The Ripple Effect

“You didn’t have to do this,” I still fought, giving him quite the look as he grinned happily to himself.

“Nonsense. There’s a short conference with the teacher, and your work is surely not too far out of my way.”

Rein and Jonathan jumped out of the car as soon as it had stopped, so my scolding them about the dangers of a moving vehicle went unheeded. I moved to open the door after grumbling to myself, but Jonathan grinned at me while bowing about his waist.

“Like that, Dad?”

I gawked at Orion, who was unbuckling himself.

“He’s quite the little ladies’ man,” Orion admitted, chuckling. “Jonathan, maybe you should find a woman a bit more around your age? What about that little Joanie you were babbling about?”

Jonathan groaned, his face burning bright red. “Dad!” he scolded, rushing ahead to catch up with Rein. I helped myself out of the car, gently closing the door as I looked toward the school in the hopes of finding them before they got too far away from me.

“Those motherly instincts of yours are just always on, aren’t they?” Orion murmured adoringly, taking my hand without a thought and pulling me until I was tucked beneath his arm feeling so small once more.

“Boys are handfuls in themselves; I’d be crazy to let them run off whenever they feel like it!” I scolded him, giving him a strange look to which he just grinned absurdly.

“So, Sophie, I was thinking that I’ll swing by after work and pick you up after I get those rapscallions we call children, and then we’ll go back to mine. I’d love if you met some of the people back home. They’re all nagging me about you, you know.”

“They are?” I squeaked, blood rushing to my face. “Why?”

He smiled softly. “Don’t be so coy. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes or even a sense of smell that I’m crazy about you.”

“Orion—”

“Please?” he whimpered, giving me the best puppy eyes I had ever seen. “My mother is dying to meet you, bothering me incessantly.”

“We’ve only known each other for a few days!”

“That speaks for itself, doesn’t it?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “Look, we can talk about this later when I pick you up. I assume you get off when Rein gets out of school?”

“Yes, but—”

“Oh, Orion! It’s so nice to see you!” Rein’s teacher exclaimed, rushing up to us from amidst the sea of children and parents. “And… Sophie?”

I waved awkwardly, scrambling out of Orion’s arm and extending a hand. Adelaide took it quickly.

“I assume you’re here for the short conference? Boy, do I have a lot to say about Jonathan and Rein.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That bad, huh?”

We were ushered quickly into the classroom, and Jonathan and Rein were clamouring from the back of the room and shouting at us happily—tattling on each other, nonetheless. It was incredibly hard to ignore them and listen to their teacher.

“I wouldn’t say they’re bad. Just… Orion, I already talked with you about Jonathan, right?”

He glanced to me and then to her. “Yeah,” he muttered wearily. “And I already had a talk with him about what’s happening and that he needs to control himself. It’s hard for young boys to grasp.”

She nodded, glancing to me expectantly.

“Umm… I’m not sure what we’re talking about here.”

Adelaide opened her mouth, but Orion butt in.

“Actually, this is kind of…a father thing to deal with, Sophie. I can take care of it, alright? I’ll talk with Rein when I pick him up.”

“But what’s going on?”

“Orion, it might not be my place, but—”

“You’re right, it’s not,” Orion warned Adelaide, glancing harmlessly to me. “Sorry, it’s just something we’ll talk about later, okay? Jonathan is rubbing off on him is all. Nothing to worry about.”

The way his hands gripped my arm too tightly, how his eyes were too steady as he stared at me… He was hiding something from me. His eyes shifted to that intense blue for a fraction of a second.

“I exist only to protect you.”

I took his plea and nodded warily. Orion was hiding something huge from me, but it was obvious that he had to fight with himself to keep it hidden. Did the second person in his body want to tell me? Was that why he kept trying to take control? That was the only way I could think to make sense of this.

Orion stood quickly, nodding minutely to Adelaide as if he was dismissing her. I shook the thoughts and rose with him. My eyes now sought out my boys, and my body finally relaxed when I saw that they were okay—as silly as it sounded that I was concerned even while being in the same room as him.

I hadn’t been this bad about needing to protect Rein before these past few days, but suddenly it was like my instincts were on overdrive! A part of me was constantly worrying about my child and about Jonathan—who had somehow quickly fallen under the same level of watch as my own flesh and blood. It was like this switch had been flipped, and nearly everything had started to look like some form of a threat.

In my intense staring at Rein and Jonathan, I had completely tuned out of the world; I was only brought back by a gentle tugging on the hem of my shirt.

“Sissy,” Brian whimpered, tugging fervently until my eyes swept across his small face.

I did not even think before kneeling down in front of him and pulling him into a firm embrace.

“Brian, do you see those two red-haired boys over there?”

He nodded, snuggling further into my chest.

“Those are my sons. How about you sit with them today? I told them about you, and they’re very excited to meet you.”

“Your sons?” he asked, blinking a few times before pulling back and moving his eyes to Orion.

Why did that infuriating man have a smug smirk on his face? I wanted to slap him senseless!

“Sissy, who is that man?” Brian asked me, glowering at Orion and making his grin falter. “Why is he still here?”

“Sweetheart, he’s a nice man, I promise.” I glanced to him out of the corner of my eye; he looked away quickly and began whistling—the loon. “Clarice says you have a phone. Why don’t you ask her if you can come over for a sleepover with me and Rein and Jonathan? Orion can pick you up from school, too.”

He seemed a bit wary of the giant standing beside us who was trying his darndest to appear harmless.

“Sissy… Do you trust him?”

I cursed myself for not even hesitating, even when I knew that oaf was as interested in the answer as Brian was.

Brian smiled. “Okay, then I trust him, too.”

“I’ll see you after school, okay?” I asked, standing slowly.

“Wait!”

“What is it?”

He wrapped his little arms around my torso then, and I had to bend a little to hold him back.

“I love you, Sissy. See, I’m wearing my necklace.” He held the pendant out at me, grinning.

“Thank you, Brian.” I had to pull away before I kissed him senseless and embarrassed him in front of his classmates. “Orion, can you drive me to work now?”

He didn’t crack any jokes; he just smiled softly and nodded before stealing my hand and leading me out of the classroom.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d say he was your son, too. Brian’s a dead ringer for you.”

I thought for a moment.

“Things only got this interesting when you showed up,” I muttered begrudgingly.