"We can go to the park tomorrow, love." Helena said smoothing the hair from her sons forehead. He smiled up at her.
"I love you, Mommy," David said, closing his eyes.
"I love you too," Helena whispered softly. She waited for David to drift off to sleep before kissing his forehead and turning his light off. She walked to her own bedroom and crawled under the sheets. Her last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were of David and the baby.
"Mommy!" David yelled as he jumped onto his mothers bed, landing roughly next to mother. Helena opened her eyes and saw David smiling down at her.
"Good morning my little darling," Helena said.
"Morning Mommy, can we go to the park? You promised." David's eyes lit up, he waited expectantly for her answer.
"Yes, we can go to the park. But, we have to get dressed and eat some breakfast first, okay?" Helena said, sitting up. David laid his head on her stomach.
"Mommy, the baby's hungry." He said. Helena smiled.
"Yes, I'm sure the baby's hungry. Come on then, up." She said while lifting David off her stomach and getting out of bed. "I'll race you David." She watched him jump off the bed and stand in front of her. "One, two, three, GO!" David took off down the stairs while Helena walked slowly. As she reached the bottom stair, she felt a sharp pain in her side. She grabbed the railing tightly as she felt another twinge of pain. She waited a few seconds to be sure it wouldn't happen again.
"Mommy, I beat you." David said, pouring cereal in a bowl. He was about to pour milk in too when Helena stopped him.
"Here, let Mommy do it." Helena said taking the milk carton from him, she didn't want a repeat of yesterday's breakfast experience. After David finished his cereal he went upstairs to change out of his pajamas. Helena sipped her morning tea, scanning the newspaper. Of course, Carl smiled up at her from the front page. She slammed the paper down, finished her tea, and went back upstairs.
"Mommy, help!" David called from his bedroom. Helena went to see what was wrong and saw her son squirming around trying to pull the T-shirt over his head. Smiling, she went to him and pulled it down.
"Mommy's going to go and put change her clothes, okay?" David nodded his head. She took her time choosing her outfit, applied make-up, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair.
"Can we go now?" David asked as Helena packed her bag with juice, sunscreen, a blanket, and a book.
"Yes, we can go now. Come on, David." Helena said, opening the front door. David ran past her and waited by the car. She unlocked it and helped him into his seat. It was a short drive to the park and David immediately rushed to the monkey bars.
Helena put the blanket down and settled herself in the shade. She looked for David, he was climbing up the bars. She opened her book and read a paragraph and then checked on David again.
The third time she did this, she looked up to see a man with a soccer ball walking towards David who jumped down from where he was perched. The man set the ball on the ground and began to play with David. Panic seized Helena, she tried to get her body to move but it wouldn't.
Finally she got up and ran towards them.
"David! David, come back here!" She stopped in front of the man who picked up David.
"Mom!" David cried.
"Please, give me my son," Helena said, shakily.
"Mrs. Ayala, your husband owes a lot of money. Enough that snapping this kids neck wouldn't nearly cover it. You better come up with it in a hurry, or your kid will disappear. And he won't turn up until the evening news. You get only one warning, the first payment is three million dollars." He turned and walked away.
David was clutching to her, she stroked his head. She needed money, but she didn't have any. She decided that she would go to Arnie, but she needed to take care of David first and herself, for the baby's sake.