Control

Epilogue

~ One Year Later ~

Adyson rushed through the large house, her heels clicking on the hardwood floors of the front hallway. She pulled her hair up into a twist at the back of her neck, straightening her black jacket over the white blouse beneath. Wearing a black pencil skirt felt foreign to her; she was much more used to her usual attire of scrubs and a scrunchie.

Today was her first day at the university. After completing her master‟s degree she had finally gotten the courage to apply for a teaching job. Much to her surprise, she had gotten the job. And today was her first day.

"Come on Aiden, we‟re going to be late!" she called to her son as he sat on the living room floor, playing with a video game given to him by his uncle Brian.

Adyson walked quickly into the kitchen, packing up the lunch that she had made for her son on the long kitchen counter.

The house was quiet, the only sounds being the clicks of her shoes and the electronic noises of the video game from the living room.

Adyson paused a moment, her breathing spiking. These momentary panic attacks were a regular occurance.

The house had never felt the same since her husband, Carter, had died the year before. Their relationship had been anything but normal, but he had been the center of her life. But after a long battle with cancer, he had passed peacefully in his sleep one night. She took some relief in the fact that his last moments had been calm, and had hoped that he hadn‟t even realized it was happening.

The months following had been difficult. She had done everything she could to prepare herself for the inevitable, but nothing truly prepares you for losing your soul mate. Aiden had been too young to really understand what was happening during Carter‟s illness. He knew he had been sick, but the possibility of him dying had never entered his mind.

Aiden‟s transition after Carter‟s death had been tumultuous. He didn‟t seem to understand why his father wasn‟t coming home, repeatedly saying that he thought he just had a cold. It was hard to explain the workings of cancer and death to a five year old. Needless to say, Aiden had taken it hard.

Eventually, he seemed to adjust, although she still wondered just how well he had accepted Carter being gone. He was still too young to verbalize his thoughts and feelings on the subject, but had been able to return to the workings of a normal child‟s life; school, soccer and video games.

Controlling herself from her momentary panic, Adyson plucked the lunch box from the counter and stomped through to the living room.

Aiden still lay on the floor, sprawled on his stomach while propped up on his elbows. He was completely immersed in his video game.

"Aiden William," Adyson warned, using her best „mom‟ voice. "We‟re going to be late. Turn that off and clean up this mess!" She cast a hand dramatically across the room to point out the mess of games and toys that were scattered across the living room floor. "Now!" she demanded.

Aiden huffed unhappily, pushing himself up from the floor. He crawled towards the TV on his knees, pushing the button on the gaming box and turning off the TV before looking towards his mother annoyed.

"Thank you," she said. "Now please put this stuff away so we can go."

She turned her back to him to gather her belongings from the small table inside the front door. She was partially blocked from his view, the only part of her visible was her backside and legs.

Aiden turned to look at the toys strewed across the floor. He hated cleaning up. It was too much effort, in his opinion.

"Hurry up!" his mother called, still half obscured by a portion of the wall that separated the hall from the living room.

Aiden cast her a quick glance, making sure she could not see him.

Turning back to his mess, he concentrated hard. His vision blurred, and his hearing faded as he focused on the items on the floor.

Suddenly, one by one, the games and toys slid across the floor as if on their own accord, and piled neatly against the wall under the living room window beside the TV. Once everything was in place, Aiden relaxed, releasing his control. He smiled at his handy work.

"You ready?" his mother asked, her eyes looking downward as she rummaged through her purse in search of her keys. She was oblivious to the strange scene that had just occurred.

"Yup," Aiden called, a proud smile on his face.

He pushed himself up from the floor and ran through the hallway. Grabbing his backpack, he ran out the door and towards the car as Adyson pulled the door closed behind them.