Chapter 229: Late
*Chance, Theresa Johnson just called. She has the twins in Rye’s class. Isn’t she Cookie’s sister? – Jordan*
It was six-thirty and most of the kids had already been picked up. Rye still had two children in her class. Four-year-old identical twins Gavin and Graham. Chubby cheeks, mahogany brown eyes, dark chocolate skin and black curly hair. They both wore blue jeans, gray t-shirts with smiling cars and black tennis shoes.
Rye sat at the short table coloring with the boys. Their chubby little hands wrapped around the fat crayons. Two of the coloring pages of the letter A had multicolored scribbles on the pages. The third had the bubble letter colored purple with green grass. Rye was coloring the sky when Chance entered the room.
“Why don’t you go ahead and go?” Chance suggested to Rye.
“I still have kids.” Her smile was bright and her voice cheery. But her eyes were cold and filled with hate.
“Theresa just called, she’s on her way. I know you want to get to your son.” He said as he pulled a chair over to the table. “Go on.”
She gave him a small smile, “I’ll wait.”
“Your choice.” Chance said as he began coloring the bubble letter a bright orange.
Every few minutes, Rye would coo to the boys telling them how good they were doing. She started a game where the boys were giving her words that began with A.
“Art!” Gavin exclaimed.
“Apparatus.” Chance grinned.
“Appropriate.” Rye smiled while giving him a cold look.
“Octopus?” Graham asked.
“It does kind of sound like that doesn’t it?” Rye said as her smile reached her eyes. “But octopus actually starts with an O.”
“Aardvark” Chance suggested. “It actually starts with two A’s.”
“Absolutely.” Rye agreed.
“Action?” Graham tried again.
“Amazing.” Rye smiled at him.
“Awesome.” Chance said and offered both boys a fist bump.
“Ant eater!” Graham declared.
“Orangutan?” Gavin said.
“That’s another one of those O words.” Chance said thoughtfully. “But most of them live in Africa.”
“For a while I lived in Atlanta.” Rye added.
“Alabama!” Gavin said.
“Absalom!” Graham declared and Rye was surprised that he knew the *Alice in Wonderland* character.
“I am so sorry!” Theresa said rushing into the room. “I had to get my car jumped off.”
This morning she looked very professional in her hospital scrubs. Now she looked like she had been through hell with her thin braids in disarray. Snow clung to the hem of her pants that were over her snow boots.
“Do you want me to look at it for you?” Chance asked.
“Gearhead is replacing the battery, I just have to go to Wilson’s. I left my lights on.” She said with a light blush as Rye helped the boys into matching jackets. “Here it is, the first day you guys are open, and I’m late.”
“It’s okay.” Rye said and she was sincere. “Things happen.”
“Miss Rye has a baby.” Graham told his mom as his teacher zipped his jacket.
“Tiny.” Gavin added as Rye slipped his backpack in place before standing up.
“Really?” Theresa asked.
“Yeah.” Rye pulled out her phone and opened the app. She smiled at the screen before turning the phone towards Theresa. “This is my little Michael.”
“Ohhhh…. He is tiny and adorable.” She cooed looking at the live feed.
“He’s twenty-four days old today.”
“Is he at Memorial?” Theresa asked.
“Yes, in the private NICU.” She admitted and Chance noted the small falter in her voice. Almost like there was something shameful there.
“I’ll see if I can swing by and see the little guy on my shift tomorrow.”
“Thank you. Hopefully, I’ll be able to hold him soon.”
Chance was surprised to hear that she had not been able to hold him yet. He would have to remember to ask Mark why a mother would not be allowed to hold her baby.
“Well, we will leave, and you can go to your little Michael.”
Both boys hugged Rye and she hugged them both and kissed their cheeks. They said their goodbyes and the boys each took a hand of their mother, and she led them out.
Rye picked up the blank pages and put them away while Chance was putting away the crayons.
“Go ahead and go, I’ll finish up.” Chance said as he got the disinfectant spray out of the now unlocked upper cabinet.
“I can do my job.” There was no hiding the venom in her voice now that they were alone.
“Damn it, woman, I’m trying to be nice.” Chance snarled.
“I never asked you to be nice.”
Chance stalked over to her. Nose flaring, jaw ticking and eyes hard. “Just what the hell is your problem with me?”
“You. Everything about you. You take everything and anything that you want, and you never consider the consequences.” She hissed back.
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know everything that I need to know about you. It’s March, how many women have you been with already this year? Do you even know any of their names?”
“That’s your problem with me? That I have a sex life? How long are you supposed to wait to have sex after giving birth?”
“Why?”
“When you reach that point, call me. Sounds like you need a good fucking.”
With that, Chance stormed out of the room and left Rye to stare behind him.
His actions just confirmed to her that he was another selfish man. Just like all the others that had been in her life since her father’s death.
Still angry with the exchange, Rye finished cleaning her room. By the time she left, Cinderella would have been jealous of how clean it was. She was calmer, having used up her anger.
With everything sparkling and Rye having calmed down, she locked up the chemicals and turned off her lights. Locking the door, Rye pulled out her keys and flashlight from her jacket pocket and made her way to her car.
She had a little man to go see.
