Nate
I put a herbal tea on the bedside table and leaned over Maya, lying in our bed, trembling inexorably, without being able to stop. After several attempts, I managed to take her to the bedroom, but Maya did not answer, she did not speak. She had remained to stare into the void and I was terrified.
"Please drink Maya," I said defeated.
It was as if all the energy from my body had been completely sucked in, I couldn’t think straight anymore, and I couldn’t do anything but blame myself. If I had been better, and stronger, I would have prevented all this suffering. I would have prevented all this. Instead, I had failed and now my child was far away, with someone else, probably desperate and I had my hands completely tied.
The intercom rang all over the apartment and I got up, empty inside, and I went to the door. My father arrived in half an hour and was after my mother.
"What happened?" he immediately asked alarmed.
NateThe bedroom was completely dark, if not for a crack that came from the space between a curtain and the other. Maya was lying on the bed next to her, and I walked over to her.I knelt before her, her eyes open and red with tears. I pulled strands of her hair from her face and stroked her cheek with my thumb. Maya’s eyes were lost in the air, and when I touched her, her red-grey eyes were pointing at mine. As soon as our looks met, her eyes filled with tears again and she began to sob."I want my baby," she said in a hoarse voice between hiccups.It broke my heart, even more, to see her in that state, knowing that I couldn’t do anything, I was powerless as never before in my life. She felt her eyes wet and I couldn’t stop crying anymore, I put my forehead on the mattress and started sobbing.She felt Maya put her hands in my hair "Nate.""I don’t know what to do, I’m powerless,
JessThe night had passed slowly, perhaps too much. I had dozed off on the couch a few times, only to be woken up by one of the children to feed them.May and Nate had been sleeping all night, watched on sight by my mother and Maya’s father. Everyone was terrified of all that stress and what it would cause the child; therefore, Maya’s father kept checking on her and was tempted to call the gynecologist. We were all walking a tightrope.At that moment it was late morning, Axel had been moved to the new family home and, shortly thereafter, Lucas would go.Nate had left the room ten minutes earlier, he had just poured himself a cup of coffee and sat on the couch without saying a word. Maya was completely cooped up in her room and didn’t want to go out or see anyone.I was worried, it wasn’t good for either of them to be in that state, but I didn’t know how to behave, or what to do to help them, i
LucasI rang the ring bell and waited for the door to open. Shortly after the door opened and in front of me, there was a woman, with dark hair tied back on her nape. She looked at me frowning."Hello, I have an order from the judge, I am here as a civil educator regarding the new child, Axel Dare," I said and handed her the letter from the judge."Finally someone for that little critter. From the moment they brought him here, all he did was cry, his screams could already be heard in the car, he didn't let sleep anyone in the house."My heart tightened and I entered after the woman stood to the side to let me pass.The house was a mess, children running from one side to the other while Axel’s crying echoed everywhere."Did he eat?" I asked, taking off my purse and jacket.The woman shook her head "Reject anything, the assistants who brought him this morning said that he did not eat even last night, but
NateWe walked into the social worker’s building, Maya and I were holding hands, while in front of us was my father with Zeke and Chris who would be our legal representatives.Maya wore a pair of dark glasses and walked silently beside me, almost as if she wanted to hold onto me and support me when I couldn’t do it by myself."Do you know if Axel is here?" I asked Zeke and Chris."He should be in the building, I don’t know where. Lucas said social workers took him from the group home and brought him here," Chris said, clutching his briefcase.I clenched my teeth and Maya’s hand as we headed for the elevator."When you see Brad, don’t say a word, don’t complicate things, let us talk to his lawyer and the judge, okay?" Zeke said once the doors closed.I sighed and leaned against the elevator wall, closing my eyes."I don’t know if I can keep from smashing his fac
MayaI was in pieces. Destroyed. I hadn’t slept in days, I hadn’t eaten in days, and I knew how fucking wrong it was, I had to think about my little girl too, but I couldn’t think to breathe without my little first-begotten son.I had to see him, hug him, and inhale his wonderful scent. I didn’t give a shit about all these stories these four assholes were shooting, and, yeah, I didn’t even care that my father-in-law was involved. I didn’t care about anyone, just Axel."Where’s my son," I said for the second time, this time with clenched teeth.The judge looked at the social worker and nodded. The woman got up and left the room. I also got up, and I stood behind Nate, putting my hands on the back of his chair, feeling agitated. I couldn’t take it anymore, I was tired, under stress, and scared. If I could find a hair off my baby’s head, I’d burn the whole building to the ground.I knew that in the last few days Axel was doing relatively well, I knew he had eaten little, but he had done
NateWe walked into the apartment early in the afternoon, we got some KFC hoping to cheer Axel up, since he’d been quiet the whole time, we’d bought his favorite sandwich with the toy, but Axel had refused to eat, without saying a word, He shook his head and hid his face in Maya’s neck.He didn’t even want to sit in his car seat. As soon as we tried to put him in, he began to tremble and hold Maya tightly, who, with eyes full of tears, had kept him all the time sitting on her lap.At that moment, we were returning to the apartment. Maya laid Axel on the ground, kneeling before him and taking off his denim jacket while I locked the door. I heard Maya sniff the air and then watched Axel."Why didn’t you tell me you got dirty?" she asked softly.Axel lowered his head and shook it, not saying a word. Maya looked at me, her eyes watering, unable to do anything. I took off my jacket and pulled down, squatting next to Axel while Maya got up and went into the kitchen."Hey buddy, how about t
MayaNate went into Axel’s room, and I followed him. My child was standing in his bed, clinging to the bars and screaming at the top of his throat, his face full of terror and tears running down his cheeks. As soon as he saw Nate, he squealed even more and pushed himself to get out. Nate picked him up, and Axel immediately grabbed him, almost as if he wanted to stick to his father’s body."Axel, no alone," he said in sobs.It squeezed my heart, and I passed a hand on his back. Nate began to rock him slowly as he kissed him on the cheeks. I took his pacifier and put it in his mouth as Axel closed his eyes. As his body became heavy and his arms dangled, Nate approached to leave him in his bed.As Nate leaned over to leave him in bed, Axel shut his eyes and spit out his pacifier, screaming like a madman and clinging to Nate’s neck."NO!" he screamed loudly as he struggled."Wait, don’t put him in bed," I said to Nate.Nate retreated and began to rock him as Axel rested his head on his
NateMaya stayed in Axel’s room trying to calm him down while I called the paediatrician to ask what to do in these cases. Axel was agitated, his eyes were wide open, and he had no intention of going to sleep. He had clung to his mother with all his might and had no intention of leaving her.He was terrified of something, I could only imagine what kind of trauma he had after being ripped out of Maya’s arms like that and spending days alone with strangers. Knowing also the distrust he felt towards others had not been at all easy for him and he wept my heart to see him in that state.I explained the situation to the pediatrician, also describing what seemed like panic attacks for Axel. I was afraid to take him to a specialist, I was afraid that he would tell us to bomb him with drugs and I did not want my son to be subjected to such things already so small.The paediatrician listened carefully to everything I said, even