Chapter Twenty-Four: Transition (pt 2)
Esme was a fanatic when it came to cleanliness. She had to be, after all, small children were susceptible to all kinds of germs and illnesses. In the span of ten minutes, she had cleaned the cell that the kids were going to be sleeping in (even wiping down the bars of the cells with Clorox wipes because she just knew that one of her babies were going to eventually decide to knaw on the bars) and had started working on the dried brown stain on the concrete floor in front of the cell. She sighed and stretched out her shoulders for a moment before deciding to go check on the kids and grab the foam rug to place on the floor.
She jogged out, waved at a smiling Beth, and didn't stop until she was at her truck once more.
"Mama!" Lilac cheered, the top half of her body hung out of the open window as she waved.
"Hey baby." Esme greeted kissing her head, "Are you being good for Mister Hershal?"
"Si! We has ta be quiet! 'Shal say babies sleepin,' shhh"
Hershal bend over to peer at her from the driver's side, Andre was on his lap clutching onto his Simba plushie, "Don't worry none, they are behaving."
"Thank you." Esme smiled, it seemed like the toddlers had warmed up to the grandfatherly man, it was cute, "I'm cleaning out one of the cells, I'm going to grab some things and bring them inside."
"Hey!" Daryl grunted as he unloaded one of the pack n' plays off the bed of the truck, "Where you want these?"
"I'm taking the last two cells on the bottom floor near the back, you can just bring them inside, I'll set them up once I'm disinfecting the area..." Esme replied, Daryl simply nodded as kept unloading the other pack n' plays, "Daryl do you think that it's possible to remove the toilets in the cells?" she asked cautiously as she began to rifle through the containers that'd been placed on the ground for the rug.
"Why you wanna get rid of 'em?" the archer asked curiously as he jumped down and continued to haul some boxes onto the concrete.
"Sanitary issues. Don't want the babies touching that and getting sick." a triumphant smile bloomed on her face when she finally found the rug.
"I'll see what I can do." Daryl grunted after a moment and grabbed Mitch's toolset from the truck. A small smile bloomed across her face at the man's gruff attitude. It was cute. The man was like a prickly hedgehog.
It took about two hours for her to get everything settled down, the two cells had been scrubbed to Esme's satisfaction. Daryl had been successful in removing the two toilets from the cells and had apparently started a movement when everyone else decided to get rid of them from their own quarters. The babies had woken up somewhere between Daryl dumping toilet number one out while Esme disinfected the other cell. She'd take a twenty-minute break to comfort her youngest children, change nappies, give them a snack and hand over their favorite toys to play in the car with before heading back in the prison to finish up.
In the cell the babies would be sleeping in, she had unscrewed the bunkbeds before dragging it out of the way (Oscar and Axel had been kind enough to get rid of it for her so that it wasn't blocking the hall). She covered all of the concrete floor in the cell with the rubber alphabet rug and even arranged it so that it covered the first three feet of the wall so that the babies wouldn't scratch themselves with the concrete if they tripped, before opening up the portable cribs and arranging them against the walls (she placed the mattress inside for extra padding and dressed the mattress with the linens she'd brought from home). Esme made them a play corner where she stacked all of the toys they'd brought with them.
In the cell that would turn into her bedroom, she unrolled the mattress topper on the bed that would become hers before arranging the linens and the pillow she brought from home. Bailey's cat bed and litter box were both placed inside of her new 'room,' she arranged the containers of their personal effects that couldn't be placed anywhere else in the left corner of the cell before placing one of the lanterns on top. On the top bunk, she shoved the suitcases with their clothes before declaring that she was finished for the day.
Honestly, Esme was so relieved that she was finished and that she could bring her kids inside where she could see them at all times. She was turning into one of those helicopter parents... then again they were in a new environment and Esme wasn't used to relying on others to take care of her kids... Yes, that was probably it.
The kids were all relieved when they saw her opening the truck doors, even Hershal seemed relieved after an afternoon of babysitting when she told him to go inside before them (after all, it wasn't like the man could help her carry the children up the stairs and inside the prison when he need to use crutches to get around). The courtyard was clear of any other adults now that they had finished unloading the trucks. She smiled and waved back when Glenn and Maggie waved at her from their position in the closest guard tower. It seemed like the couple was on a guard shift, or had been looking to spend some alone time... Esme would stick to the guard shift theory, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to look at Maggie's face without blushing.
She threw the baby bag over her shoulder before unbuckling Primrose's car seat from the car and placing it on the ground, it only took three quick steps to turn the car seat into a stroller. Primrose was looking at the open sky in wonder. It made Esme smile at the baby's wonder and mourn for the dangers in the world that was preventing her innocent kids from being able to enjoy the freedom of going outside.
She placed Bora in the baby carrier on her chest and was thankful when Maggie approached her and offered to carry Thomas for her. Esme placed the leash on Bailey and tied it to the handles of the stroller so that the tabby wouldn't wander off before letting Lilac and Andre out of the truck.
"Alright, guys. We're going inside now, holding hands okay?" Esme instructed as she herded her brood toward the prison. Andre was visibly nervous and he kept tugging Lilac closer to the stroller as he gripped his lion plushie tightly with his other hand. Lilac, who was growing up to be his braver counterpart, was taking in their surroundings with wide curious eyes. Even Bailey, who hadn't been let out of the apartment for the last year was taking in the prison with wide eyes as her nose twitched uncontrollably with all of the new smells.
"Your very good with them." Maggie commented softly as she bounced Thomas in her arms.
A nervous chuckle escaped out of her lips, "I wasn't always. Before I moved here, I'd never hold a baby before... it was scary the first time Daisy plopped one in my arms, thought I was going to drop her."
"Really?" Maggie asked incredulously. Esme was cooing at a yawning Bora and tickling Primrose's toes as she pushed the stroller to their first obstacle, the stairs. Lilac was cutely babbling about all the new people she had met today with a nervous Andre.
"Well I'm not afraid of dropping them now." Esme smiled, "I don't have, what's the word, extended family so before I started working at the daycare I had never hold a baby before."
"I kinda wish I could have seen that. Your face when you first held a baby." Maggie teased as they came to a stop in front of the stairs, "How do you want to do this?"
Esme pondered for a moment before responding, "Let's get Lilac and Andre inside first, they just need some help going up the stairs. You wait here, while I get them inside... Lilac, Andre we're going inside now, okay?"
"Otay mama!" Lilac chirruped as she let go of Andre's hand to grab onto Esme's, she helped both of the toddlers up the stairs and into the cafeteria. "Mama look!" Lilac pointed at Beth and Carl.
"Yeah, it's Beth and Carl." Esme agreed. Her daughter looked even more excited now, even Andre was losing some of his nervousness now that they were inside of the building. "Would you two mind watching them for a moment while I get the others in?"
"It's no problem!" Beth chirruped as she beckoned the toddlers to her side.
Esme smiled in gratitude before going back outside to Maggie. She was pleasantly surprised to see the ex-prisoner Oscar waiting with Maggie, especially after he offered to help them bring Primrose up in the stroller. She grabbed Bailey's leash and encouraged the tabby to follow her up the stairs and to their new home. Of course her 'mama's girl' protested by starting to cry at the presence of the unknown male until she could see Esme once more inside of the building. Esme hushed her as she rocked the stroller for a few moments until the crocodile tears stopped.
"Andre, Lilac! Come on, let's go to our new room." Esme called, the toddlers quickly ran to her side in excitement as she began to lead them into the cell block.
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(Super long chapter, more inter-group interaction to come!)
(Wanted to briefly thank all the new viewers who have favorited/followed this story in the last week, as well as all of the people who have been diligently reviewing practically every chapter! It means a lot to me to know that people are enjoying my work)
(Please let me know if I didn't respond to your review, promise that I'm not doing it on purpose, I think I may have missed one in the last chapter)