Page 17 of Second Chances

She looked over him again and wondered just how the job had changed him. She knew several other ex-military personnel. Some had PTSD, while a few others didn’t.

From looking at how well Todd fit into the group of people gathered at Crystal’s place, she somehow doubted he was affected much, but she knew that some people hid their pain very well.

“So,” Todd said with a sigh, “Simona seems happy enough playing with CJ now.” He motioned with his beer, and she glanced over to see her daughter being swung in circles by CJ. Both kids were laughing and having a great time together.

“Yeah, they’re like brother and sister at this point.” She smiled.

“Really?” The tone in Todd’s voice had her looking back at him.

“Yes.” She frowned. “Why?”

“It’s nothing. I just...” He stopped talking and started laughing, then motioned to where her daughter stood over CJ. Her little hands were balled into fists, and CJ was holding his left eye.

She thrust her wine glass at Todd and rushed over and pulled Simona off the bigger and older boy.

“What is going on?” she asked, trying to keep her voice quiet.

CJ stood up, still holding his eye, and said quickly. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have teased her.”

Just then Kayla came into the room and, seeing her son holding his eye, rushed over to them.

“What happened?” Kayla knelt before her son and gently pulled his hand aside to expose a very bright red eye.

“I fell,” CJ said, looking over to Simona, who was looking a little guilty and sad.

“Oh, well, let’s go get some ice on that eye.” Kayla took her son’s hand and led him out of the room.

Olivia knelt before Simona and lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Did you hit him?” she asked. Seeing the guilt in her daughter’s eyes, she sighed. “You need to go and apologize. Immediately.”

“He said I laughed funny.” Simona crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip, a move Olivia knew all too well.

The girl had obviously inherited her stubborn gene from her side of the family.

“I don’t care what he said. It’s never okay to hit someone else,” she answered automatically.

“Well, now, that’s not necessarily the truth,” Todd said from directly behind her. Then he shocked her by kneeling down and talking softly to Simona. Instantly, Olivia wanted to correct him, to tell him to stay out of her parenting business, but he continued. “If someone bigger than you is picking on you or doing something bad, really bad to you, by all means, punch, kick, or scream at them and yell for help all you want.” She understood what he was talking about now and let him continue. After all, as a parent, she’d had a few discussions about not talking to strangers or what to do if someone was hurting her. Obviously, her talks hadn’t stuck, since Simona had bumped into a stranger last night and had let him drag her back to the pizzeria. Thankfully, back into her arms. But still… “But if someone is calling you names, especially someone you consider a friend…” He let that last word hang in the air. “Friends don’t hit friends,” he said softly, as he took her smaller hand in his. “Understand?”

Simona’s eyes moved to hers as she nodded. “What about daddies? What happens when they hit mommies?”

Olivia tensed and kept her eyes glued to Simona.

“Sweetie,” she said as tears started stinging her eyes. She’d believed her daughter to be too young to remember. How many times had Simona witnessed Brock hitting her? She’d tried very hard to shelter her from those moments. Obviously, she’d failed at that, as well.

“Well, then it’s okay for you to tell someone, another grown-up. Someone who will get your mommy help. Like a teacher or another adult,” he answered smoothly. “Why don’t you head in and apologize to CJ. Since he already covered for you, I’m sure he’s going to forgive you.”

Simona nodded slightly and then sighed and looked over at her. “I’m sorry, Mommy,” she said, and threw herself at her. Olivia hugged her daughter as a tear slipped down her cheek.

“I love you, baby,” she said softly. She kissed her cheek. Simona turned and rushed from the room.

Todd stood up and held out his hand to help her stand up.

“It’s not always as cut and dried as kids make things out to be,” he said.

“Oh?”

“Sometimes there are other reasons behind someone’s pain.”