Chapter 19: A Leaf Drops From its Branch
Days turned to weeks and life in New York brought on a strange sense of serenity to me. Every day would be another day to have fun with my little girl. As it turned out, she really enjoyed going to the beautiful parks Manhattan offered. As more time continued on, the leaves on the park’s trees began to darken and die out; fall was right around the corner.
Amber approached me one afternoon with a startled expression on her face. I was participating in a small stuffed animal play that Lea had invented when she suddenly tapped me on the shoulder.
“Marshall, there’s something I have to tell you. I’ll explain in the kitchen.” She whispered hastily.
“What is it?” I was rather disappointed that Amber wanted me to leave the game that Lea had been so excited to play just so she could tell me some possibly unnecessary information.
With a sigh, I turned toward Lea.
“Lea honey, I’ll be right back, okay?” I reassured her frowning face.
I followed Amber the few steps into the other room. She turned to me slowly once we were out of ear shot.
“You know what today is?” Her eyes were wide with contained excitement.
I raised my eyebrow suspiciously. “Uh… November 18th… right?”
She sighed sharply at my confused expression. “I was looking around at Lea’s old file and I saw something.” Amber whispered slowly. “Lea’s birthday is next week!” Her voice exploded in excitement.
I silently gasped when the word “birthday” uttered from her mouth.
“Are you serious?”
She nodded ecstatically.
“That’s incredible.” I added in an attempt at quieting down.
“So, what should we do?” Amber asked.
I bit my thumb as thoughts on how much could be planned in the time span of only a week came. “Well, its not going to be small, that’s for sure.” I explained while chuckling.
A large number of connections to children entertainment came to mind, as well as a couple of places more than willing to rent out their space for birthdays and whatnot. My thoughts became interrupted by the distinct sound of Lea’s groaning.
“Dah-dee!” She called out through her wall of toys.
I turned to see my lonesome little girl waiting for a response to her cries.
“Aw, she wants you to keep playing with her.” Amber said looking back as well.
“I know; I still have no clue where she gets all her energy. Ugh, feels like I’m getting old.” I replied laughing. My mind was still concentrated on the recent news Amber had just told me. Lea’s birthday was in a week! I couldn’t believe how much she had grown since I first met her that day in the orphanage. It had only been about a month or so since Amber herself first heard little Lea talk. It must’ve been on the same day that Stephanie and I technically “broke up” if my memory served me right. I knew Amber took it upon herself to dim down her own excitement toward hearing Lea speak, since the mood was still quite tense that day. As I returned to my original thoughts, I heard Lea once again, call out to me.
“We’ll begin planning a little later.” I whispered to Amber as I made my way back to the mountain of toys.
“I’m sorry about that sweetie.” I dropped to my knees just an arm’s length away from her.
With the most adorable expression I had ever seen, little Lea placed a small stuffed bear in my hands. “Pwey!” She chirped.
I smiled back at her and we continued on our imaginary adventure that featured a stuffed bear and a duck skipping along together as they crossed paths with many other animals. After a short while of playing with the toys, Lea’s face began to show its familiar sign of boredom. After having her live with me for such a long period of time, I began to recognize certain facial expressions she would do to replace her current lack of speech. A wide smile meant excitement; the biting of her lower lip and widening of her eyes showed curiosity; the drooping of her eyes along with a quiet sigh every now and then showed boredom, and many other examples apart from those.
“Hey, I have an idea!” My voice sparked little Lea’s excitement once more.
“What do you say we get out of here and go play at the park?”
Lea’s mouth lined a smile as she cheerfully agreed to my suggestion.
I took notice of Amber, who was standing a couple of feet away from the two of us.
“You know, you’re coming too, right?” I told her as Lea and I walked passed the kitchen and into the other hallway that connected to Lea’s room.
She scoffed in retaliation. “There’s no way I could leave you alone to handle Lea. You would be lost without me!” She teased.
Toby had ended up calling a few hours back to a number of his friends in New York so that they could all, and I quote: “chill with him” unquote. Our own little posse just didn’t feel the same without him accompanying us, but I was sure he was having fun with his other friends, and that’s all that really mattered.
Amber disconnected from Lea and I as she headed back into her own room to prepare for the chilly outdoors. I knew the weather now demanded for heavier clothing so we all had begun our “winter shopping” to prepare for the harsh temperatures to come. Unfortunately, a very negative trait that New York brought to its inhabitants was the state’s cruel winter times.
I meticulously searched inside Lea’s closet for the proper attire. Currently, she wore a pair of pink sweatpants that hung below her waist and unconsciously showed off her diapered behind, and a white T-shirt. I smiled back at little Lea who was patiently standing at the entrance of her closet, watching me flip through her shirts and sweaters. A small navy blue pea coat caught my eye as I was carelessly skimming about the jackets section. I pulled it out and presented it in the air for the little girl to see as well.
“What do you think; do you like it?” I asked her. To be honest, I didn’t recognize the coat from our recent shopping trips, so I assumed Amber must’ve bought it some day I wasn’t around.
“Yes!” Lea squealed as her head continued nodding.
I smiled back and returned to finish my search in her closet. The sweatpants that she wore did not guarantee much warmth for when we’re outside, so I also checked for another pair of pants. After a short while of picking a pair out, examining them, and then only returning them to their original spot, I began to grow impatient. With a sigh, I simply pulled out the closest matching pair of jeans to the pea coat that I could find and returned to where Lea stood. I dropped all the clothes onto the bed and began undressing the child. The front of her diaper had a faint yellow tint to it, so before putting her in the jeans, I brought her over to the changing table for a dry diaper.
My diapering skills seemed to have improved throughout this time as the process lasted even shorter than usual. With both tapes secured, I stepped back for a moment to examine the work finished. Lea wore only her diaper as I had unintentionally also taken her shirt off before the change. She seemed more babyish than usual with the padding secured around her waist as she obliviously stared at the ceiling. Her fingers would travel an invisible line above her head that slowly made their way to her mouth. It struck me as unusual as to how she continued growing mentally, yet she still showed signs of regression. I pulled her hand out of her mouth and replaced it with her pacifier. If Lea had not seemed infantile before the pacifier, she most definitely did now. The sheer cuteness emitting from her was almost too much to stand. I put my hands over her armpits to gently lower her back to her feet.
A thought clicked in my head and I rushed back into her closet to retrieve the forgotten item.
“Sorry about leaving honey.” I told little Lea who stood carelessly half naked in the middle of the room. The pea coat would’ve served little protection had she not had something underneath that to warm her body evermore. She lifted her hands above her head as I pulled them through a baby pink long sleeve shirt. Once it comfortably surrounded her torso, I took the pants off her bed. She quickly stepped into the leg holes as I pulled them up and zipped the jeans snugly around her thick bottom. Next were her socks, which turned out to be the most troublesome as Lea could not keep herself from kicking her feet around. Finally, after a minute of chasing her fidgety toes, I managed to slip both socks on.
“You almost got her fully ready.” Amber remarked from the doorway while chuckling.
I smiled back at her as my hands went to pick up Lea’s boots.
“I can handle this; don’t worry about it.” I replied playfully.
Amber wore a pair of brown flats which were accompanied by a brown sun dress that only showed off its very ends because the rest hid itself underneath the dark H&M coat tied loosely around her waist. I took my concentration from Amber’s wardrobe to finish dressing little Lea. The new pair of boots was a light pink shade that had the brand’s name distinctly stitched on its back.
“Uggs; what a weird name…” I contemplated as Lea’s feet slipped right in.
She hopped off the bed just as I finished both of the shoes. Amber took a hold of Lea’s coat and placed both arms through the sleeves just before lifting the collar over her neck and buttoning everything closed.
The walk to the park was fairly short as the condo actually overlooked the trees from below. Immediately after we passed the gate-like entrance, Lea took off running after a darkened leaf that floated along the wind’s current.
“I’m pretty sure it’s always been this way now that I think about it.” Amber said as the two of us watched Lea playing with the many leaves flying by her.
“What do you mean?” I asked turning to see her.
“Lea’s always had a fascination with leaves and plants, ever since she was a baby. Even then, when fall and winter would come around, she could spend hours just staring at leaves fall from the trees.” She explained softly.
I looked back at how peaceful and happy Lea seemed as she continued catching and watching countless leaves descend from above her. I almost jumped when my phone’s vibration broke my moment of thought.
“What the hell does he want?” I silently said to myself. Frank stayed away ever since I had fired him, but now he had sent me a text straight out of the blue.
“Dun wrry bout nothing buddy! Got it all figured out, ur lil grls gunna b famous!” exclaimed his text message.
“You don’t get to talk to me, ever. If I hear from you again I’m calling the cops.” I replied coldly. Usually if a person showed enough regret toward their past decisions, I would eventually forgive them. Unfortunately for Frank, this was different; I couldn’t forgive him for what he had done.
Thoughts on just what he was talking about in his text resurfaced once more as the three of us continued walking along. There was no way I was going to ask him about it since that would only incite more chatter among Frank and I; something I wanted absolutely none of. I finally let it go as Amber and I continued on a different subject.
The sun began to dim as all of us slowed our pace and my body began desiring the warmth of the condominium once more. I looked over to where Lea was still casually playing with another child when I noticed an unknown face a fair distance away from all of us just… standing around, looking directly at the three of us. I kept my glance over him to see if it might be some mistake, but he didn’t look toward any other direction whatsoever. My eyes focused in on the pale man, and it almost seemed like he was smiling. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of our eyes staying connected, he slowly began turning around. One ninety degree turn and he walked away into the ever-darkening noon.
The uncertain feeling of that man staring at us gave me enough incentive to inform Amber of our return to the apartment. She took Lea by the hand and we all walked back to the condo. I knew if I told them of what I saw; it would only cause a scare that would solve absolutely nothing.
“I’ll start on a better security system tomorrow…” I contemplated. What I did not expect was that tomorrow was going to be the day that would change my life forever.