Chapter 4: Stuff, Junk, and What-not
Sydney sat in awkward silence as the boys chattered around her, the younger of the Vaughn's sitting across from her fiddling with a large gold coin. She didn't feel like talking – the morning meeting in her father's office with the two lawyers giving her little hope for a quick divorce – so she stayed relatively quiet as her mind raced with possibilites. Michael could sense her detachment from their surroundings, so focused himself on watching over the boys and keeping an eye out around them. He was more comfortable since he'd changed out of his suit and tie into a t-shirt and blue jeans, tapping his foot as he scanned the people sitting around them.
Their food soon arrived, Sydney brightening up at the squeals of delight from her children as apple slices and a corn dog appeared for Noah, and potato chips and a turkey sandwich for Jake.
"Mommy…what'er we gonna do today?" Jake questioned, a mouth full of his first bite.
"I don't know roo, we're just going to have to play it by ear."
Confused looks passed over their faces, Sydney realizing that she'd probably said something they didn't understand. "What I meant was do whatever we want to do."
"Park?" Little Noah brightened up even more as he tried to maneuver the long corn-bread coated hot dog on a stick, the item slipping from his small hands and tumbling toward the floor.
Vaughn's swift hand caught it before it fell to the sidewalk, returning it to the boy's plate. "Why don't we cut this up for you? It'll make it a bit easier." Noah nodded, smiling at the stranger.
"Good catch," Sydney grinned, surprised to see Noah warm up to the younger Vaughn so quickly. Jake still eyed the man with caution, but not naïve little Noah. He was intent on making friends with everyone.
Once the corn dog was cut into three or four pieces, the meal commenced. As lunch wore on, Sydney began to slowly creep out of her shell. She wasn't used to a normal afternoon, and as she laughed at a quip from Michael she began to relax. Noah was beginning to nod off into his ketchup, Sydney grinning and maneuvering to pick up her son and settle him into her lap for a short nap.
"He passed out quick,"
"I don't know how he does it. As soon as food hits his stomach he's out like a light." Rubbing his back in smooth circles, Sydney placed a loving kiss to the top of his head as Jake finished his chips and pushed his plate away.
"Can we go, momma?"
"Where do you want to go, honey? You're brother's gonna be out for a while, so let's just do whatever you want to do." Seeing the surprise on his face, she ruffled his hair with dimpled cheeks.
"Can we go to the nuzeeum? I 'member when Papa tooked us there. There were lions, and tigers, and dinosaurs!"
"Oh my," Michael finished the classic movie line, earning another laugh from Sydney's lips. 'It's a beautiful laugh. Good to see that she's a lot better now than on the plane. She never deserved any of this…I can just tell. Lawyer's instinct.'
"The museum it is." She started to clean up their table as Michael broke his moment of silence with a shake of his head before grabbing the plates from her hands with a disarming smile.
"I'll do this, you get them in the car. I'll drive to the museum."
"Michael, no. It's all the way in the city, you don't have to do this."
"Hey, I promised your dad that I'd keep you safe. Plus…I used to work security in the museum to get through Law School and I still have contacts. I'll be able to get you into all the secret places."
"Secrets?" Jake asked quietly, still terribly shy about trusting the man in front of him.
"Oh yeah. I can get you behind the scenes and you'll get to touch real dinosaur bones, and maybe even see some of the live animals they have. Snakes, spiders, lizards, stuff like that." Michael squatted down in front of the little boy as he hid close to Sydney's legs.
"Cool." His whispered exclamation made Vaughn smile, standing as they walked toward the Bristow's sedan, speeding off toward the American Museum of Nature History.
…
"Now this is a big place, okay?" Sydney crouched down in front of a wide-eyed Jake, unable to wipe the smile from his face at the large glass entrance where a huge room filled with the sun and planets of the solar system hung in mock orbit. "Hey you, look right here." Pointing to her eyes, she gathered his attention with a grin. "I need you to stay with Michael and me at all times, understand? What happens if you get lost or we get separated?"
"I find a policeman."
"And what if there isn't a police man?"
"I find a worker of the nuzeeum, and he'll taked me to the lost and found."
Nodding as she tucked his small hand into hers, Michael pushed the stroller where a still sleeping Noah lay under a warm blanket. They walked into the large archway underneath the glass structure, dozens of people going back and forth along the sidewalk. The inside of the museum was bustling, and Sydney knew that Noah's nap would probably be short lived.
"Okay, you guys wait right here and I'll go get us some passes." Michael smiled, setting his hand to the small of Sydney's back and ruffling Jake's hair as he turned and made his way to a hall marked 'SECURITY'. Jake sent the man an honest smile before looking back up at his mother.
"He's not like daddy."
"I know, he's nice isn't he?"
"Can he be my new daddy? My daddy never tooked us to the nuzeeum at home."
Sydney looked sadly down at the little boy, the fading mark on his cheek as she shook her head at his innocent words. "No sweetie, he's just going to be a friend."
He nodded as he wiggled from foot to foot, eager to get into the museum to see everything he could see and touch whatever he was allowed to touch. Michael returned after a few minutes with four laminated badges that simply said 'VISITOR' with the date below it.
"Here you go, Syd, and here's one for Noah." Handing Jake his own name tag as Sydney bent down to pin Noah's to the fabric of the stroller, Michael cautioned the toddler . "Be careful with that buddy, you might want your mom to help you so you don't get poked."
"Can you help me?" Reaching up and hold out the badge, his large blue eyes sparkling as he trusted Michael to get close to him.
Crouching with a smile, Michael bunched up a small piece of the boy's shirt and stuck the pin through the material. "There you go, all done."
After making sure they were official, Michael and Sydney pinning the badges to the bottom hem of their shirts, they were off. Walking the first floor, spending ample time in the Space Science halls next to the entrance, Michael and Sydney took turns reading the signs and text for the exhibits to the eager little boy, making sure he pointed out several of his letters and numbers as they went.
Moving from space into the wilderness, they entered the North American Mammals, Noah making himself known as he sat up and pointed to a large gray wolf saying, "puppy!"
They continued on, both little boys gasping in wonder as the entered the Ocean Life exhibitions. A 94-foot long model of a life size Blue Whale hung from the ceiling as though it were swimming through the huge ornate room.
"Momma, can we go see the dinosaurs?" Jake tugged her arm, disappointed when she suggested they look at everything else and save the best for last.
"Actually, there's a huge dinosaur right above us, so why don't we go upstairs?" Michael suggested, seeing both little boys eyes light up. "We can look at that one and then look at the rest of the dinosaurs after we've seen everything else. Does that work?"
"Yay!" Two little voice cried, several people around the small group looking over with sweet smiles. Noah reached up to Michael with both arms, clasping and unclasping his hands in an unspoken request to be picked up and carried.
"Noah, that's not how we ask for something."
"Up peeze?"
Michael quickly lifted him up, setting him naturally on his hip as the little boy clung to the front of his shirt with a small fist. Taking the elevator with half a dozen more people, they made their way into what was labeled the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall, in the center of the room was a stunning display of a long-necked dinosaur rearing up onto it's back legs as it was being attacked by two meat-eating dinosaurs.
"Oooh… wassat?" Noah pointed with a small chubby finger, Michael looking down and reading the sign in front of him aloud, Jake pushing up against him so he could hear.
"This long-neck is called Barosaurus, and it was as long as two school buses. See the long neck and tail?" At two little nods, he continued. "The sharp-toothed dinosaurs are Allosaurus, and they're hungry. That's a lot of dinosaur for them to eat, isn't it?"
Sydney sat back, slightly amazed at how well the boys were doing with Michael, and how beautifully he himself was handling the two boys. He words were always gentle and never loud, even when he was talking to her. 'I wonder how many battered family cases he's had to work,' she thought, leaning against she stroller as she watched her sons interact with their new friend.
After leaving the dinosaurs with a wave from Noah and a laugh from the adults, they made their way through the first floor, bypassing many of the adult oriented exhibits in favor of entertaining the two little boys. Noah had made his way from Michael's arm onto his shoulders, clinging to his forehead with a huge smile as Jake decided to walk next to his mother, his hand holding hers to 'help' push the empty stroller.
"Where we goin' now?"
"Let's look around this floor before going up again."
"There's more than this?!" he exclaimed, clapping his little hands as Noah hoorayed from his perch on Michael's shoulders.
They wandered the crowded hallways, stopping to look at the African mammals in the center before finding a new exhibit called the Butterfly Conservatory. Stepping into a closed off room, they followed a winding path leading through an ambient reconstructed rain forest; Jake was the first one to point out a large butterfly flitting from leaf to leaf.
They spent almost an hour looking at the butterflies, a volunteer assisting them as she pointed out all of the parts of the creature to the children, Noah amazed as a butterfly landed on his tiny hand. He stared at it for a minute or so before it took back to the air.
"Buhfly, momma, buhfly!" he giggled, Sydney smiling and hugging him close as they left the flying insects and went back to the main part of the museum.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting tired. What say we go look at the dinosaurs and then head home?" A yawn from Jake and a nod from Noah was her answer as they headed up to the top floor. After gawking at the many dinosaurs the museum showed, spending most of their time at yet another long-necked dinosaur which seemed to be their favorite, they headed back out to the car. Sydney had picked Jake up halfway through the museum as they stopped by the security office to drop off their badges.
By the time they got to the car both of the children were sound asleep and Sydney was halfway there. Michael opted to drive back to the Bristow family home and she acquiesced before quickly falling asleep in the front seat of the car.
"Umm…Mr. Bristow?" Vaughn called into the foyer of the home, seeing Laura poke her head out of the kitchen.
"Well, there you are. We were beginning to lose hope of ever seeing you again. Where's the brood you left with?"
"They're all asleep in the car and I wanted some help carrying them in."
Wiping her hands on a dishtowel, she followed him outside and spotted the sleeping family in the car. Unbuckling Noah from his car seat, Laura carried him in first and took him up to his room, Vaughn following with Jake tucked against his chest. They made their way back outside as they stopped to watch Sydney sleep.
"What do you think, should we wake her? She's had a long day and a rough week." 'Or a rough three years, whichever comes first.'
"Well, I'll leave it up to you. I can't carry her in, I'd drop her down the stairs." Laura laughed and moved to hold the door open as Michael opened the front door and unbuckled the young mother. Reaching an arm under her legs he pulled her against his chest, her arm automatically wrapping around his neck as she cuddled her cheek into his shoulder.
Climbing the steps with her mother on his heels, he took her to the spare room across from the boys and gently laid her on the bed. After brushing a lock of hair from her forehead, he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Laura invited him down for some iced tea, and they made their way into the kitchen.
"Michael, you're a good boy, I know that. But I also know that you get too close to a lot of your cases due to the people you choose to help. My daughter can't be one of those cases."
"What do you mean, 'get too close'?" He asked, slightly defensive.
"You're trying to make everything in her life better, which we appreciate, but she needs more time before getting into anything."
"Whoa, whoa…you're not…oh, Mrs. Bristow, you know I could never get involved like that with a client. I try not to help too much, but it's tough. I see how much they're hurting and I just want to do everything I can to make the pain go away. But I would never get romantically involved with one of my clients – I swear to you – least of all your daughter. While Jack is a big guy, I'm fairly sure you could bury me out in the pasture."
The Bristow woman laughed, reassured that her daughter's heart would be safe enough until the time came for her to begin living again.
"I didn't mean to put you on the spot, Michael, I just…my daughter is my main concern right now. I mean…Rick's been calling almost non-stop since she told him about the divorce, and you can imagine how defensive her father and I get."
Vaughn laughed, finishing his tea and standing quietly. "Well, you've got nothing to worry about from me, I promise. And the next time Rick calls, let me know. We can arrange a restraining order pretty quick if you need one."
At her nod, he left with a goodbye and a wave. Laura was left standing in the kitchen was a contemplative look on her face, Jack walking in with a smile.
"What's on your mind?"
"Do you think she'll have to go to family court?"
"Probably. I don't think that Rick will just give up complete control over her and the boys quite yet. He'll probably fight, but you know he won't win."
Sighing, she continued. "It'll be tough on her, you know? Having to allocate everything that he did to her over the last two and a half years."
Jack watched the emotions sweep over his wife's eyes, seeing something else hidden in the chocolate depths. "Are you worried about Sydney recounting her story or are you worried about having to hear everything that Rick did to our daughter?"
"Don't shrink me, Jack, I was just thinking out loud."
"But I love to shrink you," he grinned, pulling her close for a hug. "I don't want to hear it either. But…we didn't have to live it – it'll be different for us. It'll hurt all the same, but she's the survivor and even though it'll kill us to listen to her, she needs us to be stronger than that."
…
Pronunciations of the dinosaurs for those interested:
Barosaurus (bare-o-sore-us)
Allosaurus (al-o-sore-us)