Authors note
This is the last chapter of this book. The next chapter will be in book 2. Thank you for reading, liking, commenting, and following. Still editing this book. Stay safe, and God bless
Miser paning man's home
Jackson walks into his apartment after his bail hearing and takes off his Jacket. He looks around the empty place and realizes just how much he misses having a family. April couldn't make it to his bail hearing, and now he is back here, alone.
Richard had told him that it took a lot of convincing to get April to agree to not come to court, and in the end, she agreed they would probably be more of a help, but that Jackson should know that he will be seeing her face every day for the actual trial, so he must just get used to it. Thinking about their last conversation, he knows what she is referring to and closes his eyes, wondering how he is going to start that conversation.
Ever since he started taking care of Matthew, Jackson spent very little time here, and when he did, he was usually too tired to think or look around or had Ruby and Harriet to take care of when he gave April a break. After Matthew died, he was busy taking care of the funeral, April, and the kids.
He was here before he got arrested, pacing, planning, and worrying.
Now that the bail hearing is over and April is not here begging him, no demanding he talk to her, the big place seems so small without her in it. Everything darker and greyer than what he remembers before the burst of activity in his life.
The walls are too silent without his children. The expensive, clean furniture cold without Harriet and Ruby there to fight over it and ask him what every item they can get their hands on is, making him run after them while they laugh and scream all the way to his bedroom, locking themselves inside and finding themselves not able to open the door again. He learned to hide everything when they were around.
By now, one of them would be dragging a chair to the nearest light to switch it on even though it's the middle of the day, arguing it's always night time in his house. He's not used to everything in this much order. There are no toys to hurt his feet.
He looks at the broken painting that is in the place of the tv. All because Ruby, with the help of Harriet, managed to pull it down, breaking it. Ruby proceeded to cry when she saw it broken. Harriet being the accomplice that helped her, tried to fix it, and when she saw the broken painting was not fixable, tried to hide it. That was when they saw him, and she pointed a finger at Ruby. Ruby pointed a finger right back at Harriet, and no one would confess.
As punishment Jackson made them hug each other for an hour when he noticed how much they enjoyed this particular punishment, giggling the entire time. He took away their tv and replaced it with the painting they had broken. It became their new tv until further notice. They behaved themselves for the rest of the day.
When he later asked them why they were trying to take it down, they answered it was sad sitting alone on this side of the wall and needed a hug from the other paintings on the other side of the wall.
At the time, he had asked them if the painting told them this and they had answered, no it didn't have to. They just knew. Thinking they were lying to him, he had told them that now it is not only lonely but broken too, they shouldn't try to move things around again after he had given them both hugs to let them know he wasn't mad anymore.
The next day he had woken up to a cello taped painting with mismatched parts attached, damaging the painting further.
"Fixed him!" Harriet had declared in victory and informed him that now he doesn't have to put the tv back as they made pictures and cello taped them next to him, giving Mr. painting man friends, just like Humpty Dumpty.
Do you know the story of Humpty Dumpty, he had asked her
"Yes, Humpty Dumpty was all alone, and one day he fell off a wall, and with The great Kings' power, his family put him back together, then he lived in the great Kings palace with them forever and was never alone again the end."
At some point, while Jackson was trying to work out the story, he just heard. To the one he remembers, Ruby started singing and clapping in the background.
"Miser paning maaaan,
paning maaaan,
paning man,
paning man,
paning man.
"Trying to put the painting to sleep with superman's song rhythm.
"He feels better now." Harriet had finished, satisfied with Mr painting man's new home.
Jackson was not sure who his punishment was for, them or him? Because as much as he knew he had to punish them for discipline's sake, he found himself feeling bad for putting miser paning man alone. After their hard work, he didn't have the heart to separate him from his newfound friends.
He takes out his phone to call someone and automatically goes to April's name, stopping himself last minute. He stares at it and realizes there is no one else he wants to call.
His heart constricts, and he finds it hard to breathe, missing them all.
The walls close in on him, and the loneliness he feels crushes his heart. His used to this pain, he has lived with it for a long time, but today is one of those rare days that he cannot take it. He steps out of his apartment and takes small gasps of air into his lungs. Today he understands what his kids meant when they said it's always night in his house.
Looking around, he realizes the apartment and neighborhood he lives in, as beautiful as they are. Are not where he belongs. A beautiful place is not home without his family. Coming to a decision, he makes a phone call then another.
One of them is to a therapist. He makes an appointment for the next week.
By the end of the day, he moves into a house he had brought some time ago but thought it would be for official use for April and Matthew, and Jackson never thought he would move in. It's near April and the kids' home.
After unpacking, he goes knocking at April's door.
"I moved into the house down the street." He says, hardly saying hello.
When she gives him a questioning look, he decides to not lie to her and tells her the truth. "I don't want to be alone anymore; it hurts too much."
