Leo’s eyes widened slightly, as if he hadn’t expected to be asked. “I can pick?”
“Show us which ones you like,” Chloe replied.
Leo carefully selected three shirts – one with a dinosaur, one with a dog, and one with stars. Simple choices, but the way his face lit up when we put them in the cart brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them away, looking down at the cart.
At home, Chloe showed Leo the guest room. “This can be your room for now,” she said. “We’ll make it more comfortable for you tomorrow, okay? Maybe get some things to decorate it how you like.”
“It’s nice,” Leo said, sitting on the edge of the bed with his truck. “Mommy said you’d take care of me. She said I’d be safe here.”
The casual way he accepted it broke something in me. Like being handed off to relative strangers was just another day in his short life.
“You are safe here,” I said, sitting beside him. “We’re going to take very good care of you, buddy.”
Leo nodded solemnly. “When is Mommy coming back??”
I looked at Chloe, who’d settled on Leo’s other side. We hadn’t discussed how to handle this question, what to tell a four-year-old about abandonment and parental rights and legal processes he couldn’t possibly understand.
“Your mommy had to go away for a while,” Chloe said gently. “But you’re going to stay here with us, and we’re going to make sure you’re happy and safe. Is that okay?”
Leo thought about this, his small face serious. “Will she forget about me like Daddy David did?”
“No, buddy,” I said, my voice rough. “She won’t forget about you. Sometimes grown-ups have to make really hard choices, and your mommy decided you’d be happiest here with us.”
“Okay.” Leo accepted this with the resilience of a child who’d already learned that adults were unpredictable. “Can we have dinner? I’m hungry.”
We made spaghetti – or rather, Chloe and I made spaghetti while Leo sat at the kitchen counter telling us about each of the puppies, which he’d named while we were talking to Arthur.
“Trouble is my favorite,” he confided. “She’s the smallest, but she’s the bravest. She always climbs out of the basket first.”
“Sounds like someone I know,” Chloe said, meeting my eyes with a small smile.
After dinner, we watched a movie curled up on the couch – one of those animated films about talking animals that Leo had mentioned wanting to see. He fell asleep halfway through, his head on Chloe’s lap, his truck clutched against his chest.
“He’s out,” I whispered.
“Let him sleep,” Chloe said, her hand gently stroking his hair. “He’s had a big day.”
We sat there in the flickering light of the TV, neither of us willing to move and disturb him.
Eventually, I carefully lifted Leo and carried him to his room. He stirred slightly as I laid him on the bed, his eyes fluttering open.
“Sam-Sam?”
“Right here, buddy. Just getting you to bed.”
Chloe appeared with the new pajamas we’d bought. Between the two of us, we managed to get Leo changed and tucked in, his truck placed carefully beside his pillow.
“Will you be here in the morning?” Leo asked, his voice drowsy.
“We’ll be right down the hall,” Chloe promised. “And we’ll make pancakes for breakfast if you want.”
“With chocolate chips?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Okay.” Leo’s eyes drifted closed. “Night, Sam-Sam. Night, Dr. Chloe.”
“Goodnight, Leo,” we said together.
