Our family weren’t the kind of people you could fool easily.
The boy nodded his head, firmer this time.
“You run away from some bad foster family?” Z asked.
But it was the end of the questions. The boy’s head slowly tipped down as if it was too heavy to hold up, and then he was crying silently into his curled-up knees.
Without hesitation, I dropped into a squat and shuffled closer so I could comfort him by putting a gentle hand on his hair. He looked up with a start and an exclamation of breath that was almost animal, cornered and afraid. I hushed him, cooing soft, nonsensical things just so that he could hear the truth of my friendliness in my voice as I stroked his hair.
Seconds later, he relaxed enough to blink his tears away and stare at me. He seemed mesmerized with something about my appearance. A moment later, his dirty hand lifted to finger a lock of my almost white blonde hair.
“You like it?” I asked him with a little smile so he would know it was okay.
He licked his lips nervously, then gave a little nod.
“If you don’t have anyone else, and you can’t stay here in this drafty house, do you want to go home with us? At least until we sort something else out?” I asked him as I ran my hand over his thick mop of hair.
He studied my face like an archeologist with found spoils, rapt and discerning, as if he could read all my secrets so easily in my features.
Maybe he could.
I knew from experience with Tayline, Cyclops’ on and off old lady, that runaways grew up well before their time.
I leaned closer to him to whisper, “When I didn’t have any family left, not really, these guys took me in, and I’ve never looked back. Not once. That man who talked to you? He’s been my guardian monster since before I was even your age, and he’s taken really good care of me for that whole time.” I traced my finger over the edge of his sweet face and knew he would be heart-stoppingly lovely without all that grime and all the grief mucking it up. “I know he’ll take good care of you too. We all will.”
His gaze searched my smile for sincerity, and finding it, he nodded once, almost curtly and slowly started to stand. Zeus and I stood with him, slower so as not to spook him, but when we were up, he scooted between us and the wall, naturally using us a protection against the rest of the strangers in the room.
My heart did some strange twisty motion in my chest. Unconsciously, my hand went to my stomach where my babies lived, and I wondered, shockingly and powerfully, if we’d added to our family even sooner than we’d anticipated.
Cressida and I helped him get clean. He didn’t want us with him in the bathroom, but we turned on the shower, gathered towels, a pair of Z’s socks that would be way too large on him, but would at least give him some comfort from the elements, and old coat of King’s we found in a storage bin stacked in the new crawl space.
When he emerged from the steamy room, he was transformed, and the beauty of the little guy made my eyes sting with tears. He was clearly Hispanic, his rich black hair kinky, but too short to tell if it would just wave or curl, and his skin that luxe olive tone that kept a tan long after it saw the sun.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever fallen in love at first sight. Falling in love with Zeus had been a gradual thing, like a seed planted in my soul at six years old that grew into an immovable, majestic oak as time marched on and the connection between us never waned.
But looking at that boy with his thick lashed eyes and troubled mouth, I knew I’d love him until the day I died if he let me.
Zeus’s words from years ago echoed in my head, how could a guardian monster abandon his girl when she needed him?
I understood then, in a way only a parent could, that I wouldn’t abandon this boy, not when he so clearly needed someone to put him first for a change.
Without hesitation, I moved forward to stand beside him and offered him my hand. He stared at it in trepidation, before biting his lip and sliding his smooth, warm hand in mine. I squeezed it gently and leaned down to smile at him.
“Are you ready to see Zeus chop down a tree?”
Interest flared in his eyes, but he only nodded slightly.
I decided that was enough.
His silence and the quality of thoughtfulness in his gaze reminded me all too acutely of Mute. I still felt his loss every single day of my life, especially now when I was pregnant and desperately hoping to have a boy so that we could name him after my quiet protector.