Passion In The Game 2

Where's Daddy

Ivy, Anthony Jr. and Sawyer sat in the crowd of children and listening to one of their teachers as they read stories to them. This particular children's book was about mommies. The three young children paid attention. Each of them thinking about their mother and how the book related so well to their beautiful mother.

Next, it was a book about daddies. The children's mood began to sour as their teacher continued to read. They didn't have a daddy. Only a mommy, two sets of grandparents, some uncles, a few aunts and godparents. No daddy. They sat their looking at each other and sulking. 

After story time, the children sat at their coloring tables. The picture to color of the day was a picture of a family. A mother, a father, a little boy, an older girl, and a baby which appeared to be a girl. They colored like the other children.

"I don't like this picture. I only have 1 brother." one of the young children, Tiana said.

"I don't have any sisters. And I don't want any." Vincent said.

"My mom doesn't have straight hair. She has curly hair, not like the lady in the picture." Tiana said.

Ivy just colored silently trying to block out the other kids. Sawyer took breaks to listen to the other children talk about their families. Anthony Jr. sat there staring at the picture. He couldn't get over the smiling father in the picture.

"Anthony? What's wrong, sweetheart?" the teacher, Ms. Tara said.

He didn't answer. Anthony simply looked down at the picture. He felt ashamed not being like the other children. He felt like something was wrong with him and his siblings. Why didn't he have a dad? 

"Honey, can you try coloring the picture for me? We want you to have something on the art wall for Parent Night." she said sliding a few crayons towards him. "I'm sure you'll make a pretty picture."

Anthony picked up the black crayon and roughly colored over the father.

"Wait, Anthony not so hard honey? Why did you color over him?" she asked laughing.

"We don't have a dad." he said bluntly continuing to color over him.

Ms. Tara was taken aback. She noticed that his siblings saw what he said and both looked ashamed.

Rayna had gotten off of work from the clinic. It was nice to have the Labor Day weekend off and she could spend time with her beautiful children. She pulled up to the school, stood outside and waited for three little hurricanes to come running out to hug her as they always did.

Escorted by Ms. Tara, Ivy, Sawyer and Anthony came walking out with solemn faces and their heads hung low. Rayna took notice as her children were always energetic and ready for what was next. 

"Hey, babies." she said with a smile. Rayna got down her knees and hugged them. She got no response like she usually did. Rayna opened the backseat of her truck and let her children climb in. She strapped them in and closed the door before turning to their teacher.

"Did they have a bad day?" Rayna asked softly.

"Well, we asked the children to color pictures of families for the upcoming Parent Night. And this is what Anthony had." she said pulling the picture from her pocket. Rayna examined the picture and noticed the blacked out figure. She sighed. Anthony Jr. was the most difficult of the three children. He was the one that was the most emotional. The one that had to be held for awhile longer and told that everything was okay. The one that you had to make smile because his happiness didn't come on its own. She looked back at him in the truck and saw his frown. 

All her babies weren't happy. They all were saddened by not having a father. They didn't know him. Never seen him or heard his name. Rayna didn't know whether to blame herself or to blame their father. It wasn't her fault that was for sure but, she couldn't blame herself for someone else's choice.