The Little Yellow House at the End of the Road

By Daniel E. David

Born a day apart, and raised as twins, Alexandra and Danny form a special bond. Four years later, under tragic circumstances, they're permanently separated from each other. At the age of nine, a phone call from half way around the world, changes everything, and they find out they are going to have to share a bed together. Neither of the two remembers the other. Ouch! Fate has decreed that they will spend seven days together. They will have seven days to rekindle the bond which had previously united them; the bond purposely broken, and now forgotten.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781649525123

Book preview

The Tender Years

Ages One Through Four

Once upon a time, two children were born (quite awkwardly) nine months after what had been an exceptionally productive weekend—which had been so, you may correctly conclude, in more ways than one—following Katsumi’s introduction to the others, of the old style Japanese family bath.

Things might have worked out differently, had the hot tub been a bit larger, but at the time, it was only a precursor of the hot tubs of today. It was big enough to hold four, fairly comfortably. Not six. When the last person had gotten in and sat down, nobody was popped out, but six was really pushing it. And you know how one thing leads to another. It was there, in he little yellow house at the end of the road, that the business, and the two children were conceived.

This is the story of those two children, Alexandra Ibuki Andrapopoulos, and Daniel Jordan Doberstein, who, after having been raised as twins, were separated—except for fun weekend visits—at the age of three. Fifteen months later, at the tender age of four, when their mothers, with no warning, are faced with the challenge of running a thriving international business on their own, the children are completely separated, which, unfortunately, leads to the complete and unforeseen estrangement of the two.

Five years later, a phone call from half way around the world, changes everything, and Alex and Danny find out they’re going to have to share a bed together. Neither of the two remembers the other. Selfish attitudes prevail. Their first encounter in five years takes a decidedly nasty turn. A truce is worked out, and a rocky friendship restarted. Fate has decreed that they are to spend seven days together. They will have seven days in which to rekindle the bond which had previously united them; the bond purposely broken five years earlier, and now forgotten.

(So here’s the rub: in order to understand what’s going on, you’ll need to know how Alex and Danny became estranged in the first place, otherwise it’ll be like walking in, right in the middle of a movie. So for the sake of understanding: Chapter 1 covers the time from when Alex and Danny were born, until some four years later at the time of their estrangement.

Well, I gada tell ya, kids that young, aren’t overly fun and exciting to write about, much less read about. So as a courtesy, I’ve pretty much rushed through that chapter, only hitting the high spots. But don’t let that fool you. As you will learn, the early years—the years we lay the foundation on which we build the rest of our lives—are no laughing matter.

Which brings us to another sort of rub: Alex and Danny aren’t reunited until they’re almost ten years old. We still have to account for the missing five years. So that there isn’t a gapping hole in the story, there’s one chapter each, on how Danny and Alex have handled themselves, from the time of their estrangement, up to just a few weeks before starting the fourth grade. To be more precise, the Friday afternoon, Alex and her friend, Lisa, go barging into Alex’s mother’s office, seeking permission for Alex to go on a sleep over at Lisa’s house. It’s the point, at which the story begins to take off under it’s own power.)

Alexandra Ibuki Andropopoulos was the bastard love child of Alexis Andrapopoulos and Katsumi Takahashi. The parents were two of the six entrepreneurs who moved into the little yellow house, out in the middle of what any avid hunter might refer to as, God’s country, while those not so inclined, would only shake their heads in wonder. Alex was born a day before Daniel Jordan Doberstein.

Daniel Jordan Doberstein, or Danny, as everyone called him, was born to James Doberstein and Susan (Chandler) Doberstein. The two children were referred to as the twins by the three couples.

And for the sake of clarity, Andreas Kaufmann and Barbara (Chandler) Kaufmann, were the other two, completing the group of three entrepreneurial couples.

Apple, IBM, PC, and Xerox were the buzzwords of the day, just breaking into the public consciousness. At the same time, the three couples, fresh out of college and anxious to test their mettle, were busily engaged laying the ground work for their dream project, which, when you think about it, should come as no surprise: an import/export business.

But almost a year into the startup, things weren’t going so well. Moving into the little yellow house, out in the middle of nowhere, had initially been an exciting adventure, but as the foundation for the business became more rigidly set in place, it became more of a hindrance than a haven.

Andreas, concerned about the time and inconvenience of commuting, set up a residence in the city from which the business was to be established, providing a much needed jumping off point for the world travelers. Anyone not traveling, or involved in other tasks, which were primarily Barbara Kaufmann, and James Doberstein, were busily engaged organizing and outfitting the interior of the building they had selected as their headquarters. Katsumi, no longer able to get around as freely as she had been, went back to the little yellow house, where Susan had initially set up the office, and the two of them worked on the paper handling end of the business, waiting out the duration of their pregnancies.

It was a rough time. There were mixed feelings about the unplanned pregnancies. Katsumi was supposed to be one of the main travelers, and she was out of action for an indefinite period of time. Everything was behind schedule, and it wouldn’t be long before money was going to become a problem; all of which was compounded by a communication breakdown.

There was a group sigh of relief when the children were born—Danny was born a day late, so there were really two group sighs. Everyone dropped their attitudes for the occasion, and returned to the little yellow house, taking advantage of the general calm. A small celebration was had.

The relief was short lived. The attitudes which had been dropped so readily, returned with the same ease. Hardly six weeks had passed before there were calls for Katsumi to resume her traveling, and the pressure wasn’t letting up. Ultimately, just to ease the growing discontent, Susan volunteered to look after both of the children herself, freeing up Katsumi to resume her traveling.

That’s when things got worse.

It wasn’t anything in particular that anyone did, and kind of, tongue in cheek, making things worse, really served to make things better. It was Susan who set things into motion. When she decided to take care of both of the children herself—as if they were twins—she immediately began to recognized that Danny wasn’t the same happy camper that Alex was. He didn’t seem to be responding properly to the world around him. Off to the doctors they went.

Giving birth is one thing. Having your guts ripped out is another. There was nothing physically wrong with him, they said, but there was a chance that he might be autistic. There wasn’t really very much they could do. She should just keep an eye on him, and treat him as she normally would. She lasted three days after that. It was difficult enough knowing that Danny had some unresolved issues going on, and that he was going to need some extra attention, and she could see that Alex was always getting the short end of the stick; and she was falling way behind with her own work, and…and…and… And that’s when she called James, crying, and told him, I just can’t do it by myself. And they had a talk.

James apologized for not being more aware, put down his tools, jumped in the car, and was back at the little yellow house about six hours later.

An emergency group meeting was called.

For the most part, the meeting went well. Taking care of the children, plus handling all the office work, definitely needed two people, and it was unanimously agreed that having one person trying to do both, was no different than anyone of them trying to do two jobs at the same time. The question was, which two people? The difficulty lay in the fact that everyone was needed doing what they were already doing.

The solution came about in a sort of round about way. No one was free all of the time, but generally speaking, everyone was free some of the time. The situation was resolved when it was agreed that anyone who was between tasks, would be expected to help with parenting. When the men realized that they would have to put in their fair share of parenting, well, that’s when the squabbling started. But there was no denying the logic. More for the sake of the children than the men, parenting classes were held for the next two days.

To everyone’s great surprise, doubling up on parenting, with randomly alternating parents, was just the stimulus the business needed. Communication started up again, there were discussions, information got exchanged, stress levels dropped—precipitously. The old college enthusiasm was reignited. Days got reserved ahead of time by those who needed to get together for information sharing, and prospective clients began showing up on weekends to do some fishing. It was at this time that the business started to take off.

So the children were right around six months old by this time. Alex was all smiles, enjoying every minute of the attention she was getting—how many kids get to have six parents looking out for them? Danny hadn’t changed. He was physically growing, and should have been capable of responding to his surroundings, but he wasn’t. There seemed little awareness of those around him, and little if any real interaction.

Months passed: Seven. Eight. Nine.

Suddenly it was their first birthday. Alex was walking, getting out a few words, and on occasion, interacting with Danny. Danny had graduated to sitting. He could sit and play with the same toy for an excruciatingly long time, and he could sit in the tall grass, playing with the blades and stems, for ever, and ever, but still no real interaction with his surroundings, or with those around him.

Eighteen months had come and gone. Patience had long ago turned to worry. Danny still showed no interest in either walking or talking, and there was nothing the doctors could say that made Susan and James feel any better. Alex, on the other hand, was into everything, forcing a general child proofing of the house, relocating anything small enough to be pulled down, pushed over, or picked up and eaten, by her, to be put up high and out of reach. No one could find anything…for weeks. Danny, on the other hand, could still be left sitting on the floor in Susan’s office with something to play with, and he would always be right there, when ever she looked up. It was depressing.

Twenty months. Still nothing.

August. Twenty one months was coming to a close. Summer was as good as gone, along with most of the hopes James and Susan had for Danny, but then, just when they both needed something to raise their spirits, there was a change. Considerably out of the ordinary, Alex started interacting with Danny. She’d spend unusual amounts of time, sitting by him, talking and babbling to him, and bringing different things for him to hold. Then after a while, she’d take whatever he had, and exchange it with something else. It was cute. It raised James’s and Susan’s hopes. Danny continued to just sit there as he always did. The hopes died.

Twenty two months had just started. Alex was sitting and jabbering to Danny one day in Susan’s office. She picked up a little fuzzy stuffed chicken that he liked, and said, For you, Danyo, to give it to him. Much to Susan’s amazement, Danny reached out and took it from her, and smiled. It was the first time that he had actually responded to anyone. Small a thing as his response was, it was the first real indication that there was still hope for improvement. The rest of the month was the most promising up to that time. There were more interactions between Alex and Danny, and there were smiles for the others.

Twenty three months proved to be Danny’s big breakout month. One day, right out of the blue, he pushed himself up on to his feet from where he had been sitting, wobbled a bit, and started walking—unsteady at first, but walking. Talk about a sigh of relief. Three days later he started running. It raised a few eyebrows. A few days after that, the yellow flags started waving. Susan had turned her back to Danny while putting some leftovers from lunch into the fridge, and when she turned around again, there was Danny, standing on the tray of his high chair, arms out, waiting to be put down on the floor. She didn’t say anything; she didn’t even breath. She didn’t want to startle him. As calmly as she could, she walked over to him, and set him on the floor, took a deep breath, sat down, and regained her composure.

Aware that she was going to have to be more watchful, she got his little fuzzy chicken for him, and had him sitting right next to her on the floor—where she could keep an eye on him—and started running water, to do the dishes.

Everything went along quite well until she got to the pan with the burnt on meat gunk. She was doing the final check to see if she had gotten the last of it out… She knew from the very first clunk, exactly what was happening, and turned to look towards the stairs, holding her breath. There were a couple more clunks, a slight pause, and Danny was ejected from the stairwell, just like a soft drink from a vending machine.

Ooowuu, he said, sitting there upright at the bottom of the stairs, his stuffed chicken in one hand, and rubbing the back of his head with the other.

Susan had one anxious second to stand there. A second later, he was up and climbing the stairs again. Looking over her shoulder, and spewing guilt every which way, she ran over and grabbed him before he could go any further. Thankfully, Alexis and Alex were outside enjoying one of the last warm days of October. No one had seen what happened.

Normally one might think it was a really bad day, but Susan assuaged her guilt by rationalizing: standing on the tray of his high chair, with his arms out, was the first time he had ever asked for something; his very first attempt at a spoken word was appropriate to the situation, and, and he also demonstrated that he had excellent motor skills, some of which were a little advanced for his age. All things considered, she marked it on the calendar as a major red letter day.

There may never have been a more joyful celebration than the one they had for the twins second birthday, or had there been so much to celebrate. Everyone was there. It was the first time since college that they had gathered as a group, worry free. Their business concepts were right on the money. Everyone but Susan, had a new car—she kept Old Blue, James’s old car—there are some things you simply can’t part with. Expensive suits, they discovered, turned heads, just as the advertisements said they would. Andreas and Barbara had put some money down on a piece of property in the city; house plans were in the works. Against a backdrop of parental disapproval from both families, with the backing of the group behind them, Alexis, and Katsumi were seriously discussing their own plans for the future, both business and personal. And in so far as the business was concerned, it was performing beyond their wildest expectations.

It was a nice time. Like a long, planned-for, bicycle trip. The exhilarating feeling of coming down out of the hilly back country and turning east onto level ground, the wind to their backs. Wearing the chaos of those early days like merit badges, they were overcoming all obstacles. All the work and effort had been well worth it. They were cruisin’. As for the children, they got to reap the benefits of the times.

Four weeks after the children’s birthday party, everyone was at the little yellow house for the Christmas holidays. Taking advantage of all six of them being together, they spent the time as a working vacation, celebrating the success of their labors, and planning for the new year. After their initial pent up energy had been spent on business and personal matters, the fun parts started: When’s dinner? Whose your pick for the Super Bowl? Anybody want to go skiing or snowshoeing? Stay off the river! Scud says it isn’t safe through here! Anybody for a beer, and a hot tub? You need any help in the kitchen? Hey Susan! When are you two going to break down and buy a TV? and so on, and etc.

And so, just hanging out, one of the first things everyone noticed, was how much Danny had progressed. He had already picked up a considerable number of words, and though he couldn’t talk anywhere near as well as Alex, on occasion, he did use two word sentences. At times he and Alex would babble away at each other as if they were actually carrying on a conversation. But best of all, he was definitely responding to his surroundings, and those around him.

While the change in Danny was the most noticeable, what surprised Katsumi was the way in which Alex seemed to be looking after him, almost taking care of him. Things like getting fuzzy stuffed animals and toys for him, sharing cookies, sitting with him and telling him the names of the things in their picture books, and she commented to Susan that she didn’t think two year olds normally behaved that way. Probably because she was with the twins everyday, and used to what they were doing, Katsumi’s comment went in one ear, and out the other.

Between the time spent with the grownups in the hot tub, and on the toy strewn floor, the twins were getting all the attention they could handle. Susan was in seventh heaven. It was the first time since the children were born that she was able to step back and see them as the magical little creatures that children are. Yet, even in the midst of the good feelings, there was a growing awareness of what Katsumi had said about two year olds not acting, that way. The way they seemed to be interacting with each other, created a sense of apprehension out on the edges of her consciousness.

It didn’t make her feel any better when she heard Andreas joking about whether they were sending signals to each other, the way they were always able to be so in sync. Even though it sounded pretty funny and far fetched, and everyone laughed about it, it caught her full attention. She instinctively looked at James. He was already looking at her, as if he had been waiting for her to look at him. He grinned sheepishly, shrugged, then looked away, joining the on going conversation. Despite the heat in the kitchen, she shivered.

The Christmas holidays ended; the new year began. Things had settled down enough, that with a little local help, Susan got by, and the twins got the attention they needed—though it wasn’t always easy. She became well aware of what her grandmother had meant when she said, A man’s work is from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done. Taking care of the office, and the twins, was a never ending task.

To any extent that Danny might have slowed down after his initial start up, Alex sped up. She could get into mischief just as fast. Anything not under lock and key, boarded off, or nailed down, was fair game. Except for the upstairs and the basement, the whole house was a grand and glorious play pen, the stairs, their personal Mount Everest. It took some getting used to, and quite a few bandages and patches. Considerations about the unusual closeness of the twins were forgotten in the melee.

But considering what she’d already been through with Danny, if nothing else, Susan was adaptable. So it wasn’t long until she adjusted to the melee; however, once adapted to the old, it made room for the new, and she began to notice all the other things going on. She began to notice, just how much the two babbled to each other at times, even laughing together, as if one of them had told a funny joke; how much they shared their toys, cookies, and things. Sometimes Danny would give the thing he was playing with to Alex, and sometimes they would just exchange toys, as if by an unspoken agreement. And too, she noticed how they were always together. Where Alex went, Danny went; when Alex took a nap, Danny was right there to take his, at which time they would huddle together like puppies, or kittens. How cute they looked. The warmth of those moments melting away the earlier worries; how blessed she and James were, that Danny had adjusted so well. But at the same time, nested away in the back of her head there were always Katsumi’s comments about two year olds, not normally acting, that way. For the first time the thought that something odd was going on between the two, entered Susan’s consciousness.

But life was good—busy, but good. The future looked better than good. Everyone was performing well beyond expectations. Alexis, Andreas, and Katsumi had the best of two worlds. Leading rather idyllic lives between the state-side headquarters, and their home countries—homes away from home. Then, from the children’s perspective, everything was suddenly different; there were new and strange activities, different faces, unknown places, unfamiliar smells, crying that wasn’t theirs. Alex’s Mommy and Daddy weren’t there, and Alex asked Danny, Where’s Mommy and Daddy? Danny was all confused, and wandered around looking everywhere. He looked, and he looked, but he couldn’t find them. Alex had a major upset. Danny had one too.

The children weren’t the only ones with problems. Alex was left with no parents. Both couples, James and Susan, and Barbara and Andreas, wanted to adopt her; plus, there were also the would be obstinate grandparents on the other side of the world. Just whose child is she? The house under construction in the city was demanding a certain amount of attention, and as for the business? At the time, it was going like the Old ’97 when the whistle broke into a scream. There was no wreck, but there was an awful lot of fancy foot work going on, trying to keep everything on track. Things were going every which way. It was a real mess.

But time marches on. Memories of Alex’s Mommy and Daddy faded, and the twins adjusted. It wasn’t always pleasant: Like the little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When the twins were good, they were very, very good, but when they were bad, they were horrid. They gave a new meaning to the term: the terrible twos.

While the grownups were busily engaged rebuilding the framework of the business, the children were discovering their own separate and individual identities within the framework of their world, which is pretty much what the terrible twos are all about. There were plenty of tantrums; the stairs had been conquered so many times that Susan could tell exactly which step they were on, by the sound it resonated, or by a subtle squeak; when one got sassy, so did the other; moody? So did the other. Why and No became common; play became more physical and noisy. Susan had to rely on local help to get by. In the early months of spring, living by a work starved logging town, it was an easy task. It was her sanity saver.

So with her work schedule reasonably back on track, her life followed suit, allowing her the time and opportunity to once more enjoy the twins without the constant pressure of the twos.

Though she had pretty much forgotten her concern about the children’s unusual closeness, it was brought up again, quite humorously and unexpectedly by Danny. Their third birthday was still a few months down the road the day he came up to her and said, Aeowik hungui. Danyo hungui too.

As awkward and out of place as it was, coming from Danny, who still didn’t talk much, it was music to her ears. But even as she laughed, she was already wondering, if, or how, Danny knew Alex was hungry, or if he had just made it up.

The twos were coming to a close. The twins had come a long ways, especially Danny. He still followed Alex around as though he was her shadow, and Aeowik, this and Danyo that too had become so common that it no longer seemed out of place. But right at the end of the twos, there was an incident that caught Susan’s attention again. The twins had been sitting and scribbling on some old office papers with crayons, when Danny came over to her and said, rather urgently, Aeowik have owyee! It was the first time he had ever referred to just Alex without including himself. She went to see if Alex had gotten a paper cut, or something, only to have her throw up a bunch of crayon chewings just as she got there. Then Danny surprised her with, Aeowik owyee gone. Again he hadn’t said Danyo too further stoking her imagination, reigniting her apprehension and leaving her to wonder what was really going on between the two of them. She didn’t have long to wonder. A few days later, the children’s third birthday was celebrated at Alex’s new home in the city.

Riding the wave of business success, moving into their new home, and the finalization of Alex’s adoption, were the high lights of a specially prepared birthday party for the twins.

Andreas never stood a chance. No sooner had the party gotten started, than the reality of the adoption sunk in, and he found himself the father of a charming three year old almond eyed cutie, with raven black hair, and an absolutely disarming smile. He immediately fell head over heels in love with her. She became his little princess. He didn’t refer to her as Princess Alex, or anything like that, but he did start calling her by the more regal, Alexandra. It was just the right kind of male attention she needed at the time. They got along famously.

Monday, back at the little yellow house, Danny walked up to Susan with his blanket, and said, Aeowiksandwa nappy. Danyo nappy too.

It came as a shock. Susan dropped all the invoices she had in her hand, and asked in startled surprise, What? But Danny didn’t pay any attention and went over and laid down on the blanket she kept in the corner of her office. She was already deep in thought as she knelt down to pick up the papers. How in the world had he ever picked up on Andreas calling Alex, Alexandra? They were only at the house for two days. No one had even mentioned it. Everyone else was still calling her Alex.

Danny’s little idiosyncracies were becoming more noticeable. Katsumi’s comment about the children being unusually close for their age, and the story James told her about the night he and Scud spent in jail, all came back to haunt her. She didn’t want to think about the James incident, and pushed it out of her mind, wondering instead if she should call Barbara. If just by chance, Alex was really taking a nap right then. But then the phone rang and she was left with her thoughts dangling, Trying to talk and pick up the papers at the same time, her thought to call Barbara got lost in the shuffle.

Life went on. Weekends became big events, generally alternating between the two houses: an out doorsy weekend at the little yellow house, and a weekend in the big city, at the new house. The big new bath with the mirrored wall was an instantaneous hit with the twins. The little mirror dances they did with their reflected counterparts, which blossomed out of Danny’s discovery that he couldn’t walk through the mirror, were a continual crowd pleaser. With their growing capabilities and social skills, the children had become more fun, than work.

The children’s fourth birthday party was sort of a milestone. Alex had become a regular little chatter box, talking up a storm; she was quite athletic, and noticeably taller than Danny.

And Danny? Danny was doing alright for himself. He was healthy and growing. He had his food and routine fussies, and he still didn’t talk much, but on the whole, everyone was dealing nicely with his ways. When he was around Alex, no one would have ever guessed that he was, a little different. Susan didn’t know what to think. Sometimes it seemed alarmingly noticeable. Other times…?

It was about two months after their fourth birthday, that Danny turned everything on its head. Everyone was at the little yellow house. The weather turned ugly, and no one wanted to go outside. Alex and Danny went off to amuse themselves in the children’s corner of Susan’s office. James was sitting on the stairway, next to the door of the office. Andreas was in the kitchen making coffee and sandwiches. Susan was doing a load of wash and carrying on a broken conversation with James and Andreas—between trips—as she wandered back and forth talking to Barbara, who was scouring the Sunday papers, in the commons for matters of interest in the business section.

Sitting in the children’s corner of Susan’s office with their picture books, the twins were babbling away. Alex was telling Danny the names of all the things in the pictures. Danny, in his sing songy little voice, would repeat them in the same exact order, mocking and exaggerating her tone qualities, and then they would both laugh like crazy.

On the stairs, involved in all the conversations at the same time, it was more retrospective listening, than anything, that turned James’ attention to the twins. Breaking all past barriers, Danny said to Alex. Danyo weed now. and the next thing to fully register with James was:

The cow say moooo. Cockodoodoodoo, say who?

The dog can hoooow, and sometime grrrrrow,

But moswy they jus’ ba-k at you: Wuff! Wuff!

He almost fell off the stair tread he was sitting on. In a flash, he was up, spun around on the door jamb and discovered Danny sitting there, pointing out the words to Alex from the book they were leaning over, both laughing hysterically.

Manners and etiquette fell by the wayside. Holy shit! burst out of James, unheeded. Hey! Come and look at this! he hollered. Ill mannered but affectionately he added, The little shit can read!

He picked Danny up, gave him a hug that made him grunt, and fight back; held him out at arms length, and said, Holy— and finally remembered his manners. You can read! By then, everyone was either in Susan’s office, or standing in the doorway. They were greeted with an encore from Danny:

Danyo can weed. Alex, momentarily forgotten, sat there, quietly on the floor looking up at everyone, wondering what all the fuss was about.

In the excitement that followed, Danny ended up back on the floor with Alex and the picture books, while Susan stood there in silence, doing her best to ward off pipe dreams. What the others finally decided, was that what with going through those same books for two years or more, Danny, equivalent to breaking a secret code, had somehow matched the sounds that went with the pictures, to the letters associated with them. The rest was history. On the whole, Susan was more pessimistic, than not.

The rest of Saturday was pure chaos. Sunday wasn’t much better. Curiosity about Danny’s newly discovered ability, so dominated the conversation of the day, that eventually, Susan, weary of all the speculation, quietly went off to the kitchen to get away from it all, opting instead, to prepare a late afternoon meal for everyone. Alex and Danny, having put up with the intrusion into their playtime for most of the day, and also weary of the tedium, finally took it upon themselves to subtly announce that it was dinner time. It was perfect timing. Dinner was ready.

Once at the table, talk shifted quite comfortably to this, that, and the other thing, eventually coming to rest on business matters for the coming week. There were a few items in the works, but other than that, things were pretty much as expected.

Already dark, the meal finished and dishes done, it was getting late, time to return to the city. James would be going back too, leaving Susan and Danny alone at the little yellow house. Not that it was an unusual occurrence, except this time, rather than feeling left behind, Susan felt a sense of relief. She desperately wanted to be alone with Danny for a while. With everyone dissecting him the way they had, she had begun to think of them all as intruders into hers and Danny’s lives, even James. (You know how mothers can be when it comes to messing with their offspring.)

Supper finished, and dishes done, everyone was putting on their hats and coats in the mud room, next to the kitchen. Susan, ready to see them off, bent down to pick up Danny, so he could wave goodbye, too, and told him to put his arm around her neck—to make it easier to lift him. His grip was surprisingly firm and confident, and when she looked at him, he had the penetrating look on his face that he would get sometime, when she would catch him staring at her. For what ever reason, her earlier pessimism dropped from her like a three man stone.

They all said their goodbyes, and headed out to the car. Susan, still carrying Danny, went to the big window in the commons, where they could wave goodbye as the car circled around past the front of the house. The car slowly shrunk in size, then disappeared into the moonlit winter landscape.

She was alone with Danny.

Still lugging him around, she went to her office and chose some of the books from the children’s things: the book from earlier which had afforded Alex and Danny so much fun, and a large, thin book, sans both covers, and the last few pages; the front page claiming it to be filled with beloved children’s poems and stories. Snuggling up in a blanket on the big overstuffed sofa in the commons, she paged to the middle of the book, and a poem by Mary Howitt, The Spider and the Fly Her childhood favorite.

She finished the poem and was going to go on to some of the other classics, but Danny interrupted her, saying, I wike that one. and asked her to read it again. It was the first time he had ever referred to himself in the first person. It was a welcome surprise, the good feeling of which, prompted her to put into practice, an idea which had worked its way into her head.

Making a game of it, she would read a little bit, and then quiz him about the words and associated pictures on the pages, to see if he had just memorized the words, from his other books, or if he could really distinguish the words, apart from the pictures, actions, and colors.

It was past her bedtime, and way past Danny’s, when she finally tucked him into bed, kissed him goodnight, and climbed into her own bed. The last thought to go through her head before she fell asleep was, the little shit can read!

Though he still didn’t talk much, Danny’s speech capabilities continued to improve, and overall, he had become easier to understand, and, he had almost stopped referring to himself in the third person with his discovery of I, me, and mine.

There were still those times when he would sit by himself, talking and laughing, as though someone else was there, and Susan did her best to accept it, but his frequent use of the word, you, made her wonder if he had an imaginary playmate, or just what. She would stand there, transfixed, at times, listening to him babble away, wondering if she should talk to James about it. But then, Danny would look up and catch her watching, or she would catch herself in the act, feel like she was being silly about the whole thing, and forget about it.

The business was operating as smoothly as anyone could have ever wished, and still growing. A merger was in the works. Technology had been everything they thought it would be. Everyone was at the little yellow house for the weekend. The gardenias in the solarium were in bloom. Much of Sunday was spent in the hot tub, wallowing in the their exotic fragrance. Susan played with the children while everyone else discussed last minute thoughts on the pending merger. Monday morning, everyone but Susan and Danny went back to the city. Andreas and James had to fly to Europe, take care of last minute changes, and sign the final papers.

Then, from the children’s perspective, everything was suddenly different. There were new and strange activities, different faces, unknown places, unfamiliar smells, crying that wasn’t theirs. Alex’s daddy wasn’t there, and Alex asked Danny, Where’s my Daddy? Danny was all confused. His daddy wasn’t there either, and he wandered around looking everywhere. He looked, and he looked, but he couldn’t find them. Alex recognized what was happening and went ballistic. Danny, following her lead, went ballistic too. The two of them were separated.

The following days weren’t pleasant; events weighed heavily on everyone. Alex began acting like a completely different child, becoming unmanageable, and seemingly indifferent to all that was happening. Danny, following her lead, took on the same attitude. Susan was a wreck.

Forgetting the children for the time being, Barbara spent most of her time taking care of Susan; doing all that she could to get her to understand that of the original six, there were just the two of them left to run the business.

Four days later, Barbara, hopeful that Susan would be able to keep it together, packed their things into the car, intent on running the business, with just the two of them. Then she and Alex drove back to the big city. It was a long drive.

Alex Breaks the Bond

It was a rough time for Alex. Not yet four and a half years of age, she had just left her baby status behind, and started her childhood, only to discover, point blank, how scary the world can be, and that it could make some really bad hurts happen inside, and it made her afraid, and she didn’t understand any of it, and she didn’t want to be hurt like that anymore, and Danyo didn’t come to play anymore by the hot tub the way he used to, and his not coming to play anymore was the same kind of hurt as when her daddy left her, and sometimes at night when she went to bed, it would make her cry, and she didn’t want to be hurt like that anymore, and if Danyo could make her hurt the same way her daddy did when he left, then maybe it was because that’s what boys do, and then, because she didn’t want to be hurt like that anymore, without saying anything to anyone, she put boys, along with all of the ouchies and owies and inside hurts—Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!—into a secret little room she kept hidden away inside her head. Then she pushed the door closed, and locked it. Click! So she wouldn’t get hurt like that—anymore.

That night, shortly after he had gone to bed, Danny woke up and started crying. He’d been moody ever since… Susan didn’t want to think the words, but crying wasn’t something he normally did. When she went into his room and asked him what was wrong, he said, Alexandra is gone!

I know, she said. She’s been gone almost three weeks now. Do you miss her?

Yes! he said, and then urgently added, "But she’s really gone!"

I know, she said. And I miss her too. But I’m sure she’s alright.

Really? he ask doubtfully.

Really. I can call Barbara in the morning, just to make sure, if it will make you happy.

Okay.

You go to sleep now, and I’ll stay with you until then. Okay?

Okay. Good night.

And she sat there quietly on the edge of the bed, long after he fell asleep, worrying, the way mothers do; wondering if she should be concerned by "She’s really gone."

It wasn’t the first time she spent the night sitting there on the edge of his bed with him, nor would it be the last. He was almost seven when the nightmares started. She would wake up to Danny’s screams, run to his room, and find him trembling and all sweaty.

It had never occurred to Alex, that when she locked the past behind the door—in that dark little room inside her head—that all her own memories were in there, too. She was almost seven when the nightmares started. Barbara would wake up to Alex’s screams, run to her room, and find her trembling and all sweaty. The lions and tigers and bears, were restless. Her past had begun calling for help. Oh my!

Chapter 2

Daniel

Ages Four Through Nine

Coddled since the day he was born, Danny found himself alone. His mother, Susan, temporarily close to nonfunctional. His daddy was gone. Alex was gone. Everyone was gone. As the days slipped by, alone, and on his own, he became caught up with all the things in his immediate surroundings: soft things, fuzzy things, toys, crayons, books. Things in the outside world that moved through the air, crawled and hopped on the ground, shook and rattled in the wind. Little by little, the past slipped away, and Alex got shuffled down to the bottom of the toy box—forgotten.

With half his consciousness populated by the new and fascinating things of the world, and the other half by the same people he saw every day, it was quite easy for him to forget the day to day company of those around him, and that he began spending more time than usual, discovering the infinite variety of the ever changing, thing world—head down, caught up with his books, birds, bugs, and beasts—went unnoticed, should come as no big surprise.

It was as though all those things of the world had become imprinted into his sensory system. They would see him come strolling along, and start waving and yelling to get his attention,

Hey Danny, here I am, come over and check me out. Yeah, me. I bet you’ve never seen a bug like me before. Come on, Danny, come on! And Danny would go over and get lost in what ever it was that caught his attention, sometimes for hours.

Whether around grown ups, or his peers at school, he was quiet, unassuming, and seemingly inattentive, but if someone caught his attention, he would pop back into their world, lift his head, talk, interact, play sports, what ever was called for. So mind you now, it wasn’t as though he was some sort of dummy. Everyone always wanted him to be their project partner, he was always welcome in games and conversations, and he never got picked last for any sports activity—except for maybe contact sports, like red rover (Danny was small for his age). But as soon as the immediacy of the moment was over, he would put his head down, and slide back into his own little world, forgetting the social charade going on around him.

During the rough times, after James died, Susan made arrangements with the Morton family to look after Danny when ever she needed help. It worked so well for everyone, especially Danny and Holly—Holly was an only child, too—that the arrangement went on into grade school. For all practical purposes, the Mortons, became Danny’s second family. As such, Danny continued his childhood, privy to the same knowledge of the opposite sex normally reserved for closely spaced siblings as he had shared with Alex. It should come as no big surprise, then—at least in Danny’s mind—that boys were boys, bugs were bugs, girls were girls, and trees were trees—things! That was just the way things were.

As for Danny’s sex life? There wasn’t any. It was best described as simply, encounters with girls. He was aware of the difference between boys and girls, but the significance of that difference had not yet dawned upon him. As such, it wasn’t something with which he was preoccupied.

So that summer day, a few weeks before he was ready to start second grade, the notion of sex being some sort of special social or moral issue, related to gender difference, still eluded him; that day his mother, Susan, had volunteered to work with the local town’s folk, maintaining and repairing fire fighting equipment; that day he and Holly found themselves wandering around listlessly in what was the hottest day in August anyone could remember, unsuccessfully doing their best to cope with the heat.

Meshko’s Pond

Engaged in a profound discussion of all the ice cold drinks and ice cream concoctions they could possibly imagine, Holly stopped without warning, and proclaimed, I feel a cool breeze!

Danny stopped, stood motionless for a moment, perked up a bit, and responded, Me too.

They had come upon Meshko’s pond, which wasn’t really a pond, only an unusually wide part of Meshko’s creek, a fishing stream that ran across the Meshko property. People just called it Meshko’s pond. Rumor had it that some prospector had gotten rich panning the gold from the dredgings taken from the stream, and when the gold ran out, he just picked up and left.

Over the course of time, nature, with an occasional helping hand from fishermen and the local populace, had landscaped the dredgings, leaving a nicely raised flood plain and gently sloping bank on the town side of the pond. It was kind of a landmark, a place everyone knew about, a popular place for fishermen, family picnics, and young couples alike. But on that particular day, there was no one there. Actually, there was hardly anyone, anywhere. Everything was tinder dry from a prolonged heat spell. All logging operations had shut down, and almost every able-bodied person was off fighting fires at one place or the other, or, like Susan, supporting the people out on the fire lines. For all practical purposes, Meshko’s Pond belonged to the two children.

Holly was right. Barely noticeable on his face, the gentlest of breezes was coming off the pond, teasing him with the elusive hope of coolness…just beyond his reach, seducing him with tender thoughts: Come closer, come closer, you silly young fool. Come closer, come closer, and I’ll make you cool.

He stood there thinking things over a bit, then turned and looked at Holly with a big grin on his face…only to discover that she was already looking at him, and grinning from ear to ear. And he just knew that she was thinking the same thing he was. She proved it when she challenged, I dare you.

And he came back with, What? Are you chicken?

Not me, she said.

To which Danny shot back, Me either. And threw out his own challenge, I’ll race you.

His words had the effect of a starting gun. In complete defiance of all the naughty rules ever imposed on children, clothes started flying everywhere.

Holly jumped into the lead, quickly sitting down on the grass and taking off her shoes, almost before the last word had left Danny’s mouth, catching him by surprise.

Danny, trying to make up for lost time, tried to take his shoes off without bothering to sit down, got one off instantly, started on the other, but it was tied too tight to pull off. Struggling with it, he promptly lost his balance, and fell over after hopping around on one foot a half dozen times.

Holly found his little dance to be hilariously funny, and didn’t stop laughing until she realized that Danny had managed to take off both of his shoes and socks, and was standing up to take off his shirt. She went into overdrive, got her socks off, and stood up to work on her shirt. She pulled it up and over her head in one swift motion, and was about to start on her pants when she was distracted by Danny muttering Stupid buttons! and looked over to see him fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

Having problems? she teased, pushing him over the edge.

Grabbing hold of both sides of his shirt, with the retort Stupid shirt! he gave a mighty yank, simultaneously sending two buttons flying, and Holly into a fit of laughter.

That’s cheating! she was finally able to say, but not before Danny had gotten his arms out of his shirt sleeves, and threw it on the ground with a There! as if he had just vanquished his worst enemy. Still standing, he started taking off his T-shirt, got it off without a hitch, and started on his pants, taking the lead.

Holly, still laughing, with tears in her eyes, trying desperately to get control of herself, watched in vain as Danny got his pants opened and already had them down to his knees. It was the moment she knew that all was lost, that Danny was going to win. But it was a very short lived moment, and she quickly came back to her senses when she realized that rather than