“Going to help your brother study?” I queried, my lips quirking when she gave me a big gummy grin. She only had a few teeth, and the way she drooled made me think she was going to get more soon enough. I didn’t have a ton of experience with the little ones, I’d gone straight into middle school teaching after getting my certification, but I knew the basics. When she reached for me, I offered to pick her up, pulling her into my lap so Jasper wouldn’t have to split his focus. “That math is a little much for you, I’m afraid. Start with counting.”
She babbled and bounced in my lap, content to just be held and talked to. I noticed Elias watching us, leaning against the counter with an expression on his face I didn’t want to look too deeply into. He could keep that smolder to himself. I was not getting into anything with one of my students’ parents, even if he was only a guardian.
Hoping to distract the man, and myself from the flutters in my belly from the way he looked at me, I asked, “What kind of hair care routine do you have for her?”
The immediate wince made me think he knew her hair needed more care, but I wasn’t sure if he just didn’t think heneeded to put in the effort at her age, or if he didn’t know what care she needed.
“Uh… She takes baths every other night, and I shampoo it. I know it looks like a rat’s nest, but she screams bloody murder when I try to brush it. It’s easier to just leave her be.”
I shot a look at Jasper. He was protective of his sister. I was curious if he knew any better.
He noticed me watching him and frowned. “What?”
“Nothing. Finish your work.”
I assumed if he knew there was more, he would’ve said something. I’d overheard his grumbles around his guardian before, and he wasn’t shy about telling Elias when he was doing something wrong. I gave my focus back to the biker, who was leaning a little closer, present and ready to learn just like when I’d shown him how to cook spaghetti. He might not be as bad for the children as I first thought.
We paused in the middle of our session so that Jasper and Isla could eat, Elias awkwardly mentioning the schedule the pediatrician recommended. He served me up a portion as well, and I was pleased by the improvement. His cooking still needed work, the simple shrimp scampi a little more watery than normal, but it was better than burnt. Isla ate the noodles without throwing them, too, and I could tell Elias was relieved to have made her something she didn’t hate enough to throw all over him.
I chose not to grade Jasper’s paper in front of him, allowing him to escape after he was finished as a reward for actually trying instead of half-assing it like he had before. When I was done, I decided Elias needed a lesson in biracial hair care. It might be easy to leave it alone now, but her hair would need special care for her whole life and he was setting her up for failure if he didn’t start caring for it now.
“Show me what you have for hair care.”
He frowned at me, but dutifully led the way to the bathroom upstairs. The tub was filled with toys, he obviously tried to make bath time fun, but when he handed me the two in one kids shampoo, I had to fight not to wrinkle my nose.
“That’s it?”
“Uh, yeah? I got it because I was afraid of getting soap in her eyes. It says no tears.”
I sighed. “That’s sweet, but not what her hair needs.” I considered the problem, but decided the best way to make sure she got what she needed was to go with him to the store. Men were notoriously blind, so even if I wrote him a list, he’d likely miss something. “Let’s go. I’ll show you what to buy, then we can come back here and I’ll show you how to use it.”
“Oh, uh, really?” He looked stunned by the offer, but didn’t protest, nodding in agreement. “Sure, that sounds great. Let me just tell Jasper.”
With Isla propped on his hip, he knocked on the door at the end of the hall with the big ‘keep out’ sign scrawled messily on a piece of paper taped to the door. Elias didn’t enter Jasper’s room until he got an irritated “What?” from the boy, and when he did open it, he only poked his head in, making me respect him a little more. He respected Jasper’s space, which would go a long way in getting Jasper to warm up to him.
“Hey, we’re going to head to the store and pick up stuff for Isla’s hair. Did you want to come or–”
Jasper growled, and Elias stepped back just as the boy ripped the door open, stomping past us both down the stairs. It was as much answer as he was willing to give, apparently.
Elias shot me a pained smile. “Guess we’re all going. We can take my car, if you’re comfortable with that. It’s got Isla’s car seat.”
I nodded, gesturing for him to lead the way, and followed them out the door. It surprised me when Jasper nearly shovedElias out of the way to buckle his sister in himself, and he didn’t even try to claim the front seat like most kids his age might. He sat in the back, right up against the car seat, and I could practically feel his unease as we pulled out of the driveway.
We arrived at the local supermarket without any fanfare and Jasper allowed Elias to put Isla into the basket seat of the cart before taking over and giving her his full attention. He was attentive and sweet with her, never scowling or cursing around her. It made me admire Elias a little more for keeping them together. It was obvious how much Jasper loved his sister. Finding a home where they could stay together likely wasn’t easy and losing access to his sister on top of everything else might’ve been the tipping point for Jasper. Elias didn’t realize it, but he likely saved the young boy from a life of violence if Elias hadn’t taken them in.
With Jasper in charge of the cart, I led the way to the hair care section of the store. I explained each product and what it was for as I set it into the cart and couldn’t fully hide my smile when Elias’s eyes got bigger and bigger the more I added. He’d learn eventually that healthy hair required a good routine and the right products, especially for hair like Isla’s.
“She’s a baby…” he croaked as I added a new wide tooth comb and spray bottle. “She doesn’t have that much hair.”
“You’ll see the difference, I promise. You’re a parent to two mixed kids now. They’ve got different needs than you do with your hair. If you don’t start taking care of it now, you’ll damage it. Believe me, it’s worth it.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
ZERO
I hadn’t realized there was a difference between my hair and the kids’. Yeah, they had curls, but what difference did that make? I figured hair was hair. My gaze drifted to Isla and I fought off another wince. Okay, yes, her hair was looking a little more like Einstein’s every day, but I was afraid I was hurting her, she screamed so loud when I tried doing anything to her hair. I thought it was better to just leave it alone.
Jasper’s hair was short enough that I didn’t notice a difference, but he was eyeing the products like he recognized a few. Maybe I should’ve asked him if I was missing anything when we went shopping.
