Control by M. S. Willis

baby girl.  You know we need to
make sure you haven’t sprouted a third arm or anything.”
    David came
up next to us and acted like he was being ignored. “What about me, Mom and
Dad?  I could be wasting away to nothing and you two would not have even
noticed.”
    Momma
and Daddy laughed and then Momma turned to look at David.  She put her
hand to her mouth like she was thinking and she gave him a good hard look up
and down.  “Yep, just as I suspected.  You are in excellent health
and you are an exquisite specimen of male masculinity and prowess.”
    Daddy
let out a huff of air but smiled as he said, “Should I be worried that you will
be leaving me for a younger model, Maia?”
    David
grinned and stated, “Oh, you have nothing to worry about there, James. 
Your lovely wife isn’t exactly my type.”
    We all burst
into laughter and then started walking back towards the building.  I
couldn’t help but stare at those large double entryway doors and think about
the amount of pain that has walked through them.
    We
walked through to the back parlor and David immediately ran to the children’s
play area to start acting like a human playground.  The children who had
been there for a while recognized him and wasted no time tackling his large
form to the ground.  As usual, David had to overdramatize his defeat,
making the children laugh even more.  He threw his arms out in surrender
and clutched at his chest for the take down scene.  He landed on the
ground with a loud thump and I winced wondering if that was going to leave a
mark.  The children who were newer to The Center appeared hesitant to
approach him at first but quickly warmed up to him due to his comedic
antics.  The mothers all laughed as they watched their children climb all
over David and their faces brightened to see their young ones enjoying
themselves.
    I sat down
on the back couch and remembered my dream from earlier.  This was the
exact couch where Daddy had laid me after he found me in the water. Sitting on
it so close in time to that dream brought all the emotions flooding back into
my consciousness.  My parents didn’t notice my discomfort so I shook it
off and smiled brightly up towards them. 
    Momma
sat down next to me and Daddy sat in the rocking chair to our right.  It
was rare that my parents took a moment out of their day to rest and have a
conversation, but they made sure to at least give me an hour when I came for my
weekly visit.  I was never upset that they couldn’t afford to give me more
uninterrupted time than that. I understood that what they were doing was so
important to the people they were helping.  Momma asked me about my job
and they gave me their full attention as I told them about Mr. Weber, the
miracle skier.   They laughed at my rendition of the story and Momma
made her usual comments about how it is so important for me to be
careful.   Concerned that I would get caught one day and that someone
would react with violence, they asked that I arm myself to protect against
attack.  Momma, Daddy and I all shared the same distaste for firearms, but
I agreed to pick up a can of pepper spray to make them feel better.  My
job isn’t as dangerous as they think but I have heard stories of investigators
accidentally stumbling upon drug deals or other criminal behaviors undertaken
by the people they were watching.
    After
an hour, Momma and Daddy excused themselves to take care of whatever chores
they had to accomplish and I turned to find David reading a book to the
kids.  They all were laying on top of him and snuggling into his
side.  As he was otherwise pre-occupied I decided to go check out the
backyard.
    When I
refer to the backyard at The Center, I may be using the wrong word.  The
Center was backed up to the outer perimeter of the state park and a large half
acre yard led out to a marsh land that fed into a lake.  Daddy would mow
the grasses closer to the building, but he left the area down near the