Saving the Stanley Kids

Chapter 14

"Mary?" a soft vioce echoes down the hallway. I pick Becca up off my bed and follow Tyler into Ms. Stanley's room.

"Mommy!" Tyler gasps walking over to Ms. Stanley who stands looking out of her window. Ms. Stanley leans down and gives Tyler a hug.

"Hey Tyler. How are you?" she asks softly

"Mommy I love my new room and we went to the beach and the ocean was so big!" Tyler says smiling.

Becca runs over to them and hugs her mom at the waist. Ms. Stanley grins up at me and hugs Becca back. Ms. Stanley sits down in one of the three comfy chairs infront of the window. Tyler hops up into the chair next to her and I sit in the one across from them. Becca crawls up into my lap, "Mommy how are you?"

"I'm doing okay Becca" Ms. Stanley says, "I'm still tired sometimes though."

"That good." Becca says sadly snuggling into my lap.

Ms. Stanley grins sadly and Tyler reaches over to hold her hand. Her face is even paler than before and her once vibrant brown hair lays thin on down her back. She seems so different and I think the kids are noticing. I try to liven the mood,

"Hey guys why dont you tell momma about what we did today?"

Becca sits up, "Yeah it was fun mommy! We played in the ocean and took naps in the sand! We wana take a you to the sand too!"

"Wow that sounds really fun Becca." Ms. Stanley says smiling meekly.

"Can we give you a tour of the beach?" Tyler asks happily.

"Well my doctor said it would be good for me to settle in and take it easy, and I would love to spend time with you guys." she says

"That sounds like fun." I say looking to the kids. "We could go out for a nice dinner and then watch the sunset!"

"That sounds so fun!" Tyler says hopping up out of his chair

"Yes it does! It is 3:00 now and I need a little nap," Ms. Stanley says to me, "So how about we are ready to go at 5:00?"

"Sounds good!" I say picking Becca up as I stand.

Tyler follows us out of the room and we walk dowstairs. Becca runs to the front door where we came in and grabs her backpack.

"Mawy, I'm gunna draw a picture of the beach!" she squeals sitting down on the floor in front of the giant windows. She unzips her little backpack and pulls out a box of crayola crayons and her coloring book. She picks out a blue crayon and carefully scribbles blue lines at the bottom of the page.

Tyler walks over and sits next to Becca with his Harry Potter book. I sit down next to Becca and enjoy the beautiful view.

"Hey Mary can you finish chapter seven?" Tyler asks holding out his book

"Sure," I respond taking the book and opening it

"I know I've already read this one, but its my favorite." Tyler giggles

"Its my favorite too." I exclaim and then I notice neat black writing in the cover of the book:

To my boy! I hope we can read this book over and over again! I will never forget this is your favorite story!

Love, Momma

Before I can flip the page, Tyler looks over my shoulder and gasps, "Mary! she wrote she'd never forget." he whispers grabbing the book from my hands. 

"Wha-" I start but Tyler is already dashing up the stairs holding his book.

I hop up and run after him. I stop in the doorway of Ms. Stanley's room just in time to see Tyler standing next to Ms. Stanley's bed showing his mom her writing. Ms. Stanley shakes her head in confusion and tries to reach out to Tyler. Tyler whines, "But you wrote here you wouldnt forget!" He drops the book and runs past me out of the room, tears in his eyes.