Hidden In Plain Sight

Her first memory was of her eating her own hair. It was so blue and looked so yummy, she had to try it to see if it was.

When her mom noticed, she merely laughed, her brown curls bouncing on her shoulders as she reached forward and tugged it out of her mouth gently. “That’s not food!” she smiled playfully.

It was always just her and her mom. Her dad was barely home, always off doing work, not that she minded. She was happy with the way things were, where they could stay in their own bubble of a world.

Until it popped.

Shouts rattled through the walls of her bedroom as she wrung her hands together. Were Mommy and Daddy okay? They sounded upset

“How could you do this to us?!”

“You’re never here anymore. I can’t love someone I never see!”

“So you go and decide to have a baby with another man?!”

“I never meant for this to happen you know?”

“So you just wanted to lie to us forever”

“I-I-”

“Get out of my house.”

“What?”

“You heard me. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

There was a moment of silence before heavy footsteps rattled through the house. What was happening? Where was Mommy going? She quickly crept up to the frame of her open door, clinging to it protectively

Peeking out the door, she was just in time to see her mother as she slammed the door behind her, leaving the house, her dad pacing out of his room to watch.

“Daddy?”

He turned around quickly, surprised to hear her. “Alicia! Go back to your room.”

“Where’s Mommy going?”

“Your mother abandoned you. She’s having a new family with another man.” His face morphed into a bitter scowl, dark blue hair falling into his face as he whipped his head around again to look away from her.

“But-”

“Go NOW!” Her father screamed, and she felt tears well up in her eyes as she turned away quickly, running back to her room to hide under her blankets

That was the first time she had heard her mother yell. She would have many firsts in her life, but that would be the last one with her mother.

It could have been one day after that when she met him, or it could have been a week after. Time seemed to blur together, and all she remembered was hiding under her blankets, waiting for brown curls to come and peek under the blankets. Waiting for that warm smile and to be scooped up, but the moment never came.

“Alicia! Come here,” her father called loudly from downstairs. She pulled herself out from underneath the blankets, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the lights after the darkness of the blankets. Was Mommy back now? She questioned hopefully. Crawling out of her blanket pile, she made her way down the stairs as quickly as she could without falling, which wasn’t very fast at all as she pulled herself down the stairs one at a time, too small to go much faster. When she finally got down, she wasn’t greeted by the sight she had expected. She looked up at a man with deep brown eyes and brown hair that was slicked back stiffly. He was dressed in a tailcoat and stood beside her father.

“This is Sebastian. He will take care of you from now on.”

She felt her brows furrow. “But what about Mommy?” She had been waiting for her to come home.

“I told you she doesn’t want you!” Her father spat angrily, but his eyes didn’t look angry like he sounded.

Alicia just flinched back and nodded, grabbing on tightly to the hem of her dress.

Her father took a quick breath. “I have to go to work now. Goodbye.” He turned and left swiftly, slamming the door a bit behind him when he left, leaving them alone in the house.

They stood there for a while in silence. Time ticked on and she could feel small tears gather in the corner of her eyes. That wasn’t her Mommy. He looked down at her with an expression she didn’t understand, and it felt like minutes had passed before the man finally spoke up

“Miss...?”

And with that, her world that had once been brown curls and soft touches became one of black tailcoats and cold glances.

Nothing was the same anymore. She missed her mother and hugs and getting to play and read books together all day. Sebastian was cold and harsh, nothing like the soft warmth she was used to.

She wandered into the kitchen where Sebastian was cooking her food. Her balled-up fist pressed in her mouth as she sucked on it. Coming to stand next to Sebastian, she looked up at the pot he was stirring on the stove. It smelled like soup.

Turning his head to glance down at her, he paused, his brows furrowing as he set aside his spoon after knocking off the excess liquid and knelt down in front of her, gently pulling her hand from her mouth.

“Don’t chew that Miss, it’s dirty.” He wiped off her wet hand on his pants leg and Alicia felt her lip quiver a bit. Why couldn’t her Mommy come home yet?

He stood up briskly and picked up his spoon again, dipping it back into the pot to stir. Alicia just looked at her hand. What was she supposed to do with this now? She wanted to stick it back in her mouth, but Sebastian would just get annoyed and pull it out again. Instead, she looked around, eyes narrowing in on one of the ends of his tailcoat.

Reaching up, she latched her hand onto it, giving it a small tug as she did so. Sebastian gave a small jolt in surprise. He glanced down to the side at her but didn’t say anything before turning back to the pot, but Alicia could see a small curve to his lips

That was the first time she saw him smile.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad... she lamented, pulling a big smile on her lips as she beamed up at Sebastian who had gone back to stirring the pot.

And with that, she started to let her small world be filled with only Sebastian. Their own world within the walls where they would share more firsts together.