Everything was quite when Ma woke; Pa was already up and about. He looked over from the closet at her,
"Do you want to go check and see if our guest is still here?"
Ma looked confused for a moment before she remembered that she had asked Pa to bring the kid under their deck inside.
She nodded, getting up and dressing herself in casual clothes, pulling her hair back into a bun.
She trotted down the steps as quietly as possible, going into the living room and looked over the back of the couch. The kid they found (a young monster, she assumed by their ear shape) was curled on the sofa, right where Pa said he had left them, sleeping soundly.
Ma reached down and gingerly touched the back of her hand to their cheek. The corner of the child's mouth twitched into a small smile.
Ma smiled too as she withdrew her hand. They looked harmless to her. Ma noticed some of the kid's hair on the back of their head, fluttering inward and outward, in almost opposite rhythm of the kid's breathing.
She reached her hand out carefully, and held it to the spot. Breath. It felt like breathing.
"Marleen?" She jumped a little when Pa touched her shoulder.
She turned to him, "You scared me dear."
"Sorry. Are they-"He began, but finished his question by simply nodding towards the sofa.
"They're still here, yes." He nodded before turning around and heading towards the kitchen, Ma was following right behind.
Pa sat at the dining table, tying his tie, only he had to go in today.
Ma came over to the table with two cups of coffee. She gave one to Pa and then sat opposite of him at the table.
"What should I do when it wakes up?" Ma asked.
Pa shrugged, "See if its hungry, try and see if it will speak to you, get a name maybe?" He offered.
There was a long silence between them.
Pa spoke again "I'll find someplace to take them later-"
"What if they die?" Ma interrupted,
"You know as well as I do that we can't keep them here, if someone finds out we're harboring a monster in our house, even if it's just a child, we might all end up incarcerated, or dead."
Ma chewed her lip in thought over this.
Pa let out a heavy sigh before standing "We can talk about it later, ok?"
He walked over and kissed her head, "I'll be back tomorrow."
She watched him as he left the kitchen, and heard the front door open and close shortly after.
Ma sat at the table dwelling in her own thoughts.
Maybe Pa was right. But her gut was saying otherwise.
She heard a shuffling noise, it was quite but noticeable.
Ma looked towards the kitchen door.
There was their guest, frozen midstep.
They instantly hid behind the door frame from her.
Ma smiled "Hi there."
They gave a tentative wave in response.
Ma and the kid just watched each other for a while before Ma spoke again, "Are you afraid of me?" She asked in a soft voice.
"Yes" the answer was so quiet, Ma almost didn't realize they had spoken.
She smiled softly, speaking in a gentile tone "its okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
They seemed to relax a little from this; coming from their hiding spot behind the door frame, but still refused to enter the kitchen itself.
"Do you have a name?" She tried.
Their face betrayed a brief moment of hesitation before answering.
"I'm Danny." They finally responded.
She nodded, "It's nice to meet you Danny, my name is Marleen, but you can call me Ma." She greeted.
Danny gave a tiny smile of greeting in return.
There was a dense silence between them; Ma was not sure what she should do.
She could only wait.
"Um…" a quiet voice, it came from Danny.
"We're…really hungry."
"We?" Ma was confused, her face held a puzzled expression.
Danny reached up and touched the side of his head, chewing his lip.
Another voice, this one different, but Danny's mouth was unmoving.
"Do you have food?" it asked.
Ma hesitated "Uh, yes, I can make you something, but… can I ask you to come over here first?" She attempted to beckon him to her, but to no avail.
Danny simply shook his head.
Ma sighed "Okay then. I can cook you something." She stood.
Danny tensed as she walked towards the refrigerator.
"Do you know if you're allergic to anything?"
He shook his head.
Ma sighed again, opening the fridge door.
She had left dough to chill earlier yesterday.
/Right now could be a good time to make something with this./ she thought to herself.
She pulled the dough out and set it on the counter.
She turned to see if Danny was still there.
He wasn't, and Ma was not surprised.
She turned back to the dough to make a special treat.
