"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.
Ms. Stanley frowns and sighs before I walk after Tyler.
I find Tyler sitting on his bed, tears roll down his cheeks.
"Mary, why?" he pleads through tears
My heart melts as I walk over and sit next to him. I put my arms around him, "Its okay." I whisper calmly, "Its your job to make your mommy know you again, okay?"
He sniffles and nods snuggling into my arms. I grab another Harry Potter book from his backpack and begin to read.
Soon his sniffles cease, and he falls asleep. I cover him with a blanket and return downstairs to check on Becca. She comes running up to me waving a piece of paper with a multitude of colors on it.
"Mawy look!" she squeals
"Wow its the beach!" I exclaim examining her little masterpiece.
"Mm hmm." She says, "this is the sand and this is da ocean!"
"Thats is a great drawing!" I say an idea popping into my head. I grab a an empty picture frame from the mantle. I take Becca's drawing and place it in the frame before setting it back on the mantle.
"my art in a frame!" She exclaims
"Where it belongs!" I laugh at her excitement. I check the time, "Oh Becca how about we get dressed up really pretty for momma's beach dinner tonight?" I ask
"Yeah! I wear my favorite dress!" she says running upstairs. I grab her suitcase and follow her upstairs. I set the suitcase on her bed and she nearly rips it open searching for her favorite sundress. She pulls a little yellow dress and I help her put it on. I pick her up and walk into the bathroom setting her on the counter. I french braid her hair and tie it off with a sparkly yellow rubberband. She smiles before sliding off the counter and dancing around.
Tyler runs into the bathroom and starts to hop around with Becca. I turn some music on and join in. I grab Tylers hands and spin him around. Becca hops around singing along.
We dance into Ms. Stanley's room to find her brushing through her hair on her bed.
"Mommy! Look at my dress!" Becca squeals running over to her
"Wow, Becca thats a cute dress!" she says grinning.
"I like you dwess too!" Becca says
"Thank you! Are we all ready to go?" she asks me
"Yeah lets go!" I say happily.
The kids run downstairs singing happily. I help Ms. Stanley stand up and walk slowly down the stairs. She breathes heavily when we finally make it downstairs.
We get in the car and I buckle Becca up in her carseat next to Tyler. Ms. Stanley sits in the passenger seat looking out of the window as we drive towards the coast. The ocean comes into view, and Tyler yells "Look mommy thats the ocean!"
"Wow its beautiful." says Ms. Stanley looking back at the kids
We pull into downtown and find a parking spot next to the cafe we went to earlier. I help Ms. Stanley out of the car, and we walk into the cafe.
"We was here before!" Becca says "mommy its weally yummy!"
"Oh I'm glad." Ms. Stanley says a small grin appearing on her pale face.
We are seated in a booth with a view of the setting sun. Tyler sits next to me and Becca next to her mom. Tyler orders chicken fingers and Beccca wants spaghetti. Ms. Stanley orders a small salad and says she isnt very hungry.
Becca gobbles up her spaghetti and eats the top off of the garlic bread. Tyler enjoys his chicken fingers and I share my clam chowder with him. Ms. Stanley's plate of salad still looks full when we all finish.
"Mommy arent you still hungry?" Tyler asks
"No I had just enough." she says
The waitress takes our food away and Ms. Stanley pays the bill.
"Time to go to da beach!" Becca yells as we walk out of the cafe. The warm air blows, as the palm trees sway back and forth above us.
"Yeah!" Tyler says grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the sandy steps leading down to the beach. Becca grabs ahold of my hand as we walk across the street towards the beach.
"Momma?" Becca asks looking around for Ms. Stanley.
"Wha.. I thought she was right behind us" I murmer lokking back across the street.
I spot Ms. Stanley in the the middle of the crosswalk. Her face is white as chalk as she stammers on her feet.
"Mommy?" Tyler asks starting to walk over to her.
Suddenly, Ms. Stanley collapses to the ground, landing hard on the street. Her head hits the pavement hard. My heart beat quickens as I notice a pair of headlights advancing towards her unconscious body that lays invisible in the approaching darkness.