"Five years ago..."
"Only five?"
I smiled to myself and chuckled at the little face peering back up at me. Eyes so beautifully brown and skin so soft and dark. One was ringed with a purple birthmark.
Only five. Seemed like just yesterday I was cradling a tiny baby against me instead of this ball of curiousness, searching wildly for answers.
"...that's when i met you."
A frown and tilted head pressed to my chest.
"Yes, Koda?" I sighed to it, knowing what was coming.
"I thought I came from inside a tummy?" the little voice pondered.
"You did!" I laughed now and ruffled the light brown hair I kissed "but definately not mine, ok? Will you let me tell the story or not?"
Little lips pursed and I checked them to make sure they wouldn't interfere again.
"I found you not far from here, all alone. I was coming home and heard you crying from nearby."
"Was I sad?" Koda piped "because I was alone?"
"I think so" I agreed "I found you tucked inside a blanket. You still had your umb..." I hesitated, thinking for a simpler word "...your belly button was hanging out."
Koda slapped his belly with a grin and I placed a hand over it to keep him steady on my lap.
"I was your Daddy from that day. I named you and looked after you to make sure you grew up big and strong."
Koda smiled and kicked his legs. I had to steady him again and pull him back against me.
"Where was my real Daddy?" he looked up again.
I forced a smile and shrugged.
"I don't know. All I know is that I found you, so I got to keep you. I might have to put you back if you keep asking so many questions."
I tickled Koda's sides and heard him snort in delight. His body seized as he leant back once more, my hands grabbing him to hold him close.
"Are we playing a game, Daddy?" Koda slowly dissolved out of his laughter and laid his head back on my chest so his little hands could try to grip my back.
I felt them grab my shirt. Something bubbled inside me and rose with the overwhelming urge to protect my baby from everything.
Even though he wasn't mine; and no child ever would be, I'd die for this one.
He was my heart and reason to live.
"It's Hide-and-go-Seek" I leant over him and pointed down to the distance where the sound of dogs barking rose up and the chatter of people sweeping the ground with flashlights mingled "see those big ones in the funny blue and white outfits?"
Koda nodded with an excited smile.
"They are experts at this game. We need to make sure we aren't found, ok? They get to use the doggies to try and find us."
"How come?"
"Well, they know just how good you are at this game" I smirked "just like we practiced at home."
We practiced every day, I made sure of that. I taught him not to make a noise at the sight of a stranger but to quietly return to my side or lay down low in cover.
He did it well too. I didn't even need to pretend not to find him anymore.
Now I had to put it to the test in a real situation.
"Keep your head against me and stay quiet" I whispered when the lights approached.
I hunched forward but kept the lower portion of my back pressed to the tree behind me.
My eyes never left the sweeping light below us. The dogs, cunning things, were all over the ground; sniffling at the trees and the thick leaf litter I had frantically trudged through with Koda in my arms before perching us way up here.
People never looked above thier own heads. I was taking advantage of that while hoping that they'd be dumb enough to think I'd try to hide in my own home.
Koda always played outside the house with his little yellow trucks and earth-diggers. He raced along through the trees where I could see him, running his trucks along the bumpy trunks or through the leaves.
That's where we should have been right now, not up here hiding.
Unfortunately, Koda was a unique kid. He had the large purple birthmark that covered the area around his eye and ran down to his lip. It was all people knew.
Someone spotted him with his birthmark, running and enjoying himself alone in the trees. It was the same mark as a baby that went missing five years ago after being snatched from its home.
People could say what they wanted; they could search for this poor, neglected child stories ran wild about, or put up progressive photos of what the baby would look like now; but they couldn't take him from me. I was his Daddy and nothing would change that.
I loved him and he knew nothing else. He always laughed when I was messing around with him, or excitedly told a silly story of an imaginated place in his run through the woods.
I'd have to find somewhere else to move us now. With police swarming my little house and the public now aware of a missing child suddenly being found nearby, our lives in solitude were up.
"They didn't find us" I squeezed Koda gently to make him lift his head up again "you did very well."
He grinned, holding onto me while I eyed the branches below that led to our freedom.
I wasn't going to let him out of my sight until we were safely out of here together.
I don't know what I'd do if my baby was taken from me.
"What now, Daddy?"
"How about I tell you another story?" I smiled to him while securing his little body to my own "a story of two brave warriors who found thier own secret place to live in, away from scary monsters."
"Will this one take ages too?" Koda teased and giggled against me.
I lowered to the branches below and sighed at how cheeky he was being.
"Will you let me start it or not?"
He thought for a little, watching me carefully drop us closer to the ground, before nodding.
I grinned slyly at him and kissed his little forehead. Koda was glued curiously to watching every movement I made. He knew what was coming, but I loved how he still hung in anticipation anyway.
"Five years ago..."
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