Fall Rising: Chaper 2

After spending way too long at the store, and doing financial gymnastics to stretch Legend’s forty dollars as far as it could possibly go, CJ and I were on our way home. He stuck close to me the entire time, and kept telling me to go faster and asking if I saw this “really scary guy” or that one. I don’t want my son to grow up scared, but I have to keep us safe, too. When we got back, the first thing I saw was this bright flash of orange. I didn’t know it then, but that was Morgan.

“See that girl.” Christian pointed out the girl in the orange shirt for his mom.

“CJ, don’t point. It’s rude,” Jess admonished, trying to lug the bags of groceries inside.

“Oh, Mom! Look what she’s doing!” Now, Christian was very worried. The girl in the orange was smoking.

“Come on, baby, don’t bother her. Let’s go inside,” Jess urged, though she was proud that he already had such a strong sense of right and wrong.

But Christian marched right up. “That’ll make you die, you know? If you keep doing that,” he told her seriously. “Your lungs won’t breathe good, and then it can make you die. It’s bad for other people, too,” he added, even though she already pointed it away from him.

Jess smiled to herself, not planning on correcting him. This one was on her own. Let’s see how she held up in the face of a four-year-old’s honesty.

Morgan dropped the cigarette on the sidewalk and ground it out with the toe of her sneaker. She bent down, so she was eye to eye with this adorable little kid, who looked like he had already taken too many hard knocks in his young life. “You’re right,” she told him seriously. “I’ll try my best not to do it anymore. I’m Morgan,” she offered him a hand to shake. “What’s your name?”

Christian glanced at his mom who was coming up behind him. He didn’t know for sure if she still counted as a stranger when she told him her name. But his mom nodded, so he said, “I’m Christian,” and shook her hand strong, the way you’re supposed to.

Jess extended hers well. “Hi, Morgan. I’m Jess, it’s nice to meet you. You‘ve met my son.” She cocked her head, thinking. “You don’t live in an apartment with an Emily and a Legend, do you?”

Morgan’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I do, and Libby.”

“We’re your last two roommates,” Jess smiled.

“Cool,” Morgan said. She leaned over, taking both bags from Jess, and then turned her attention to the little boy. “So, how old are you, Christian?” she asked, as she followed them inside.

“Four,” he said importantly, showing off four fingers. “But I’m turning five. In December.”

“Wow, that’s awesome. I’m twenty-one,” Morgan offered, smiling.

“Ha ha! My mom’s only twenty. Morgan’s a lot older than you, right, Mom?” He skipped happily down the hall.

“Oh yeah, a whole year,” Jess laughed.

Morgan chuckled softly to herself, deciding that she loved these two already.

--

That night, Legend, Morgan, Libby and Emily all went to the barbecue held on campus to celebrate the beginning of the academic year. Jess opted out, staying home with Christian to rest, and eating sandwiches and chips they bought that day.

Christian had been the one to discover their room first, and let out a happy shout for his mom to come and see. Jess was shocked to see the futon she’d slept on at Legend’s here in their room. For now, it was a couch, and Jess appreciated the fact that it was functional as more than one piece of furniture - it saved space, that was for sure.

Unfortunately, that night, as Jess was tucking Christian in, she discovered something was missing.

“We’re going home, right?” Christian asked, already in his favorite Spiderman pajamas that were too small.

Jess squinted, and felt her heart sink a little. “Baby, we are home. This is home now.”

“But what about Big Boy?” CJ asked, searching the bedcovers for his favorite stuffed animal bear friend. He got all his fur rubbed off by now, and didn’t even look like a bear except Christian knew he was. Christian was hoping if he looked hard enough, God would do some of His good kind of magic and make Big Boy be right there.

“Did you pack him?” Jess asked, though she doubted it. She remembered giving him the bear two years ago, telling Christian it was for being such a big boy at the doctor.

“No, ’cause I told him we were comin’ right back at night, just like always, so he won’t be scared. We can get him, right?” Christian looked at his mom, feeling tears come in his eyes.

“Baby, we can’t. The hotel people cleaned up the room after we left…”

Christian’s lip trembled. Then, he sobbed - big alligator tears rolling down his little face. “I want Big Boy!”

“What’s up?” Legend asked, hearing the upheaval.

Jess held Christian close, stroking his curls. “We forgot Big Boy…” she said sadly, knowing what a big loss this was. Big Boy was the single toy her son had kept over the years. He hadn’t had the chance to accumulate lots of toys like other kids his age. His book and his Legos had come in cereal boxes. As of right now, that was all he had.

“Big Boy’s my best friend…” Christian cried, breaking Legend’s heart. She made eye-contact with Jess and nodded, turning to go down the hall.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with him?” Emily scoffed. That was the thing about little kids. They were loud. And whiney. To distract herself, Emily took a bite of the beef jerky she was holding. She smiled. Food made everything tolerable.

“He forgot his stuffed animal,” Legend explained, grabbing her keys.

Emily eyed her, realizing Legend planned to get him a replacement.

“He’s gonna get spoiled,” she warned. “If he were my kid, I’d tell him to suck it up and sleep.”

Legend stepped up, as close to Emily as she could get. “But he’s not yours,” she told Emily lowly. “That was the only toy he had - his best friend - and now it’s lost.”

“Who’s Biggie?” Libby asked, coming out of her room, a concerned look on her face.

“Big Boy,” Legend corrected unnecessarily.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Christian’s stuffed animal. She’s getting him a new one.”

“That’s so sweet,” Libby commented.

Still Legend hesitated. She had no idea what to get a child. When he came to play at her house, he watched TV or played with the hose.

“Christian lost Big Boy,” Morgan reported, concern showing in her dark eyes.

“We know,” Emily replied, going back to her room, with plans to wear headphones and listen to music to drown out the noise. Libby followed, but cast sad looks toward Jess and Christian’s bedroom.

“I was going to go get him something, but I have no idea what,” Legend admitted.

Morgan quickly slipped on flip-flops and opened the door for both of them, for a trip to the store that was conveniently right behind their apartment. It carried everything from groceries to stuffed animals. “I have a little brother, I can help you out,” she offered.

“Big age difference,” Legend decided.

“No, he’s not four, he’s twelve. Jason,” she said the name fondly. He was the single sibling of four that she connected with.

Once at the store, Morgan easily found the stuffed animals and quickly picked one, knowing that time was of the essence. “Here, this one’s really soft.” She handed it to Legend, who took it and wrinkled her nose.

“It’s a pig.”

“It’s cute,” Morgan maintained. “And he can cuddle with it. Just tell him Big Boy knew he’d be sad and wanted Christian to have his friend, Bacony to make him feel better.”

“Bacony?” Legend asked. But she held onto the little pig for Christian, touched that Morgan would not only come with to help her choose it, but give her the words to make accepting his new friend a little easier.

--

By the next morning, Christian and Bacony had bonded well, and had frequent conversations about Big Boy and what he was doing. Jess easily got used to pig lingo, and set an empty bowl in front of Bacony for imaginary slop, while Christian ate Count Chocula.

“We can’t ever have, you know what, in front of Bacony, or he might cry,” Christian relayed seriously to his mom. He knew pigs got made into bacon, and never wanted Bacony to be sad, like that pig on the spider movie.

Jess laughed, loving her son’s resiliency, as well as the fact that she had the freedom to walk around this new place in her pajamas and not worry about anything except having a meal with her little boy. “Don’t worry,” Jess reassured him. “I don’t think we have any bacon,” she whispered the last word.

Christian nodded and finished off the chocolate milk left in his bowl. Then, he helped Bacony finish his slop.

After a long time, the other girls got up. They liked to sleep, ’cause when you got older, that’s just what happened.

“Who wants to play hide-and-seek?” Morgan called from the living room.

It was still largely unfurnished, with only a TV and a couch, and there was plenty of room for running around.

“We just woke up,” Legend grumbled. “How can you have that much energy when you haven’t even had coffee or anything yet?”

Libby ignored the invitation, even as Emily climbed over her and the suitcase she was unpacking, to join the game.

“I do!” she bellowed, racing to stand by Morgan.

In the kitchen, Jess and Christian looked at each other, and raised their eyebrows.

“I’ll race you,” Jess said, her eyes sparkling, as she gave Christian a head start.

“All right. Who’s counting?” Morgan asked.

Jess stepped up. She was always the counter in hide-and-seek, and could never bring herself to hide in small dark places. “I’ll do it. Mom rules, though. No hiding outside or anyplace that locks,” she warned looking right at Christian.

He did a salute at her, smiling. He played this game a lot. And knew the Mom rules the best of anybody, probably.

“Lame,” Emily called, but quieted under the stern look Jess gave.

Jess turned and started counting, leaving Christian, Emily and Morgan to find hiding places that fell under Mom rules.

CJ saw a perfect place. It was called right behind the big couch. But then Emily the hiding-place-stealer got it and wouldn’t let him come in.

But then his friend Morgan came up and took his hand. They were very sneaky going to the closet. Morgan opened it up very soft and went inside behind him. She closed the door and it didn’t even make a noise.

“Here,” Morgan whispered, getting a great idea. “We’ll hide you on this shelf,” she told him, lifting him up and laying him across it.

He smiled, and a laugh almost came out, but then he heard his mom say she was coming.

Morgan was crouched in the corner of the closet when the little shelf she put Christian on broke. She managed to catch him, and they both laughed quietly.

In seconds, the door was flung open and Jess was looking in at them seriously. The shelf was in several pieces. Christian was in Morgan’s lap, and both were laughing. She could guess what happened.

“Are you okay?” Jess asked Christian, trying not to overreact.

He nodded. “Morgan hided me up there.”

“I’ll pay for it,” Morgan offered, cracking up again.

Jess finally smiled, relieved that no one was hurt, but declared a hide-and-seek holiday because she didn’t want to cause anymore damage right after they moved in.

--

Libby had looked through every pocket in her suitcase, and every nook and cranny in her toiletry kit. Still, her brush was nowhere to be found. She had finally gotten the motivation from somewhere to unpack, and had plans to shower, if she could make it through the insane game going on in the living room. She already heard something break, and figured it was Emily’s fault.

The girl wasn’t exactly gentle. Or quiet. Libby had been awakened several times during the first night by Emily, talking in her sleep. Mostly, it was about food. Last night, it seemed, Emily was deeply engrossed in making some kind of chocolate cake, and kept insisting that “in order to give it that extra little something, you have to add coffee. It says it’s optional, but it’s really not.”

That morning, they’d lain in their beds, listening to Jess and Christian in the kitchen, and Libby had asked, “Did you just learn how to make some kind of chocolate cake?”

Emily’s eyes lit up, “Yeah, a mocha one. How’d you know?”

“I guess I’m psychic,” Libby laughed at her friend’s amazed stare. Living with Emily was going to be fun.

But right now she wasn’t thinking about Emily, Libby reminded herself. She was thinking about where her brush could be. If her dumb brother packed it in his stuff, Libby was going to have some words with him. She pulled out her cell phone and jabbed a few buttons angrily. Liam would pack a brush when he had a buzz-cut.

“Hey, this is Liam. Leave me a message and have a blessed day,” the message encouraged her.

“I’ll show you a blessed day,” she muttered. She hung up and called again. It was almost noon, she reasoned. He needed to get up anyway. She dialed again, and it rang, and rang until voice mail picked up. Libby was determined. She could do this all day if she had to.

--

Nate groaned and cursed. If he had to hear Liam’s phone play When The Saints Go Marching In one more time, he would hurt something. And he wasn’t a violent guy.

Blinking sleep from his eyes, Nate focused on the clock by his bed. It was later than he thought. He forced himself out of bed in just his boxers, and went to the kitchen, where Liam’s phone was abandoned on the counter. It rang again, and Nate jumped, snatching it up. Liam apparently slept like the dead.

“Hello?” he said. While he waited for someone to respond, Nate took out the hazelnut flavored coffee, and started to brew a pot. If Liam and Jon didn’t like it, tough. He brought the coffeemaker.

“Who is this?” Libby asked irritably, not recognizing the voice on the other end as her brother‘s.

“Nathaniel,” he responded, opening the can of coffee grounds and breathing deeply.

“What are you doing answering my brother’s phone?” Libby wondered.

Nate kept busy scooping and pouring and hitting buttons until he heard the glorious sound of his coffeemaker coming to life. “There’s only so much of that ring I can stand…”

Unexpectedly, Libby laughed. “Oh, I know! It’s horrid, isn’t it? This is Libby, Liam’s sister, by the way. Do you know if Liam has my brush over there?”

Turning, Nate walked into their small bathroom and surveyed the sink. The purple brush stood out among all the muted colors and Nate picked it up. “Is it purple?”

“Yes! That jerk,” Libby pouted.

“He’s still sleeping. I can bring it over. Where are you?” Nate asked, already grabbing his dark red robe from the back of the bathroom door and tying it closed, before getting directions and hanging up.

--

When Libby opened the door five minutes later and saw the gorgeous barefoot man in the wine-colored robe, she was sure this would be a wonderful year. She invited him inside, and he held out the brush.

“At your service,” he said shyly, attempting an awkward bow.

“Who’s here?” Jess asked, coming up behind Libby.

“Jess, this is Nathaniel. Nathaniel, Jess. He lives with my brother. He brought me my brush.” Libby explained.

Jess smiled, and reached out to shake Nathaniel’s hand.

He ducked his head, embarrassed to have come over in only boxers and a robe - especially as more female faces appeared, and a little boy. He hadn’t expected a house full of ladies. Jess had bruises all over. The little boy had a black eye. Nate couldn’t look at them.

“You wanna come in?” Christian invited. “You can take a shower if you want. My mom always wears her robe when she’s gonna take a shower,” he added helpfully.

“Excuse him,” Jess apologized, blushing. “You’re more than welcome to come in, though,” she added, not wanting their impromptu guest to feel unwelcome.

Nate laughed nervously. He didn’t want to be rude, so he came in, suddenly feeling more at home with these girls than he had in his own apartment with Liam and Jonathan.

He followed Libby to her room, and immediately was caught up in admiring all the paintings on the wall.

“These are great,” he told her, touching one softly.

“Thanks. Oh, and thanks for bringing this by,” Libby, waved the brush at him. She stepped back in front of her open suitcase and kicked it closed. “Christian and I just did that one,” Libby pointed to a painting of different colored lines that looked like a rainbow in a box.

“Awesome,” Nate breathed. “I always wished I could paint.”

Libby smiled. “Anybody can paint,” she encouraged. “Come here, and I’ll show you. But you might want to take the robe off first,” she advised.

Nate raised his eyebrows and grinned, shrugging out of it, and throwing it in the direction of one of the beds. He sprawled out on the floor, stomach-down, awaiting instructions.

Libby stopped short, taking in Nathaniel. His skin was about the same color as Christian’s and he was just about the most beautiful man she had ever seen, sprawled on her bedroom floor in front of her paints in nothing but his underwear.

“Oh, Lord, if Liam could see us now…” she laughed.

But Nate didn’t laugh. He was focused on the painting Christian and Libby had done. The rainbow trapped inside a box. “I want to paint that. Can you show me?” he asked hesitantly.

“Sure,” Libby agreed, and she got to work, opening the finger paints she’d used with Christian and urging Nate not to worry about messing up.

“Just paint what’s inside you,” Libby had said.

So Nate did, copying Christian and Libby‘s work, and wondering how this girl, and a four-year-old knew that inside he was a rainbow that couldn’t shine.