She kept looking at me without ever saying a word, but at least she nodded.
“Good. Stay here.”
I walked back into the kitchen and grabbed our bowls, then filled them with milk. Her favorite cereal was the one with cinnamon on it, and I grabbed the box and placed it under my arm to bring everything over to the coffee table.
“Here you go,” I said, giving her the bowl.
I filled it up with the cereal, then did the same with my bowl.
“How are you feeling today, kiddo?”
I asked her that question every morning.
She usually answered with simple words, but sometimes, I got lucky and she spoke a full sentence.
Today was not one of those lucky days.
“Happy,” she said, her mouth full.
“Anything you wanna do today?”
I liked giving her some freedom to decide what she wanted to do on the weekends.
I worked full-time in sales, and took her with me every day.
The company I worked for was kind enough to set up a small office just for me and Genesis, where I could work and she could play all day.
She was quiet, and as long as she had her toys, everything was fine.
I couldn’t afford a place at day care for her every day of the week, so my office had to do.
Genesis pointed at the tv to answer my question.
“We can’t watch tv all day. How about we go outside? Play in the snow?”
She shook her head and pushed another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
“No tv all day. Choose something else. We can go to the park. Take the sled with us and you can slide down the small hill,” I suggested.
Now she shrugged.
I was getting somewhere.
“And maybe after playing all day we can go to McDonald’s and get you a happy meal. What do you think?”
“Okay.”
That always worked.
But McDonald’s only happened once every two months, or even less.
At her age, she should be talking a lot and asking endless questions all day long.
But she was different.
Almost as if there was something missing inside of her.
She definitely knew that her life wasn’t normal.
With her mother still in prison and her father out of the picture, there was no way for her to build a relationship with her parents.
I was all she had, and I knew the trailer we lived in was enough for her.
It wasn’t too small, and it was the safest place for now, but I knew that someday I would get her out of here.
We finished breakfast, and before I took a quick shower, I told her to pick out clothes to wear and put them on while I was getting ready.
She was independent when it came to getting dressed and brushing her hair and teeth.
That’s one thing I was proud of her for.
But there were so many more things she could already do at only four.
After I got dressed, I walked back into the living room to find her sitting in the same spot as before.
Dressed from head to toe in her winter clothes.
I bought her new things the day after I took her home and she was finally mine, and most of the things she picked out herself.
To my surprise, she went for neutral colors and whites.
The only color she’d wear was my mustard colored beanie she wore since she came to me.
At first, she didn’t wanna get a new one, but I insisted and grabbed a white one, just in case mine got lost or destroyed.
“You ready to go, kiddo?” I asked, and she quickly nodded, then turned off the tv.
“My sled,” she said, then pointed to the front door.
“Yeah, it’s outside. We’ll get it right now. It snowed again last night,” I told her.
“A lot?” she asked, and I took in every moment of her saying more than one word at a time.
“I think so. Might even be up to your knees.”
Her eyes widened and she quickly walked over to the door and opened it.
The snowplow had already passed, and the streets were clean, but the snow on our front yard was high, which made Genesis smile.
“You got lucky again. Did you wish for more snow before you closed your eyes last night?” I asked, rubbing the back of her head before grabbing the sled leaned against the trailer wall.
“Maybe,” she replied with a small grin, and as the sled was on the snow, she sat on it and gestured to me to pull it.
She had full control over me sometimes, and I didn’t mind pulling her all the way to the park.
It was a fifteen-minute walk, and I loved seeing how calm and relaxed she was just watching the scenery pass her.
I pulled my gloves over my hands, then grabbed the end of the rope the sled was attached to and started to walk.
“Hold on tight!” I told her.
I liked to think that I had adapted well on being her guardian.
Although she knew I wasn’t her dad or mom, she loved me the way a kid should love the person who raised them.
I loved her like my own, and I’d give my all for her.
Always.
Two years later
“This is your last chance to change your mind, Genesis. Are you sure you wanna visit her?” I asked.
I was squatting down in front of her, with my hands on each of her arms and my eyes fixed on hers.
She was six.
She’d start school next summer, and her vocabulary widened each day.
I liked to think that kindergarten let her open up more, and I was happy about that.
She made friends, and even had playdates before.
It seemed as if she was the only one between the two of us who made progress.
She had also grown quite a bit, but was still one of the smaller kids.
“I want to see her,” she told me.
Genesis was strong-willed.
Something I had always known, but only just now started to get used to.
If she wanted something, she’d get it, no matter how winding and hard the road would be.
“Okay.” I looked past her at the entrance of the prison her mother was in and took a deep breath.
“Are you scared?” she asked, her pale eyes worried.
I let out a harsh laugh, hating how she knew exactly what I was feeling.
“A little. I haven’t seen your mom in a long time, you know? She doesn’t know I’m bringing you with me, or that you live with me, so I don’t know how she’ll react.”
Genesis had the sweetest soul.
Her glove-covered hands cupped both my cheeks, and she leaned in to kiss the tip of my nose.
“I’m right next to you, okay? You don’t have to be scared, Otis.”
I loved when she said my name.
Our bond got stronger each day, and she was truly the only one I had.
“I know. God, I wish I could be as strong as you are, kiddo.”
I smiled at her and pulled her into a hug.
Her arms came around my neck and her body pressed against my chest.
Showing affection toward each other was not something we lacked.
It all came naturally.
“You should drink more milk and eat more spinach. That’s how I got this strong,” she explained with a grin.
Little Genesis had a great sense of humor, and she often made me laugh unintentionally.
“You keep eating and drinking those two things. I’m way passed the growing part.”
“It’s never too late for anything.”