8.
~ Ariadne slept peacefully with Arthur curled around her. His long body protecting her as she woke in the middle of the night and wondered where she was. He asked her no more questions about the money or the strange couple as he soothed her back to sleep. He was just grateful she and the baby were alright.
~ Sarah and Cobb came bright and early the next morning.
"I was so worried." Sarah said giving the Architect a warm hug. Ariadne didn't say much as Sarah showed her a video of the kids she taken with her smart phone just an hour ago. Darcy waving and telling her she missed her. To get better soon and she wanted to get some new cereal she just saw a commercial for.
Phillipa and Darcy going back to playing Barbies and telling James to leave them alone.
Ariadne laughed at the video of Dominic pulling all the cushions off of Cobb's sofa and chair, and smiling like he had done something wonderful.
"That's his favorite thing to do." Ariadne said noticing for the first time that Dominic had her smile.
"I believe it." Sarah said as Cobb and Arthur talked outside.
"Arthur wants to keep me in the hospital." She whispered to Sarah.
"He's worried about you. About the baby." Sarah whispered back. "He's already postponing the move until after you deliver. Doctor says it's too stressful."
Ariadne nodded. She was grateful Arthur was taking charge of everything. Despite being so independent, she like to have him take care of her when things got to be too much. He was so good at being in charge and she felt so protected and safe.
"It must have really scared him." Ariadne whispered.
"It did." Sarah said gently. "He thought he was going to lose you."
Ariadne blinked back tears. She hated hurting Arthur. He loved her so much.
"Who was that couple we saw you leave with the other day?" Sarah asked.
Ariadne snapped back to reality. She glared at the pretty nanny that was Cobb's lover.
"You told Arthur about them?" She accused coldly.
"I had to. You left us to talk to some strangers, and you left with them. We were worried sick. Sadie even followed you to the restaurant and heard you tell that woman to stay away from your kids. Something about money as well." Sarah said as gently as she was able.
"You should have just minded your own business!" Ariadne hissed at her.
Sarah pulled back like she had been hit.
"Were those people threatening you?" Sarah asked. "Because that's what it looked like. That's what Arthur is scared happened. He thinks they threatened you and you gave them money and they wanted more."
"Just drop it." Ariadne almost barked.
"What's going on in here?" Came Arthur's voice.
"Sarah was just leaving." Ariadne said not looking at her friend. Hating herself because Sarah was a real friend and she knew that she cared about her.
~ Ariadne didn't say much to Arthur after Sarah and Cobb left. The Point Man not pressing the issue or forcing her to tell him. They watched TV for awhile. A mindless sitcom they only pretended to be interested in.
"How long am I going to have to stay here?" She asked at last.
"Doctor wants you on bed rest for a few more days." Arthur said tonelessly.
~ Sadie breezed into her room the next morning caring a vase of flowers and wanting to give the Architect a manicure.
"Do not upset her." Arthur warned the leggy spider woman.
Sadie waived the Point Man off and the two of them enjoyed a rousing session of abusing contestants on a reality show as Sadie painted Ariadne's nails.
"So, the tyrant says I must not upset you." Sadie cooed as she finished Ariadne's toe nails. "But I'm dieing to know. Who were those ugly people you were hanging out with the other day?"
Ariadne sighed.
"People... I used to know. From before I moved to France." She told her.
"Good people?" Sadie asked. Leading Ariadne into easy answers.
"No. Not good people."
"What made them bad people?" Sadie asked indifferently.
"They didn't take care of their kids. They... they would hurt their kids." Ariadne said. The Architect half afraid of the words coming out of her mouth.
"How many kids did they have?" Sadie asked as the leggy woman painted little flowers on Ariadne's nails.
"Two. A boy and a girl." Ariadne said feeling a pain well up in her chest at the memory of Sammy. A sweet little boy who was too thin.
"Where are the kids now? Are they alright?" Sadie asked.
"The girls is okay. She's fine." Ariadne said truthfully. "Happy." She added.
"The boy?"
She couldn't say it. Saying Sammy was dead, saying out loud, almost felt like a betrayal. Would make it real. She would never be able to bring that little boy in from the snow if she said it.
"What happened to him?" Sadie asked.
"He... he was crying one day. It was cold outside and it was a Sunday. He was hungry and he got mad when he was cold and hungry. His sister tired to keep him calm, but Sammy wouldn't calm down. Their Dad was yelling and everyone was screaming." Ariadne said. Telling the story as if is was just that. A story. No more real then 'The Cat in the Hat'.
"Did they hurt him? Sammy? Did those people hurt him for crying too much?" Sadie asked gently.
Ariadne nodded.
"His mom hit him a lot. She locked him in a closet for a long time. His sister, she loved him, and she tried to get him food, but her mother said he was being punished. She could hear him knocking on the door of the closet for days and then, he wasn't knocking anymore." Ariadne said numbly. Tears falling out of her eyes.
"Why not? Why wasn't he knocking?"
"His sister pried the door open in the middle of the night and got him out. His mouth was bleeding from where he had tried to eat the wooden parts of the floor and the door. He was so hungry. She begged her mother to take him to the hospital, but she wouldn't."
"Why not?"
"She said he would be fine. But he wasn't fine." Ariadne said coldly. Her story wanting to draw to it's natural end.
"What happened to him? What happened to Sammy?" Sadie asked
"He died. The police came and their mother was arrested. So was their Dad." She got 20 years, but she got out early.
"What happened to the girl?"
"She was adopted by a nice old couple." Ariadne said.
Sadie nodded.
"What happened to her when Sammy was locked in the closet?" She asked.
'It's only a story.' Ariadne told herself.
Easier to imagine that the children were not real.
"She begged her Dad to let him out. He was drinking and he hit her a lot. One night, it was worse then the other times. She was screaming because Sammy was dieing and she wanted to take him to the hospital."
"What happened to her?"
"He hit her in the face till she didn't scream anymore. She just laid there, till it was over."
"Till what was over?" Sadie asked.
Ariadne blinked. She couldn't say it. She wanted to throw up. The memory making her sick as she was shaking.
"Did the father rape her? Is that what happened?" Sadie asked.
Ariadne nodded. She wasn't the one who said it. So it wasn't real somehow. Still apart of the story, still safe and far away.
"Did the police arrest him?" Sadie asked.
"Not for that. For Sammy. The mother confessed to locking Sammy in the closet. He was charged for accessory."
"Did the little girl ever tell anyone what he did?" Sadie asked going back to painting Ariadne's toe nails.
"No. She never said it. Never said Sammy's name after the sentencing. She just forgot."
"Until your parents came back, looking for you." Sadie concluded with ease.
Ariadne nodded.
"Arthur doesn't know. He can never know." The Architect whispered.
"I won't tell him, but he won't think less of you if he knew. He loves you." Sadie told her.
Ariadne shook her head. Her hands trembling as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
~ After Sadie left, Ariadne felt exhausted and she slept. Her dreams took her back to that snow covered playground in the middle of the night. Sammy swinging and asking her if he could go with her.
She woke up to feel Arthur in the bed with her again. His body molded around hers protectively. He never could stand to sleep without her.
He was a fellow child, forgotten and unloved till they had found each other.
She wanted to wake him up. To apologize for everything. Every lie she had ever told him. The secrets she had kept.
She knew Sadie would never breath a word of what she said to the Point Man. Sadie didn't embellish in gossip. The leggy spider woman was too bored with idle gossip and didn't care for it. She didn't share in it, or listen to it.
Ariadne's secrets were safe.