Chapter 2 - THE BOY WHO NEVER SLEPT FIRST
Nobody slept.
Caleb screamed because the crib was unfamiliar.
Sophie refused formula until Ellie held the bottle.
Nora wanted a night-light.
Ellie wanted the hallway light.
Mason wanted nothing.
That worried Daniel most.
At two in the morning, Daniel found him sitting on the floor outside the room where the younger children slept.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Want a blanket?”
“No.”
“Water?”
“No.”
Daniel sat against the opposite wall.
Mason watched him suspiciously.
“You don’t have to stay awake.”
“I know.”
“They’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“I know.”
But he didn’t move.
At three-thirty, Daniel woke on the hallway floor and found Mason still sitting there.
Friday morning brought cereal, paperwork, two emergency car seats, clothing vouchers, phone calls and an agency supervisor named Gloria Bennett who looked around Daniel’s house as if trying to calculate whether compassion had destroyed everyone’s common sense.
“This arrangement is temporary.”
Daniel nodded.
“The bedrooms need review. Childcare needs review. Your work schedule needs review. Five children changes everything.”
“I understand.”
Gloria looked toward the living room.
Mason was dividing one granola bar into four pieces.
He did not take one for himself.
“How long were they with the grandmother?”
“Three weeks.”
“Why did she stop?”
Gloria hesitated.
“She says Mason’s behavior made the placement unsustainable.”
Daniel looked back at him.
“What behavior?”
“Tantrums. Lying. Aggression toward the younger children. Property damage.”
Daniel frowned.
He had seen hypervigilance.
Bossiness.
Fear.
Not aggression.
Gloria opened her folder.
“He broke a lamp. Pushed Nora. Bit Ellie. Took food from the kitchen after being told not to. Judith says he needs more structure than she can provide.”
Mason looked over.
Daniel realized he was listening.
So he changed the subject.
“Where are the other placements?”
Gloria named four homes.
One could take Sophie and Caleb together.
One wanted Ellie.
One wanted Nora.
One had agreed to Mason if a behavioral specialist became involved.
Four homes.
Exactly what Renee had said.
That afternoon Judith Reed came to collect a suitcase she had forgotten.
She was sixty-three, small, carefully dressed, with a tired face that looked genuinely heartbroken.
The children rushed toward her.
Mason stopped halfway.
Judith hugged the younger four.
When Mason approached, she stiffened.
Barely.
But Daniel saw it.
Mason saw it too.
Judith touched his hair.
“You behave for Mr. Carter.”
“I will.”
“You said that at my house.”
Mason lowered his eyes.
Daniel disliked the sentence immediately.
Judith noticed.
“I love him,” she said quietly. “But you didn’t see what it was like.”
“I’m not judging you.”
“You will.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Judith looked toward Mason.
“He’s angry.”
“He’s six.”
“He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Across the room, Mason stood completely still.
That night, Daniel discovered a broken ceramic mug beneath the kitchen table.
Mason was beside it.
Nora was crying.
Gloria’s warning came back instantly.
Daniel crouched.
“What happened?”
Mason looked at him.
“I broke it.”
Nora opened her mouth.
Mason shot her a look.
She closed it.
Daniel stared at the two children.
Something about the exchange bothered him.
He picked up the pieces.
“Okay.”
Mason blinked.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“You’re not calling them?”
“Calling who?”
“The car people.”
May you like
Daniel’s hand stopped over a shard of ceramic.
And suddenly the broken mug mattered far less than the fact that a six-year-old expected property damage to summon a car.
