He stirred softly, diaper crinkling. She thought about snapping his sleeper crotch close, but he was so adorable with his diaper on display, matching his bear. Even the smell of his pee didn’t bother her. She wanted to change him, feed him a bottle, scoop him up and cuddle him. “Lucas.”

“Hmm?” His lashes fluttered partway open and he yawned.

“What do you think of Prudence?”

Under her intense stare, he sobered up a bit. “I weally wike hew.” He really liked her. He was still so warm and hazy. He wanted to go back to sleep.

“You do?”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded sleepily. The world spun and he closed his eyes. “I did a weport on hew wast month. Fow schewl.” He did a report on her last month for school. The alcohol and nipple filling his mouth slurred and slowed his speech. His tongue felt like a thick slug in his mouth. He giggled. “I made a doww.” He made a doll of her as a visual aide for his report.

The babyish words slammed into her like a physical blow. She gasped; he opened his eyes. “A doll? One of your pretty dolls? Of me-her?” Her deep, penetrating eyes lasered in on him like he was her lifeline. Her entire being focused on him.

He was so out of it he barely noticed her stare. Otherwise he’d have been so scared, so intimidated, he’d clam right up. “Yeth.” Yes.

Pru leaned forward, hands on her knees with a knuckle white grip. “Why?” He squirmed, diaper crinkling. She could smell fresh ammonia when he peed.

“Cuz-cuz…I w-wike hew.” Because he liked the historical Prudence. The intensity of the girl’s tone, her gaze shocked him. His voice shrank to a soft whisper, like a child who’d been reprimanded but wasn’t sure what they’d done wrong.

Pru tried to gentle her tone, smooth her face in a happy expression. “Why do you like her? By all accounts, she was a no good shit. The world would’ve been better off without her.” She couldn’t shake off the intense emotion that gripped her. She felt like her very existence hinged on him. Her raging emotions felt like a hand gripping her heart.

“Nuh-uh!” Lucas shook his head fiercely then whimpered when the world rolled. The fuzzy clouds in his head flipped. He felt like he was on a spinning ride at an amusement park. Indignation twisted his stomach at her words. His pacifier fell from numb, tingly lips. “She lived life on her own terms. She did it her way. She wasn’t bad. She just wanted the world to hear her voice. Prudence was so full of life she overflowed. The world didn’t understand her.” His chest welled with a hot feeling; he rambled on to release the pressure. The fog in his head made him feel topsy turvy; kept him relaxed enough to share his feelings.

Tears stung Pru’s eyes and her chest burned. What did she see when she looked at him? Redemption? She never wanted that. Forgiveness? She wasn’t sorry. If she had to do her life over again, she’d make the same choices, for the most part. Hope? How to walk a different path in life? She laughed.

Lucas, lost in an alcoholic stupor, paid her dark laugh no mind. He was talking more to himself. “I wish I could’ve met her. “

“No, you don’t. Trust me, kid. You hold her in higher regard than she deserves.” Pru ran a hand over her face, scrubbing away tears. She was angry at herself.

He nodded like a puppet with slack strings. “She would’ve hated me. I…I’m a freak. A weirdo. A girl like her…and me….” His laugh echoed hers; sharp and full of pain. It matched perfectly with how Pru felt inside.

“She would’ve adored you. I know this for a fact.” She wondered if any of her words were getting through to him. When she was drunk in her cups, she was oblivious to the world. Just like her old man had been. The unbidden thought startled her. She hadn’t thought of her family since the day she left home.

“Nuh-uh.”

Luc’s deep self loathing hit her heart. Was this dark muck what lay beneath his timid, nervous exterior? Pru picked up his pacifier and slipped it between his lips. Her fingers stayed on the shield until she felt him start to suck. “There’s a lot of good in you, kiddo. Like your dolls. Seeing them makes people happy.”