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colors into each other. She took her time and was very careful to stay in the

lines. She seemed to be a great kid. She was quieter and more thoughtful

than Christina would have thought any child could be. In her mind, all kids

were brats who ran around screaming, misbehaving, and purposely not

listening. They were destructive, rude, and grimy. She realized how wrong

she was. Or maybe Chloe was a one-off.

It seemed like that could be the case. She was raised by Taylor, who

seemed to be quite unique herself. Christina was easily flustered at the

thought. She grabbed a new crayon and tackled shading in the grass beneath

a big mouse’s feet. There was a huge block of cheese in the distance and a

big sun behind that.

She’d felt bad about Taylor’s comments after she’d gone home and had

time to think about it. Had she really implied that Taylor was a bad mom?

That she’d endanger her child? That she wasn’t doing a good enough job?

She knew that Taylor felt pressured to get the place open as soon as

possible, and that meant being there. It was likely a hard decision for her to

make, having to bring her sick child with her— even if Chloe looked and

acted perfectly healthy. Christina realized that her comments had been

totally insensitive. It dawned on her, after leaving work, that she’d really

hurt Taylor. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. About Taylor. About what

she’d said. About Chloe.

It was after eleven the night before when inspiration hit. Most of the

stores were closed, but she did manage to find a big box store that had a

craft and art section. When she was picking out the stuff, she’d thought

about how excited Chloe might get and for some reason, that made

Christina happy too.

She knew her apology to Taylor wasn’t enough. She’d have to find a

quiet time, when it was just the two of them together, to try and apologize

again.

“I’m done!” Chloe held up her painting. It was neatly done. Christina