she could handle it, that they had nothing to worry about. “Involving Zac in something might help him assimilate quicker. We might not come to the office though. I’d like to keep him engaged with fun activities.”
“Excellent plan. I’ll see you at dinnertime if you can’t make it. Com if you need me.”
Tukui and Osopa also encouraged her to let them know if she ran into problems before the three men left for work. Worry clung to her like a shroud as she soaked in the sudden quiet of the apartment.
I can make this work. She had to, after all they’d given up for her.
About fifteen minutes after her clan left, Zac and Callie toddled down the hall. The little girl was rubbing her eyes and calling, “Mommy?” It broke Tina’s heart to hear such a plaintive cry. She rushed to pick her sister up, covering her cherubic cheeks with kisses.
“Just big sis, darling girl. Good morning, Zac. How about cheesy scrambled eggs for breakfast?”
“I want to go home.”
Tina offered him a sympathetic smile and began to edge toward the truth. “I know, but it’s safer to stay here. There are bad people outside the protected site, and the explosion sent poisonous gases near your house.”
He frowned, but thankfully, didn’t ask for more information.
Twenty minutes later, Callie was gleefully smearing scrambled egg and melted cheese all over the table and herself. Her happy chortling made Tina laugh too.
“Messes are fun, aren’t they?”
“Mommy doesn’t let her make messes like that.” Zac scowled. At least he’d eaten his eggs and toast.
“Your mommy worked and probably didn’t have a lot of time to clean up. I’m sure she kept Miss Callie’s food art contained.”
“We have bacon with our eggs, not just toast that looks weird.”
“It was homemade bread.” Yorso had done a wonderful job with it, and Zac had eaten two slices despite his complaints. “We can’t run to the store for bread and bacon anymore. Bread has to be baked, and bacon isn’t easy to come by. But there’s something called ronka that we can have, and if it’s sliced thin enough, it’s similar to bacon. You should try it sometime.”
“I want to go home and eat breakfast in my house.”
“Sweetie, there was a big explosion. I hate to tell you right away, but the truth is, your house is gone.”
His lower lip jutted defiantly. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s hard to accept. It hurts to think about it.” She waited for him to stop dancing around the subject. She’d read the report taken from the daycare personnel that morning. Children Zac’s age had been told about the explosion. He had to realize that if it had taken his house, his parents had likely been killed too.
“You’re a liar.”
Tina winced at the aggressive tone. If Zac had made the deductive leap, he wasn’t ready to confront it.
Patience. He’s hurting. His world has literally fallen apart.
“I wish I were lying. I wish everything was the way you remember it.”
“I want to go home!” He screamed, banging his fists on the table.
Callie started, then laughed before adding her screech. Tina took her to the sink to wash as much egg off her as she could.
Time to change the subject. “Let’s get ready to go out. Have you ever been to a talent show, Zac?”
He glared sullenly but answered. “We went to see bigger kids do one at the school I’m going to in the fall. It was part of or-en-tation.”
“Orientation? When they welcome new students. That sounds great.”
“I’ll do it for the new kids coming in next year.” He said it as a challenge.
“Guess what? We’re having a talent show here. I have to plan it out. Maybe you could be in it.”
“I don’t want to. I’ll do it only for my school.”
“Okay. Watching will be enjoyable too. What kinds of things did the kids you saw do?”
She was dogged in her attempts to draw him in. His answers were reluctant, and short to the point of rudeness.
Nonetheless, he was engaging with her, losing some of his antipathy as they cleaned up and dressed. It offered her optimism as they headed out for the day.
They went to the hospital’s cafeteria, the place where most living on the site came for their meals and other matters. Carrying Callie, Tina led Zac to the small stage at the front of the dining area.
She was uncertain why a hospital would have a stage in such a place, but its presence made the cafeteria the perfect venue for a