Sometimes
trēs
For his second birthday, Nathan Mill was forgotten in a shopping centre.
The New Years sales had begun and Judy had dragged along a hungover Henry and a quiet Nathan. The bitchiness between the two begun after they had entered the first shop; Judy accused him of getting too drunk last night to even remember what he'd done–something that was completely true–and Henry accused her of being too fucking clingy when they weren't even married. The whole time neither of the two paid attention to their son as he toddled after them, trying to keep up on his small legs. The only thing that kept him from being separated from them completely was the strap that was around his wrist that Judy held onto loosely.
The more they walked around the centre, the more they argued. And it was when Henry decided to go under the belt and make a jab about the fact they had a son and not a daughter that Judy snapped and shoved her end of the strap towards him, exclaiming that he was his son and he should be the one to be burdened with him. After that she turned on her heel and stormed off further into the shopping centre.
Henry looked down at Nathan with a blank expression. He hadn't done a real lot with the boy since his birth. The most he'd done was dipped his dummy into his coffee or beer and given it to the boy, shutting him up from his screaming and relieving both he and Judy from the wails that just would not stop.
Not quite knowing what to do with the boy, he led him over to one of the benches and sat him down before he told him to stay there while he went and looked for Judy. The boy sat where he was for almost three hours, oblivious to the looks he was getting from families as they walked by until one woman alerted a security guard about the boy after seeing him sat in the same seat he'd been sitting in when she first entered the centre.
That was the first time the police were involved in little Nathan Mill's life, and it certainly wasn't the last.
The New Years sales had begun and Judy had dragged along a hungover Henry and a quiet Nathan. The bitchiness between the two begun after they had entered the first shop; Judy accused him of getting too drunk last night to even remember what he'd done–something that was completely true–and Henry accused her of being too fucking clingy when they weren't even married. The whole time neither of the two paid attention to their son as he toddled after them, trying to keep up on his small legs. The only thing that kept him from being separated from them completely was the strap that was around his wrist that Judy held onto loosely.
The more they walked around the centre, the more they argued. And it was when Henry decided to go under the belt and make a jab about the fact they had a son and not a daughter that Judy snapped and shoved her end of the strap towards him, exclaiming that he was his son and he should be the one to be burdened with him. After that she turned on her heel and stormed off further into the shopping centre.
Henry looked down at Nathan with a blank expression. He hadn't done a real lot with the boy since his birth. The most he'd done was dipped his dummy into his coffee or beer and given it to the boy, shutting him up from his screaming and relieving both he and Judy from the wails that just would not stop.
Not quite knowing what to do with the boy, he led him over to one of the benches and sat him down before he told him to stay there while he went and looked for Judy. The boy sat where he was for almost three hours, oblivious to the looks he was getting from families as they walked by until one woman alerted a security guard about the boy after seeing him sat in the same seat he'd been sitting in when she first entered the centre.
That was the first time the police were involved in little Nathan Mill's life, and it certainly wasn't the last.