Unhealthy Coping Mechanism

Chapter 2

As afternoon faded into evening, Harriet watched Sam play with his birthday presents. The junior paleontologist's tool set she'd bought him sat unopened and forgotten as he crouched over a pair of plastic dinosaurs.

"Look Mom, this one's head is super thick!" He lightly thumped the herbivore's domed skull with his finger.

Harriet massaged her own aching temples as she checked her phone. Still no texts. "I think that other one's looking at him funny," she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

Sam gasped, his brown eyes widening in horror. "Mr. T-Rex, friends aren't for eating!"

He chucked the Pachycephalosaurus at the thoroughly unamused T-Rex. Harriet snapped a picture as the dinosaurs collided with a hollow bonk. There, she thought as she sent Frank the picture, maybe this would guilt trip him into dragging his sorry butt home.

"This dinosaur's the best!" Sam said as he picked up the Pachycephalosaurus and made it do a victory dance, its clawed feet awkwardly thumping the carpet. "Isn't that right Mr....?" Sam squinted at the label still hanging around the dino's neck like a dog tag.

"Dad," Harriet said with a smirk. "The resemblance is uncanny, especially with that thick head!"

Sam giggled. "Nah, he looks like a wooly mammoth." He stifled a yawn. "Or a wooly rhino. Maybe a wooly bear."

"Wooly bears aren't a thing, sweetie." She scooped him up in her arms with a grunt. There was no doubt about it; he was definitely growing both older and heavier. "Speaking of bears, it's about time for you to hibernate."

"But I'm not tired," he said with a yawn. His new favorite toy dangled loosely from his hand as she hauled them off to bed.

"Even dinosaurs need to sleep. Especially since..." She paused for dramatic effect.

"What?" Sam's eyes darted around his room as if the Velociraptors in the posters surrounding his bed were plotting to ambush him in the night. Their cold, hungry eyes stared at the herbivore clutched tightly to his chest.

"Especially since the Ticklesaurus loves to eat little dinos that won't go to bed!"

Sam laughed so hard he nearly fell out from under the covers as her fingers skittered across his stomach. "Oh no, she's got me!"

"You're so cute I could eat you up," she said as she planted a kiss on his forehead. "Take good care of your new buddy, okay? Keep him nice and cozy."

Sam snuggled under the covers with his dino until only their heads were peeking out. "I will."

Harriet left Sam to drift off with his dino dad, illuminated only by the amber glow of his nightlight.

Sam's soft snores were the only sound in the house until Frank's Toyota rumbled up the driveway. Harriet met him at the door with her hands on her hips. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"I had to finish ordering props for a new client's commercial," Frank said as he popped a kink out of his back. "You know how it is. You think you're about to head home for the day, but then Ryan walks in crying about how he has to get ready for his weekend with his kid and..." Frank shrank under Harriet's glare. He ran a hand through his thick, bushy Afro. "Shit, that's the you-done-fucked-up look."

"Yup. Checked your phone lately?"

"I had my hands full today, babe. Let's see what we've got going on here." His loose, easy smile dropped. "Oh."