chapter 3

“Bunny!” Jamie beamed, running out the school building and into Alex’s arms.

“How was my little chipmunks first day at school?” Alex asked, seating her at the back of his car.

"It was amazing, I drew a picture, look it's me, you, and our two mummies."

Alex had already taken his seat when his smile slightly faltered. He turned to look a Jamie, reestablishing his smile. “No way, can I see?”

Excitedly digging through her bag, Jamie fished out her self-drawn artwork and passed it to Alex. On it were two stick figures that had yellow hair that Jamie pointed out to be them.

“They didn’t have any brown crayons so I couldn’t draw mama,” Jamie said, slightly pouting. She then pointed to the tallest person in the picture.

“That’s mummy Cindy.” Jamie’s voice faltered a bit, her bright blue eyes looking up at Alex. “When is she gonna come back, I miss her.”

Alex kept his gaze on the drawing, afraid to make any contact with Jamie. How could he even begin to tell her that their mother had already passed on. It was already enough stress on their mum who had lost her life partner, how then, could she break the news to Jamie when she herself still refused to accept it.

Alex finally looked up at her, lightly patting her head. “She’s in a better place now.”

Jamie said nothing, almost as if she’d understood his words. She lightly nodded, stuffing the drawing back into her bag.

The ride home was quieter than usual. The radio the only thing to keep them from being in total silence. Alex was debating whether he’d said the right thing, maybe it wasn’t time.

“Bunny,” Jamie lightly called, getting Alex to humm in response.

“Will mama be alright?”

Alex threw her a side glance, lightly smiling. “Ofcourse, this is why we should always help her out when she’s not feeling well, alright?”

Jamie nodded, also smiling before taking her gaze back outside the window.

Alex sighed quietly, his thoughts abustle. Ever since the death of Cindy, their second mother, its been harder for their mum to take care of them. With her autism, keeping a job was growing harder and being one of the only people of colour in town meant she was thoroughly looked down upon by many.

This made getting into college an essential as well as taking up as many part time jobs that he could force himself to. After scraping enough cash, he was finally able to buy himself a car to provide safer for commute for both Jamie and his mum. It was hard, juggling work and studying, but he had to do something. He couldn’t just sit around and watch as their mother tried everything she could to provide for them.

"We're home," Alex announced as he parked the car on the driveway. Jamie was quick to jump out and burst through the front door. "We're home!" She shouted. Alex was right behind her when their mother stuck her head from the kitchen.

"Welcome home," she greeted, accepting Jamie’s hug. “How was school today,” She questioned, Alex the first to groan.

“Boring.”

“Amazing!” Jamie threw her hands in the air, her voice loud enough to hide Alex’s incessant complaints.

“No one’s bullying you right?” She asked, a wrinkle creasing her brow.

Alex laid a hand on her shoulder as to calm her worries. “Don’t worry,” He said, Jamie furiously nodding.

“Ill beat up any who bullies me or Alex or mummy.”

“There will be no beating up of anyone, young lady,” their mum said, placing Jamie back down.

“How are you?” Alex asked, now his turn to worry. Jamie had ran out the room, leaving the two.

Sighing, she kept her eyes on her fingers. “Its hard but I’ll manage.”

Alex pressed his lips together, eyeing his mum. “You don’t have to work so hard, I can get another part time job and—”

“No, Alex you already work so hard, you should focus on your studies. I’ll find a way ok? Trust me.”

Sighing, Alex reluctantly agreed. He hated the idea but he knew there wasn’t convincing her once she set her mind to something. Despite being adopted children, she treated them like they were her own and that only made him feel they were the reason her suffering.

“I’m going to study,” Alex said, making his way up the stairs.

Falling onto his bed, he let out a groan. His body felt physically worn out. The day was cut short yet it felt to have strechted for several long days. He still had a lingering headache and a constricted chest.

His thoughts quickly went back to that person he’d seen. Those crazed eyes.

These thoughts didn’t help any of his symptoms, they actually worsened as he tried to force the image out but continuously failed. He was already curled up in a ball, his hand clutching onto his chest.

His airways felt constricted, each breath growing more painful than the last. He let out a throat scratching cough, the world around him spinning. He forced himself up, his hand reaching out to the inhaler by his bedside.

He took one puff, his eyes now watering but he could feel tons lift from his chest. He took another puff and could finally breathe. His headache though, had only tripled making sitting upright, unbearably painful.

Lying down wasn’t an option though, seeing as how he still couldn’t breathe properly. So now he was in this state of incredulous pain, with no way to treat it yet for some unthinkable reason, his mind flashed the image of Xavier asking if he was alright.

His expression then was blank, almost emotionless even, yet the softness in his tone made Alex' insides go warm. Alex let out a painful chuckle, finding his state nothing short of pathetic.

After calming down, Alex went to studying. Many long and painful hours of painkillers and English he took a break. He went downstairs, the sun having receded leaving the house in a state of darkness. It wasn’t unusually, seeing how power was ridicoulsy expensive and only grew so it saved to keep the lights off unless needed.

Enetering the kitchen, Alex got out the ice cream container from the fridge. The moonlight from outside was enough to provide enough light for him not to accidently stub his toe. He cracked open the container only to find just a spoonful of it left. He got out a clean spoon before turning to leave when Jamie came in, scratching her eye.

“Bunny?” She called, Alex holding onto her free hand. “You want me to turn on the lights?” He asked, ready to flip the switch.

Jamie quickly shook her head, holding the arm that was on the wall. “No its alright,” She said, Alex dropping his hand. He looked over at the ice cream he left on the table before turning to Jamie who was eyeing it.

He smiled, before crouching down. “You want it?” He asked, holding her cheek. Twidling her fingers, Jamie looked up at him.

“Yeah.”

He stood, getting the dessert before passing it to her. He brought a finger to his lips. “Make sure not to tell mum, after all, no ice cream after dark.”

Jamie nodded, looking down at the ice cream. “Do you want some?” She asked, scooping a bit, brining to his lips. He shook his head, lowering the spoon. “I’m fine, you can have it.”

“Really?” She beamed, Alex nodding once more. She excitedly sat on the table, taking careful bites. Alex sat by her, watching as she finished it much longer than the hoped. She made sure to savour her every bite.

He admittedly wanted some, vanilla was his favourite after all but it was also Jamie’s and nothing made him happier than seeing her smile.

“Was it good?” He asked when she finished, her mouth lined with the ice cream.

“Yeah!” She said, enthusiastically nodding. Alex chuckled, wiping her clean.

“Make sure not to tell mum ok?”

“Ok.”

Alex fished out his phone from his pocket, checking the time.

“2 am! I’ve been up that long. Christ, I wasn't going to give you ice-cream if it was this late,” he quietly exclaimed. Laughing like the little devil, Jamie dashed away, leaving Alex still dumbfounded.

“I can’t even get mad at her.”