Athena watched as the eight year old slowly and carefully browsed down the toy aisle. After breakfast Athena had gotten both kids ready for the day and packed into the car. Their first stop had been a children's clothing store in order to get clothes that would actually fit the young boy. Athena also found herself picking a few new cute outfits for her daughter at the same time. Evan hadn't liked the clothes shopping much - what child ever did? But he was polite and listened when Athena asked him questions on his likes and dislikes.

The car trunk now had bags of t-shirts with characters from different tv shows and movies; jeans, shorts, a few sweaters and light jackets, socks and underwear, as well as two pairs of shoes - one for every day and one for school. Athena had already gotten the paperwork from the social worker to place the child in school after the holidays. That gave her two weeks to learn more about the boy and hopefully find his sister as well.

Once they had finished at the clothing store Athena had surprised the kids with a trip to Toys-R-Us. As much as it seemed that Evan was okay with playing with May's dolls and Barbie's; Athena knew the boy needed toys of his own. So now here they were twenty minutes in and Evan had only picked out a single toy - a police officer action figure. Though while he had been choosing the toy Athena had added a few boxes of Lego to their cart; as well as handing May a stuffed panda bear she had been reaching for as soon as they had entered the isle.

Evan was slowly moving down the aisle as he browsed, his hand skimming over each and every toy. Athena had a feeling that he was trying to be smart about what he picked. She had told him he could get what he wanted, within reason, but she didn't want him to limit himself on what he grabbed. When she noticed him lingering on a few dinosaur figures but then move on, as she pushed the cart down the aisle behind him, Athena had stopped and grabbed a few of the figures - a tyrannosaurus, a triceratops, a velociraptor, a stegosaurus, and a brachiosaurus.

"Miss Athena?"

Athena looked up from where she was looking at a few action figures. "Yes?"

Evan held up a box as carefully as he possibly could with a cast on his arm. Athena read the box - it was a remote control car. With a smile, Athena nodded and took the box from the boy, placing it into the cart. He had smiled back at her and once the box was out of her hands, she suddenly had arms wrapping around her waist. She placed her hand on the boy's back and patted.

Once they were done at the toy store Evan had the remote control car, a bunch of dinosaur figures, a police officer action figure, a bunch of Lego blocks, a bag of Army men, playdough, three lightsabers (he couldn't decide which color he wanted so Athena allowed him to get all three), and a bunch of art supplies. Athena packed the toys into the car after making sure Evan and May were buckled in, then she asked where they wanted to go for lunch as it was midday already.

By the time they had made it home, both kids were flagging for a nap. Athena was able to put May down in her room but though he was clearly tired, Evan was too happy and excited to play with his new toys. Athena started a wash of his new clothes while he sat in the living room playing with his newly opened Army men - they were currently being eaten by dinosaurs (even the brachiosaurus) before the police officer action figure (that was as tall as the dinosaurs) swooped in to save them. Athena sat down on the couch to read her romance novel, basking in the childish laughter coming from the floor just a few feet away.

An hour later, Athena had switched over the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Just as she was deciding what to make them for dinner, she heard feet shuffling in the kitchen behind her. She turned around and smiled down at the boy.

"Everything okay?"

Evan nodded, "May I have a drink?"

"Of course, water or juice?"

"Water please."

"Okay, go sit at the table and I'll bring it over."

With another nod, Evan did as he was told. Athena took a glass from the cupboard and opened the fridge to grab the pitcher of water, filling the glass three quarters full before putting the pitcher back. She walked around the counter and placed the cup down on the table in front of where Evan had climbed into a chair at the far end of the table.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetie."

Athena left him to it as she returned to the kitchen to rummage through the cupboards. She had decided to make spaghetti. Just as she was grabbing the noodles to be added to the jarred sauce - she didn't always use premade things but with young kids it was just easier - when there was suddenly a shattering noise. She jumped and dropped the noodle box onto the floor, spinning to look around. She quickly took a few steps around the counter to find Evan standing next to his chair, the front of his clothes wet and the shattered glass was all over the floor.

"Evan…"

"I'm sorry!" The boy suddenly whined, dropping down onto his knees in the glass before she could stop him, reaching to start scooping the pieces up.

"Stop!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean too!"

She could see tears on his face as he picked up a larger piece of the broken glass. Athena made the decision and carefully stepped closer, grabbing Evan under his armpits and lifting him up, pulling him to her as she turned and carefully stepped out of the dining room and into the living room. She carefully sat him down in the chair and crouched down in front of him. He was silently crying and sniffling, his hands clasped in his lap as his socked feet hung over the edge of the chair. Athena quickly looked over his feet and knees, seeing a splotch of blood on his right foot, and a tear in the jeans of his left knee, a cut already bleeding.

"It's okay, sweetie." Athena ran her hand through his hair and stood. "I'll be right back."

Athena made her way to the bathroom where the first aid kit was stored, checking to make sure May was okay on her way. She wasn't gone two minutes but when she returned to the living room, Evan was no longer sitting in the chair - the front door wide open.