Childish

79

Mommy liked to hum when she was overwhelmed. She would sing songs to herself and pace around the room. Every couple of seconds, she would look over at me to make sure I was still doing okay. Between her humming and the sound of her footsteps, I had plenty to listen to. I had plenty to focus my attention on so I wasn't just stuck in my head.

There was plenty of time for that yet, I enjoyed listening to Mommy and Daddy talking. I liked their weird habits that filled time and kept them from losing their sanity. It helped keep me stay... present in the moment.

Being in the room and unable to respond to anything or tell Mommy and Daddy I was there was really hard for me. I wanted to tell them I was still there and that everything was okay. I didn't like that they were fighting with each other. Especially because they were fighting over me. It didn't seem fair to any of us to have to go through what we were going through.

Mommy waited very impatiently for me to wake up. She wanted me to wake up the second Daddy gave me the injection. She wanted to see me and hug me and talk to me about everything I missed while I was asleep. Mainly, I knew she just wanted to tell me how much she loved me.

I loved having Naomi as my Mommy. Even though she wasn't my real mom, I still liked that she took over where my real mom couldn't. Naomi was loving and caring and supportive of Cooper and me. She lived her life for us and while it made me sad at times, I loved how present she was in our lives.

I was trying to wake up for her but the noises in the room kept me stuck where I was. I was so comfortable and the noises provided a calmness that I needed. One that was a bit difficult to pull me out of. The machines beeped on either side of the bed I was in and lulled me back to sleep whenever I thought I was close to waking up. But I so badly wanted to wake up again.

Mommy sat down in the chair beside me and leaned against the railing of the bed. She brushed my hair back behind my ear. "Baby girl, can you wake up for me? I want to talk to you and tell you how much I've missed you. You're so special and I'm so lucky to be your mommy."

My mommy. I loved my mommy. And my daddy.

"Come back to me, sweet girl."

I took a deep breath and I could feel Mommy's touch more than I had before. Her perfume wasn't very strong but I could still smell it faintly. It was her signature scent.

"Lyla?" Mommy's voice dropped to a whisper. She leaned closer to me as I slowly came back into consciousness.

I blinked my eyes opened and looked at her.

As tears welled up in her eyes, she smiled at me. "There's my girl."

I lifted my left hand and reached up for her hand. I wasn't expecting my hand to look so... big. Was there something different about me?

"Mommy?" Even my voice was different. It didn't sound like my voice but, in a way, it sounded familiar. Did something happen to me?

Mommy took my hand in hers and kissed the back of it, just beside where an IV was taped to my skin. "Shh, it's okay, baby. You're going to be okay."

"Mommy?"

Mommy didn't have a chance to say anything more. The door opened up past where she was sitting and a man came into view. He had a white lab coat on over top black slacks and a beige dress shirt. As my eyes worked their way up to see his face, I realized I knew who this person was.

"Daddy?"

He smiled. "Hi, baby girl."

I pulled my hand out of Mommy's grasp and pushed on the bed to get myself into a sitting position. I struggled with how weak my arms were but managed to sit up.

I took in the room and realized I was at the lab. No wonder there was an IV in my hand. But why?

Glancing around the room and seeing how bright it was made my head hurt. But what was worse was when I sat up, I triggered a weak spot in my stomach. I swallowed the lump in my throat but realized it wasn't a lump.

"Grab the trash can." Daddy walked further into the room and stood near the bed beside Mommy.

Mommy lifted the trash can from the floor beside the bed and placed it in my hands just as I threw up.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand when I finished and groaned. There wasn't much in my system to get out so it hurt to throw up nothing but air. A tiny bit of liquid came out that looked like water but I figured there wasn't much in my system to get out. No wonder it hurt. "Ow."

"Take it easy, baby. We're not going anywhere." Mommy put the trash can back on the floor.

"What happened to me?" I looked between the two of them. I was so confused. The last thing I could remember was sleeping in Mommy's arms. I didn't remember going to the hospital or how I ended up in the bed I was in. I was even more confused as to how I wasn't a baby anymore.

"Your body was reacting poorly to the changes from the medication I gave you. We had to reverse the effects in order to keep you alive."

"But that was over ten years ago."

He nodded. "I guess it wasn't meant to last."

"Oh."

Daddy walked over to my bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. "I know I can't take back what I did to you. Ten years went by and I can't give them back to you. I'm sorry, Lyla. I should have done things differently back then."

"I'm not mad at you, Daddy."

"You should be."

Carefully, I crawled toward him just the foot or two that separated us and I hugged him. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and buried my face in his neck like I had when I was a baby.

"I love you, Ly."

"I love you, too, Daddy."