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"I like this beach better than where I lived with dad."
"I'm glad you like it here, Reuby."
"There weren't any other kids to play with there."
This comment surprised Cassie. Reuben was an introverted child, not easily bored, never demanding of attention. He talked about having friends at school, but he never showed any interest in spending time with them after the bell rang. While visiting the beach a few days earlier, there had been two sisters around Reuben's age, and he had happily played with them for an hour, making sandcastles and running away from the tide before it could touch their feet; but he hadn't mentioned them again until now.
"And dad was sad," he added, while Cassie was still thinking.
"Do you miss him?"
"Sometimes, but I like living with you. You're not sad."
Cassie looked around at the other people scattered across the beach. An intense teenage couple sharing an ice cream. A man sitting alone, reading a book. Another man, who appeared to simply be standing with his feet buried in the sand, staring out at the waves. The wrinkled old woman who was always there, perhaps having nothing else to do in her retirement besides work on her tan. The occasional jogger, first appearing as a dot on one side of the beach and then vanishing into a dot on the other. Were they sad? Were they happy? Did they know? Did they care?
She brushed her fingers through Reuben's hair and watched him relax at the touch, closing his eyes. I'm less sad when I'm with you, she thought.
"I'm glad you like it here, Reuby."
"There weren't any other kids to play with there."
This comment surprised Cassie. Reuben was an introverted child, not easily bored, never demanding of attention. He talked about having friends at school, but he never showed any interest in spending time with them after the bell rang. While visiting the beach a few days earlier, there had been two sisters around Reuben's age, and he had happily played with them for an hour, making sandcastles and running away from the tide before it could touch their feet; but he hadn't mentioned them again until now.
"And dad was sad," he added, while Cassie was still thinking.
"Do you miss him?"
"Sometimes, but I like living with you. You're not sad."
Cassie looked around at the other people scattered across the beach. An intense teenage couple sharing an ice cream. A man sitting alone, reading a book. Another man, who appeared to simply be standing with his feet buried in the sand, staring out at the waves. The wrinkled old woman who was always there, perhaps having nothing else to do in her retirement besides work on her tan. The occasional jogger, first appearing as a dot on one side of the beach and then vanishing into a dot on the other. Were they sad? Were they happy? Did they know? Did they care?
She brushed her fingers through Reuben's hair and watched him relax at the touch, closing his eyes. I'm less sad when I'm with you, she thought.
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She must have been one of those girls in high school that got pregnant and then disappeared for nine months only to say that she had a new sibling instead of a daughter or son. I can't say that out loud, though. It's rude. And I'm trying not to be rude anymore, trying to be kind instead of right, even if it means not always saying what I think and feel.
"Aren't you kinda young to be a have a kid?" It's hard. Maybe next time.
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"He's my little brother. And even if he was my son, I don't see why that would be any of your business."
She didn't exactly disagree with him, though. Cassie knew that she was most likely too young to be taking care of Reuben on her own, and she often worried that it had been a stupid decision. Stupid or not, it wasn't a decision she could ignore or run away from, so instead she tried. She tried for her brother and she tried for herself, and so far they had been alright.