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Author's Chapter Notes:
After I finished "Name," I couldn't get this short out of my mind. It didn't fit with the overall tone of "Name," but this is what I think happened to those three souls who were bound together in the previous story.
Thanks to the lovely Sanityfair for editing and providing feedback to this piece!
Emily Cales' daughter, Kara, was a happy baby who grew into a beautiful little girl. Kara had her mom's curly, red hair, with her dad's dimples. No one was sure where her green eyes had come from, though. Kara met all her benchmarks for development at the right times, was perfectly healthy and tested well.



Then suddenly, Kara began waking up shaking and terrified. It broke Emily's heart the first time Kara looked up at her, eyes choked with tears, telling her she was afraid monsters were going to take mommy and daddy away. At first Emily thought it was just a phase, but the situation continued to worsen. Kara couldn't be in a room alone because the monsters were waiting. She didn't like to go outside after dark because she was certain vampires would get her.



Kara's fears became so pronounced that she couldn't sleep unless she was in bed with her parents, touching both of them. Emily and her husband, Jason, had to take their four-year-old to see a therapist. Doctor Pierce said Kara was suffering from delusions about vampires and werewolves. Doctor Pierce thought their daughter might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and seemed convinced they were abusing Kara. After a brush with child protective services, they found another doctor who said Kara was schizophrenic. Doctor Melon wanted to put her on anti-psychotics even though he'd only spoken to Kara for twenty minutes. Emily had walked out with her daughter in tow, more angry than she'd ever been in her life.



Emily and Jason were convinced they'd never be able to go out on a date, take an overnight trip or you know, have sex again, when Kara suddenly just...grew out of it. Emily thought Tara and Billy moving in next door had a lot to do with Kara's improvement. They'd first met at the park a block from the house.



Normally, Kara didn't take to new people right away, but the moment the little blond-haired boy approached her, Emily's daughter was laughing and eagerly taking his hand. Emily watched at a short distance within Kara's view. She was surprised that her little one didn't look up once to see if her mom was in sight, as Kara normally did.



Emily noticed a pretty woman standing on the edge of the playground, also intent on the kids; she had long, silver hair tied back in a French braid and wore an ankle-length sundress is turquoise. To Emily, she looked exotic, like an artist, someone she wouldn't normally meet in the suburbs. Intrigued, Emily walked over.



"Our kids seem to be getting along," Emily said, smiling encouragingly.



The strange woman turned to her; her green eyes sparkled and her smile was so benevolent, Emily was tempted to give her a hug.



"My son is rather an inward little boy, it's wonderful to see him connecting. I'm Tara and that's Billy," Tara said, pointing at the blond bundle of energy tugging on Kara's hands.



"Emily," she said, touching her chest, "and Kara is my daughter. She's normally kind of inward, too. Your accent is lovely, are you English?"



"Yes, we moved to the states a few months ago. I came for school and wanted to return to raise Billy here. It took a long while to find something in my field and in Buffalo."



"Why Buffalo?" Emily asked, arching an eyebrow and wrinkling her nose. She'd been trying to leave the outskirts of the city for years, but Jason's job was too lucrative and her parents were close by.



"It was important for Billy. We have family here. We just bought a house on Connecticut Drive," Tara said.



"Oh my God! Is it that big, blue Victorian with the birch tree in the front yard?"



"Yes," Tara said, nodding.



"That's right across from us!"



"Wow, how wonderful. I've been meaning to introduce myself to the neighbors," Tara said. Her eyes had darted back periodically to the children as they spoke. Billy and Kara were on the swings, trying to see who could pump the highest. Tara was watching them and smiling, with glossy eyes that hinted at tears.



"It's like they were just waiting for each other," Tara said.



They talked while the kids swung and then began to explore the jungle gym. The women figured out that the children were not only the same age, but they had the same birthday.



"How funny, we should do a joint party," Emily said, instantly wishing she hadn't spoken so soon. She didn't want to impose, seeing as she'd only known the woman for about forty-five minutes. Tara could sense her regret at the suggestion and patted her arm.



"That would be super, but you know how kids are. He'll probably want something dinosaur themed and she'd want to have Disney princesses," Tara said.



"Yeah, you're right. So you mentioned work, what do you do?"



"I teach. I'm heading up a new robotics program at the University of Buffalo."


"Wow! Just wow, that's amazing."



Tara giggled.



"Thank you!"



"What does your husband do?" Emily asked.



"Oh, I'm not married. I was seeing a nice woman for awhile, before we moved, but that kind of ended," Tara said.



"I'm, so...right. I just assumed, I mean, Billy looks so much like you. Was it hard to adopt, seeing as you're...single?" Emily backtracked, her hand flopping around in a way that mimicked her floundering words. Tara just kept smiling serenely.



"Billy's not adopted, he came into this world the usual way, after many shots of tequila and a lapse in judgment."



Emily laughed a little too hard at the joke.



"So you used to not be...I'm really sticking my foot in my mouth, huh?"



Tara laughed and so did Emily, grateful that her new neighbor seemed to be so patient.


"You are, but it's fine. The night after my brother died I was kind of overwrought. I went to a pub with some friends and ended up being consoled by a fellow named Simon. It was a one-time thing, you know, something like a fever caused by grief. Nine months later, little Billy was born and it felt like I'd gotten a piece of my soul back. Simon didn't want to have much to do with us, by then he had gotten back together with his own wife and they were expecting a daughter, but we're still friends."



"I'm so, so sorry, about your brother and about digging into your personal life. I've been kind of weird lately. Kara has been having some problems with anxiety. I had to leave my job because she was having so many issues that I was calling off all the time. I used to be a graphic designer and I headed up all these projects and I graduated from NYU but now all I do is watch 'Finding Nemo,' three times a day and try to keep my daughter from being convinced there are vampires in her closet waiting to kill us. Which makes her sound like a freak or something and she isn't, she is a bright, sweet, loving little girl, but she normally doesn't express that to other people besides my husband and me—"



"And you feel isolated?" Tara asked, tilting her head slightly.



"Yes. I haven't talked to a grown up who wasn't my husband or one of Kara's doctors in a really long time," Emily said.



"It's, alright I understand completely," Tara said, smiling in a way that made Emily believe her.



"Do you think I'm crazy over-sharing neighbor?"



"Not crazy, and I think talking can be a positive thing. People need each other and sometimes they don't have the strength to say so. I have something that might help Kara sleep better. We can stop by my place and I'll get it for you, if you'd like," Tara said.



"Is it like an herbal sedative, because I'm not really comfortable giving her that," Emily said.



"No, it's a stuffed pig. His name is Mr. Gordo," Tara said.



Kara and Billy ran up to their mothers, hand in hand.



"Billy's going to teach me how to box!" Kara shouted.



Emily laughed, but noticed Tara was smiling tightly.





That night Kara clutched the toy Tara had given her and drifted off without incidence. Emily was so used to hearing her daughter crying to be let into her room, that when she didn't, Emily woke up in a dead panic worried something was wrong. Emily slipped quietly into her daughter's bedroom to find Kara sprawled out on her bed, snoring softly, with the pink pig in her arms.



In the weeks that followed, the children played together every day. Emily was relieved her daughter was finally making friends, but she still thought Billy was a peculiar little boy.



"I found him painting her toenails today, Jay," Emily told her husband. She was brushing her teeth over the bathroom sink. She could see her husband through the open door. He was standing before their closet in their blue bedroom, picking out his clothes for the next day. He had a meeting in the morning with his boss. Jason was a graphic designer for a major clothing manufacturer and dressing well was a prerequisite for the job.



"Maybe he's like his mom, I hear it's genetic," Jason said, dithering between his blue tie and his red one.



Emily spit and rinsed her mouth before returning her brush to its case.



"I don't think the kid is gay. That would make me feel a little better, actually. He always has to be touching Kara in a way that seems strange for children. He pets her hair and sometimes they just sit and look at each other. He was holding her face in his hands and gazing into her eyes."



"But she's not scared any more and she's actually got a buddy, Em. I think you're reading way, way too much into it," Jason said, arranging his shirt on a hanger with his slacks.



"He calls his mom by her first name," Emily said.



"That's more on Tara than on him."



"Kara wants to have a joint birthday party at the ice rink. Pirate princesses," Emily said.



"Good, that'll save on rental fees and we can split on the cake," Jason said, finally satisfied with his choice for the next day. Emily rinsed her face and then patted her skin dry with a brown towel. She hated those towels; they were the same shade as the bathroom tile, which she also hated, but they couldn't afford to replace.



"He's teaching her how to use a punching bag."



"Save me the trouble," Jason said. Emily knew by the tone of his voice he wasn't taking her seriously.



"He gave her a nickname. Now she won't respond unless I call her Buffy," Emily said, arranging the despised towel neatly on the faux aged copper rack beside the medicine cabinet.



"Em, I was with them all afternoon and he seems like a sweet, sensitive little boy. After they play-fought he sat down and had a tea party with her. Are you maybe feeling replaced because you're not her whole world anymore?"



"No!" she said, then after considering his words, "Possibly. Are you smoothing this over because you want to have sex tonight?" She walked into her bedroom and watched her husband peel off his t-shirt, the motion ruffling his black hair.



"Possibly," he said with a smirk as he hopped into bed.



"You're lucky you're cute," Emily said, jumping in after him.





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