Green. It reminded her of a her mommy's eyes, which were the prettiest thing she'd ever seen, so she chose it first. A horizontal line for the fresh grass. She colored it in.
Little fingers grasped a bright yellow. Her mommy loved the sun, especially in the summer, which is what she sketched in a corner.
A box and triangle of blue. A rectangle of it too. A perfect little home.
Crayon whizzed across white as she shaded it in neatly.
Black for the bodies. Red for the hair. Blue and green for the eyes. Pretty pink dresses. A blue sky as well.
A petite head is cocked to the side as a self-critiquing four year old admires her work. It had to be perfect. It just had to. Mommy had been a way for such a long time before, and she didn't want her to go away again.
And it was her special day, anyway.
She signed her work; because that's what all the famous people did. Mommy would be so proud.
The little girl adjusted herself in the big chair, and placed her tools back in the bright colored box.
The door to the study swung open, and she shrieked. It made such a loud noise as it banged against the wall.
"Lillian Shepard! What have I told you about shutting and locking doors?"
"But, mommy, it wasn't locked. And I have a surprise," she murmured quickly, eyes pleading with her mother to understand.
Jenny paused a moment, then her emerald orbs narrowed slightly. She pursed her lips, giving a breath of silence for her daughter to continue.
Lilly grinned. She knew precisely how to play this in order to get the best possible reaction from her mother.
"I drew a picture..."
Jenny's head of red spotted the stack of scribbled on papers like a rusty rubber band snapping. A shaky gasp was drawn from her lips. Her eyes widened in a way that wasn't healthy.
"Oh god." She was at the desk in an instant, picking up the reports she'd spent days completing. Reports that could cost her the job. And sadly, papers that were now ruined beyond repair.
A moment of ominous quiet later, the little girl's voice punctured it.
"Do you like it?" It was bright, like she expected a parade to be thrown for her hard work.
Jenny bit her tongue and tasted blood, tears pooling in her emerald eyes, frustrated, willing to calm down. Her daughter was just a child.
All that hard work, though. And, somehow, anger got the best of her.
"What have I told you about being in the study? I told you there were important papers on my desk, didn't I? That you weren't to touch them? Ever?"
Lilly froze in her seat, then shrunk back at the tone of her mom's voice. Because she had never seen her mommy this angry.
"Mommy, I.."
"Why would you do something like this?" Jenny said, her eyes now glued to the papers, walking towards the fireplace mantle. Her body radiated tension.
Lilly hopped down from the chair and walked towards her mother, attempting to help.
"I could help fix it..."
"No. Just go away Lilly. I'm very disappointed with you right now."
The words made the four year old's stomach ache, and she left with a stream of tears running down her porcelain cheeks.
Her mommy hated her picture.
"Senora, I think there is something wrong with Lillian."
Jenny sat at the wooden desk, eyes set firmly upon the new report which she only had two days to finish. She blew air from her lips, and her hair flew up in a puff.
"Lilly decided it would be a bright idea to scribble all over my work today."
Noemi's gasped, and lifted a free hand to cover her mouth, causing the redhead to look up and adjust the glasses that were perched on her nose.
"What?"
"Oh, no. Senora, please...oh, no."
Becoming increasingly alarmed, Jenny sat the papers down all together and sighed, frustrated even more.
"Noemi, please, just spit it out."
"It is your birthday today, yes? I told Lilly that it would be a wonderful idea to do something to make the day special. She suggested maybe drawing you a picture."
Looking down at the white parchment, the redhead felt her stomach begin to drop.
"I told her that you had paper in the study. I started dinner. I hadn't realized she had...I'm sorry, Senora."
"That's okay, Noemi. Thank you for clearing things...up."
It felt a little hard to breath, then.
The housekeeper went home for the night, and Jenny never returned to her work.
Heavy steps up the staircase that lead to the first door on the right.
A room decorated in Princess theme. A small body underneath hot pink covers, a moving mass. Jenny could hear sniffling.
The bed dipped when her mother sat, and Lilly stuck a head of auburn curls from beneath the blanket. The air was cold upon her tear-stained cheeks.
"Mommy, I'm so sorry!"
Jenny held her, and bit her own lip because she wanted nothing more than to punish her own stupid self.
"Baby, it's not your fault."
A rugged intake of breath.
"It was stupid, what I did. I shouldn't of drawn a picture. I'm not good at it."
Jenny lifted the little girl and placed her in her lap, stroking her forehead. She tasted more copper.
"No, Lilly, no. This was my fault. The picture was beautiful," she soothed.
"But you put it in the trash. You didn't even look at it," Lilly whimpered, and buried her face in the mother's chest.
Closing her eyes, Jenny realized nothing she could say would ever make this any better.