her connection to the Overworld had been cut off was when she'd submitted and forgotten her friends. That wasn't the case this time. She could remember her friends fairly clearly. As clearly as she could for someone that'd been away from them for an eternity, anyway. So why couldn't she connect to them now? Something was wrong, she could feel it. She just had to figure out what.

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Teresa walked down the stairs slowly, keeping one hand gripped tightly on the handrail. Usually she'd be taking them two at a time to get downstairs, get some coffee, and get back upstairs to her babies. But not today. Not after the news she'd gotten the day before. Akilah had offered to drive her home, but Teresa needed her car for emergencies. Instead, she'd sat in her car, trying to dry her tears and the rest of her body from the rain.

When she'd finally gotten home, she'd ignored the prying questions from her high school staff, thanked Janet for staying late to finish closing the baby room, and gone straight into her room. She had one of the high schoolers sit Ria down with some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse before she left. From then on, she'd stayed in her room, only coming down long enough to make Ria some supper and get her into bed.

When she woke up that morning, it was as if nothing had ever happened. She woke up thinking of everything she had to get done that day, what she had to get done before the first child arrived. But then it had all come crashing down. She'd remembered, and once that happened, it was like time had stopped and a fog had descended upon her. From then on, it was like she'd been moving through molasses. Two minutes had felt like two days.

She'd tried to focus on the babies, longing for the distraction. But even they couldn't fix it. So, during the morning nap, Teresa had called Janet up to the room so she could get some coffee. Hopefully the caffeine would help. She finally reached the bottom of the stairs after what felt like hours, but before she could get to the kitchen, a squeal rang through the house, ringing in her ears.

"MAMA!" Teresa sighed. She was not in the mood today. She loved her daughter, she really did, but today, she just needed to be by herself. If it wasn't for the fact that she owned the daycare and it was centered in her home, she would have called in sick. She'd put the overnight children on divert to the triplets so that she could get some alone time. But Ria didn't understand that. Teresa wasn't sure she could, but yet, she didn't have the energy to try and explain it.

"Ria, not now," Teresa said as she felt her daughter crash into her legs.

"Mama! Play?" Ria asked, and Teresa took a deep breath. She couldn't snap at her daughter. She couldn't. But yet, she felt her restraint growing incredibly thin.

"Not now. You need to go back to class," Teresa told her, looking to see where Kenna was talking to Kota, probably asking him to watch both classrooms for a second so she could get Ria back. That wasn't fair on Kenna or Kota. It was easy, sure, to watch both classrooms while Kenna's was outside playing and Kota's was having a dance party. But yet, was it really that hard for Ria to just stay in class when Teresa walked by? Didn't she get enough of her mother every day after the other kids left?

"No, mama, play! Play with babies?" Ria asked. Of course. Sometimes Teresa would take Ria upstairs to play with the babies until she was ready to go back to class. But she couldn't that day. Teresa couldn't have a three-year-old running around causing chaos. Not when Nyla was already being fussy. Growing pains were a bitch sometimes. Poor girl could barely go down for her nap anymore.

"No, Ria, no playing with babies. You need to go back to class," Teresa instructed, but Ria shook her head, a pout forming on her face.

"No, mama."