CHAPTER THREE
Mike was watching television in his house the next morning feeling tired and unsettled. His dreams had kept him restless, and he didn't feel like he had gotten a good night's sleep. He sighed as he thought about the boy down the hall. The more he thought about Ty the more he thought about Lucas and how he would be now. The two were the same age, and it was almost easy for Mike to see Lucas in Ty.
He knew he shouldn't, and he knew that he was already getting attached to the boy down the hall. He was frustrated with himself as he knew he was probably going to get burned but he also knew that someone needed to be there for that boy right now, and Mike decided it would be him. There was no way he could walk away from that kid.
It was almost ten in the morning when Mike heard a soft knock at his door, and he frowned. He had no idea who would be there at this time of day as he approached his door. He heard Ty's voice in a harsh whisper telling someone to please stop and Mike hurried to his door and pulled it open.
He was a little shocked to see Ty standing there with a firm grip on what he assumed with his little brother Wyatt. Ty looked close to tears and stressed. Wyatt was trying desperately to break Ty's hold on his shirt and was halfway out of the shirt itself.
"Wy, please!" Ty begged. Mike dropped to one knee and placed his hands on the little boy's shoulders to get his attention. He stilled immediately and looked off to the side at Mike's ear, not making eye contact.
"Hey, Little Guy, want to stop struggling and come inside with me?" Mike said gently as he felt the boy still under his touch. Ty let go of the shirt and let out a harsh breath. Mike looked at him and figured he was working hard not to cry.
"Sorry, but I couldn't handle him anymore. He doesn't listen very well, and I was…"
"How come you aren't at school?" Mike asked as he ushered both boys into his apartment. Ty was very close to tears now and he wiped at his eyes. Mike turned his attention to Wyatt and scooped the boy up and carried him to the couch. Wyatt struggled and pushed away from Mike, so he set him down. The boy climbed on the couch and sat down staring at the television. He pointed to it and cried. Mike grabbed the remote and handed it to Ty. "Find something he'll like and then let's talk."
Ty nodded slowly and took the remote. Mike walked to his kitchen and sat down at the table waiting for Ty to join him. He heard him flip through some channels then tell his brother to sit there and watch television. Mike sighed and scrubbed at his face. He sat back in the chair as Ty came in and sat down across from him, avoiding all eye contact. Mike felt his heart break again for this kid.
"Want to tell me what's going on?" Mike asked gently.
"Mom's going to be mad," Ty said blowing out a breath and ducking his face. Mike could tell he lost the battle with the tears as he wiped quickly at his face.
"I'll deal with that, Ty. But I need to know what's going on," Mike said gently.
"Mom said I had to stay home from school now and watch Wyatt. She said Jeremy isn't going to do it anymore and that it'll be my job until she can figure something else out," Ty replied, "she told me not to tell anyone. She's worried I think."
"It's okay, Ty," Mike said softly. "I'll ask your mom if she'll let me watch Wyatt and you can go back to school tomorrow. You guys can stay down here today if you want. I'll help you watch him."
"Okay," he said with a sniffle.
"Want to go back in and watch television with Wyatt?"
"Okay," Ty said and got up and went back to the living room. Mike sat at the table a little longer and thought about what he wanted to do. It sounded to him like Ginny needed to just kick this Jeremy guy to the curb. He'd watch the boys for her when she needed so she could work. He just hoped she'd talk to him and listen to what he had to say.
Mike went back into the living room and saw the two boys cuddled together on the couch. He sat down at the other end and settled in. He was a little shocked when half an hour later Wyatt came down and snuggled into his side. Ty looked at him and shook his head in awe. Mike raised an eyebrow as he wrapped an arm around the little boy.
"He doesn't usually like new people," Ty said with a shrug. Mike nodded.
"I haven't heard him talk much, he do that?"
"No not really. Momma was worried something was wrong, but Jeremy told her she was being ridiculous, so she stopped saying something."
"Does he have any words?"
"Some, but like it's hard to understand them and he doesn't always say them? If that makes sense."
"So sometimes he knows words but other times it seems he doesn't?"
"Exactly," Ty said nodding his head. "It's weird but I don't know."
Mike looked down at the little boy and saw him sifting the hem of Mike's t-shirt through his fingers. Wyatt's head was gently resting against Mike's ribs. They watched television for a bit and Wyatt fell asleep. Mike slowly extracted himself from the boy and went to the kitchen looking to see if he had any food for the boys. Ty came in a moment later and sat down at the table.
"I'm hungry," Ty frowned.
"I'm looking to see what I have. What does your brother like?"
"Pizza basically. He's super picky. Drives Jeremy nuts. Mom tries but Wyatt just won't eat things."
"I think I have a sausage pizza in the freezer. Think you guys would like that for lunch?"
"Sure," Ty said as his face brightened. Mike smiled at him. Mike made the pizza and cut it up putting out a couple plates for the boys. Wyatt woke up a little cranky, but Mike managed to calm him fairly easy and brought him into the kitchen for the pizza.
"I don't have much to drink, I'll have to get some stuff for you guys."
"I'll drink water, but Wy won't. He also needs a straw. He can't drink out of a cup."
"Does he have a cup down at your apartment?"
"Yeah," Ty said nodding. "I'll run down and grab it."
Ty took off and Mike sat down at the table with Wyatt as the boy picked the sausage pieces off the pizza and ate it. Mike watched the boy intrigued by his behaviors. Next the boy picked the cheese off and ate it, before picking up the slice and licking it clean of sauce. He then ate the crust. He repeated the process on the next piece as well and Mike smiled. Ty came back with the cup and told Mike Wyatt would drink apple juice, so Mike filled his cup up. The boy drank it down and threw the cup at Mike and cried. Mike refilled it for him. He'd have to work with the boy on communicating better.
Mike decided he was going to have get some stuff if he was going to seriously take on watching these boys for Ginny. He really hoped that she would allow him to watch Wyatt so Ty could go back to school. After lunch they settled back on the couch and Wyatt again curled up with Mike, running the hem of his shirt through his little fingers. Ty still looked down and Mike wished there was something he could do.
"What time does your mom get off today?"
"I don't think she's working a double so before the dinner rush starts. Unless they need her to stay. That happens sometimes."
"And what was Jeremy doing today?"
"I don't know. He kind of left after their fight last night. He wasn't there when I got up, so I don't know if he came back last night or not."
"Do you know what they fought over?"
"Not really, but I know Wyatt was part of it. He does really well with you though."
"He seems like a sweet kid," Mike said looking down at the little boy. His dark curly hair was wild, and his piercing blue eyes were mesmerizing.
"He can be. He can be a holy terror too."
"Most kids can," Mike said as Wyatt started rocking forwards and backwards a little bit while humming. Mike ran his hand through the boy's curls and Wyatt shook his head afterward.
Mike was a little shocked when Wyatt hummed and jumped up from the couch. He did a jerky half skip half run across Mike's living room, hitting the wall on each side before turning around and running to the other wall and repeating the motions. The entire time he was doing it he was humming loudly. Mike looked over at Ty with a raised eyebrow.
"It's just something he does," Ty said with a shrug. Mike could tell he had no idea why his brother did it, but it was common. Mike watched Wyatt do that for almost an hour. He had tried to intervene, but Ty warned him not too. Mike did it anyway and was greeted with a screaming hitting Wyatt.
As soon as Mike let him go back to the half skipping half running humming, Wyatt was content again. Mike was intrigued. The rest of the day passed, and it was just before six when they heard a knock at the door. Mike had Wyatt settled on the couch again, snuggled in close, the little boy's fingers wrapped up in the hem of Mike's shirt.
"Knock," Wyatt said and twisted his hand in Mike's shirt again. It was the first word the boy had said all day and Mike was a little shocked. Ty looked over at Mike then got up from the couch.
"I'll get it. It's probably Mom." Ty said and answered the door. Mike turned so he could see, and Ginny stepped into his apartment giving Ty a stern look. "Sorry, Mom," the boy whispered and looked like he was trying not to cry.
"I told you to stay in the apartment," Ginny said harshly to Ty. Then she looked up and saw Wyatt snuggled into Mike's side, his hand tangled in Mike's shirt and her eyes shone with wonder.
"Wyatt wasn't being good for me. I was getting frustrated so I…"
"Came down here," she mumbled. Ty nodded in agreement and shrunk back against the wall.
"I'm sorry, I told him before he could come down anytime. I didn't know it would upset you," Mike said coming to Ty's defense. "Ty really should be in school."
Mike regretted it as soon as it was out of his mouth. Ginny took obvious offense to his statement, and he knew he needed to rethink his strategy about watching the boys for her.
"Well, sometimes life doesn't allow for what's right," Ginny said bitterly.
"I didn't mean it like…sorry," Mike said with a sigh. Wyatt chose that moment to climb up Mike and wrap his arms around his neck. Mike was a little startled by the move but simply wrapped his arm around the little guy's back. "I meant that if you need someone to watch Wyatt while Ty goes to school, I can do that for you."
"I can't pay you anything," she said defensively. "I barely make ends meet now."
"I don't need to be paid. I'll watch him for free and I'll keep Ty after school, can even help with his homework if he needs it."
"Why?" she asked suspiciously. Mike knew it was because Ty reminded him of his son Lucas, and that he missed his own kids badly. This was a way for him to maybe fill the whole in his heart, but he wasn't ready to share that information with anyone.
"Because you look like you need help," Mike said with a shrug as Wyatt turned and looked at him mom.
"Home," Wyatt said. Mike stood up, picking Wyatt up with him. He walked over to Ginny and gently handed the boy off to his mother.
"Ty can go to school and this guy can hang out with me, if you're okay with it all."
"I still don't understand why you'd do this for us. What do you want in return?" she asked, and Mike could still hear the suspicion in her voice. He knew he wouldn't tell her what he was actually getting in return, which was time with the kids to help with his loss. But he knew he had to tell her something.
"Nothing. I just want to help you out and I'm in the position to do so."
She thought about it as she stared at Mike. He smiled at her trying to look as non-threatening as he could. Finally, she nodded slowly and seemed to relax a little.
"Okay," she said softly. "We can try it, at least until I can figure out something else. I leave for work at six and Ty leaves for the bus at seven fifteen in the morning."
"I'll be ready by six," Mike said with a smile. Ty gave him a smile as he pushed off the wall and walked out the door. As Ginny turned to leave Wyatt waved at Mike and then laid his head on his mom's shoulders. Ginny paused and looked at Mike, almost studying him. Mike felt a little nervous under the scrutiny.
"I'm really surprised at how much he's interacting with you. He's usually not like this was strangers." Mike just shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "Good night," she said softly.
"Good night, Ginny. See you guys in the morning."
Mike grabbed his wallet and made his way out to his truck. He knew he was going to have to get some things if he was going to watch the kids for Ginny. He first went to the toy aisle and looked around. He wasn't sure what Wyatt would like to play with and it had been a while since he was around a four year. Especially with the apparent difficulties with Wyatt he wondered what he should get.
He looked over the sparsely stocked toy aisle and frowned. There wasn't much to pick from. He found two building sets that were the bigger blocks and then a wooden block set that he thought might be good. He grabbed a couple toy cars a various size and models. He went to the grocery aisle and picked up some kid friendly foods to get him through a few days. He got some fresh fruit for the boys to snack on and picked up a couple pizzas to make for Wyatt. He grabbed a couple packets of drink mixes that Ty had said Wyatt liked and looked around until he found a pitcher, he could make it all in. He had noticed yesterday that Wyatt wasn't potty trained so he grabbed some supplies he thought would fit him.
Once he had everything, he figured he'd need to get through the rest of the week he paid, then made his way back to his truck. Once back to his place he put everything away and felt a little better about keeping the boys tomorrow. He turned in early that night because he knew he was going to have to get up early.
To Be Continued…
