Broken (Endurance) (15 page)

"Is there anything I can do?" Sandra questioned, feeling helpless as she watched Mei pace back and forth, rocking Uriel in her arms.

"He just wants his dad. Why couldn't I have had a girl?" Mei joked.

"I'm sure it’s just a phase. Give him a couple more days," Sandra said with an encouraging smile.

Mei looked at her as if she were insane.  "It's been three days already. I'm so tired. If Max wasn't working so hard on our hut, I would make him take the baby." Mei looked down at Uriel who took a break from crying to yawn. "I'm going to try to lay down with him again and maybe he will fall asleep this time."

"Okay, good luck."

Not more than five minutes after Mei had gone to bed there was a knock at the door. Sandra looked through the peephole to see an exhausted Max looking around suspiciously. She quickly opened the door to let him in. He was carrying a black backpack and a stuffed animal, no doubt for his son.

"What are you doing here? You could get in big trouble," Sandra said with hushed alarm.

"Please, can you look the other way just this once? Mei needs some sleep. She is falling asleep in class and I know you would like a good night’s rest yourself. You don't look so hot."

"Oh, well when you put it that way, why don't you just move in so I can be beautiful again?" Sandra joked.

"I didn't mean it like that." Max smiled.

"I know. Look, come every night if you have to. I really do need some sleep. I can't focus in class and I can't imagine how Mei is handling it."

"Thank you so much. I am forever in your debt."

"Oh, no I'm in yours. I've never been more excited to sleep." Sandra laughed. "Okay, but some ground rules. There is one room and I don't want to hear no creaking late at night and don't get caught, please. I know your grandfather may have started this college, but that won't stop them from kicking your butt out if you get caught."

"I know, and don't worry about the creaking." Max laughed walking towards the room.

"Hell, I would be too jealous to function the next day," Sandra mumbled as she locked the front door.

Max opened the bedroom door. Mei lay on a college twin sized bed, curled up next to a very fussy Uriel. She was knocked out while Uriel lay in bed whining and whimpering. Max put his bag down and slipped out of his sneakers. He pulled his T-shirt over his head and threw it next to his backpack.

Uriel caught sight of him and, in an exhausted whimper, he cried out, "Daddy."

Max smiled and picked him up, cradling him in his arms as he rocked him from side to side. 

Mei jumped, alarmed to see Max standing beside the bed. "What are you doing here?" she whispered loudly.

"It's okay. Sandra is not going to rat us out," Max said, stepping back as Mei got out of bed.

Sandra entered the room and Mei glanced up at her. "Sandra, are you sure about this?"

"Yes, all three of us can get some sleep now. Don't worry. I feel good that I can finally help."  Sandra smiled at Mei as she took off her robe and pulled her sheets back.

"How are we going to fit on a twin bed, Max?"

Max kissed the top of his son’s head. Uriel was already asleep. "We’ll figure something out."

Mei looked around the room remembering there were extra blankets in the closet. She grabbed a blanket and extra pillow. Stopping in front of her dresser drawer, she was struck with inspiration. She threw the blankets on the bed, pulled out one of her drawers and emptied the contents in another drawer. Max simply sat on the bed watching her as she turned the drawer into a crib for Uriel.

"There," Mei said when she finished.

"I knew I’d married a genius." Max smiled as he laid Uriel in the makeshift crib. He stood and looked down at Uriel in amazement. "He is getting so big. Can you believe he was growing in your belly? Look at him. He almost doesn't fit."

"Thank you, Max" Mei said smiling at him.

"For what?"

"This, I felt so bad for Sandra. I'm sure she’ll never have kids." Mei smiled.

"Yeah, I’m in no rush," Sandra called out from under her covers.

Max reached out to Mei as he sat on the bed. He settled back, pulling her onto his bare chest. It felt like ages since he’d held his wife. As she relaxed

on top of him, he turned both of them onto their side, gently rubbing her back and smoothing her hair until they fell asleep.

Morning arrived and the sun shone brightly through the bedroom window. Max and Mei had overslept. Sandra had already taken her shower and was enjoying taking care of Uriel while his parents slept.

Renee was there knowing Max would be there to help Mei with the baby. This morning she was in for a surprise when she learned that Max had spent the night. While Sandra was feeding Uriel breakfast, Renee excused herself to use the bathroom. She open
ed
and closed the bathroom door to throw Sandra off, and quietly tiptoed to the bedroom door. She gently pushed the door open to take a peek at Max sleeping on his back. She was captivated by his muscular
arms and chest. She watched
his chest moved up and down to the rhythm of his breathing. Seeing Mei's arm resting on his chest made her jealous. Renee had convinced herself she was the better woman for Max. She gently pulled the door in then returned to open and closed the bathroom door again to fool Sandra into thinking she had gone to the restroom.

Mei propped her head up.  She had the unmistakable sense of being watched. The name Renee entered her mind and she rolled her eyes. Renee had been coming around every morning. I wouldn't be surprised if it was her, she thought.

She turned her attention to Max. He looked so peaceful as he slept. "Who wouldn't want this?" she whispered, slowly crawling over him to get to the bathroom.

Max grabbed her by the waist before she could climb over him.

Mei moaned with pleasure as she felt his stiffness. He held her on top of him, looking up at her and smiling. She giggled and was surprised by the blush that heated her cheeks. "No, Max. We have to get Uriel to daycare. Sandra will be leaving soon."

"I miss you," Max complained.

"You miss me or something else?" Mei raked her fingers through his hair.

"I hate this," Max said, suddenly serious.

"Max, we can get through this. We have the rest of our lives together. Don't you want stories to tell our grandchildren?"

"Grandchildren? What will we be, like thirty-five with grandchildren?" Max laughed.

"Oh, I know right." Mei laughed.

"Come on. Let me go.  I need to get Uriel so Sandra can leave," Mei said, swinging her legs out and setting her feet on the floor.

"Okay, but I can't get up right now," Max replied turning onto his side.

"Hey, the faster that house is built, the faster I can help you with..." She glanced down at his boxers.  “Well, with that.”  She offered him a sensual lick of her lips before walking out.

"You are
killing me woman," Max mumbled to himself.

Mei walked out into the living room to see her son happily eating a bowl of dry cereal. He lit up when she entered the room. "Hey, baby," Mei said, smiling at her son.

Uriel held up a Cheerio for her to taste. Mei nibbled the Cheerio out of his chubby little hands and purred, “Mmmm, aren’t you a lucky little man to be eating such a great breakfast.”

"Sandra had to leave a little earlier so, I told her I could watch over little Max while your

sleeping?"

Mei spun to the sound of Renee’s voice, the words ‘little Max’ reverberating in her head.  How dare she?  The thought of her little Uriel in the presence of this woman made her want to scream.  Instead, she calmly said, "Oh, I’m so sorry. We overslept." Mei kept a close check on her true feelings.

"Well, if you need to take a shower, I can watch him," Renee offered walking up to Mei.

"His father should be up soon," Mei looked up at the clock. Time was running out. Although she hated the thought of Renee watching her son, she needed to get going.

"Max!" Mei called out. "Okay, thank you, Renee. I’ll be real quick." She turned and rushed down the hallway, running into Max as he exited her room.

"Does Uriel need a bath?" Max asked catching Mei as she stumbled backwards.

"Yeah, Renee is watching him right now. I’m going to jump in the shower." She stepped around him and headed for the bathroom.

"Need help?" Max joked.

"Bring in Uriel after like, five minutes," Mei replied, to
o
busy to catch his joke.

Max walked out into the living room and found Renee struggling to hold a fidgeting Uriel who was trying to get away from her.

"Sorry, he is a handful," Max said, walking over to take him from her.

"That kid is strong," Renee replied breathless.

"Yeah," Max mumbled.  He cradled Uriel who was now calm and relaxed in his arms. "Are you ready for a bath?"

Renee gazed at Max's body, admiring his physique. "So you work out a lot?"

"When I can. Lately, building that hut has been enough of a work out. How are you and your partner working out?" Max asked, making conversation to kill time.

"Oh yeah. She quit so now the professor is going to bring in someone else. Right now I’m the only one working on the hut… all by myself."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Max said, as he made funny faces at Uriel.

"I know you have a lot to do in your hut, but, well, you guys are almost done, right?"

"With the outside walls and the flooring done, they should be putting in the plumbing today," Max replied.

"Cool, maybe you could help me out with mine. I don't know what I’m doing."

"Yeah, sure, if I can find the time," Max replied, before answering Mei's yell. "I’ll talk to you later."

"We can all walk to class together. I’m in no rush."

Max simply nodded as he walked away.   T
ruth was he didn’t really care
one way or the other. He showered and dressed while Mei got ready and prepared Uriel for daycare.   Ten minutes later, they all headed out the door.

Renee positioned herself beside Max as they walked out the dorm.  Exasperated, Mei tried to control her growing frustration.  She glanced at Max and tried to gauge his take on Renee’s behavior.  His gaze was distant and his lips fluttered with mumblings of the work to be done on the hut.  He seemed completely oblivious of the silent war that was broiling over him.

They arrived at their class, which was now being held at the location of the village. Today the professor had a surprise for the class and was eager to begin.

Max, Mei and Renee had just enough time to settle in among the other students when the professor announced that they would spend the night in the village. Some people were excited, while others were not. They’d failed to complete the basic building steps of their hut. They would only have the rest of the day to complete the basics.

A student raised her hand to ask the professor a question that seemed to be on everyone’s mind. "What is the point of this lesson?"

The professor sighed. "The point of this lesson is teamwork. We don't live on this planet alone. We need to put our differences aside and work together for the common good. Now this has been said for years, but not too many people have truly lived this simple philosophy. I want to create a village of men, woman and children who will work together, play together, struggle and succeed together. This project has so many life lessons and you will learn them as each day passes. Right now we need to take advantage of as much daylight as possible.  Let’s get to work."