l i g h t up the darkness ~~

Oakley felt so at ease, so comfortable as they swayed together in the kitchen.  There was nowhere Oakley loved being more than in her husband’s arms.  Her eyes closed as she listened to Birch speak.  He was right.  Their children were growing up.  They’d be leaving them before they knew it and Oakley wasn’t ready to let go of that.  

Her forehead rested against his shoulder while they kept swaying.  “Me too,” she murmured softly.  “I know rationally things are safer here than in Eleven, but with everything that happened it’s hard to trust that.”

The more Oakley thought about it, especially knowing Birch had considered it too, made her curious.  “Maybe we should see how things go?” she suggested.  “If this was just a one off thing…maybe it will be safe enough.”

Birch loved the way that Oakley could turn a cold spot in his heart into a warm one. He wanted to believe that this one attack would be dealt with and wouldn’t happen again. And the way Oakley said it, he wanted to believe her. But, there was just something nagging. This felt like the beginning and he wasn’t sure that they were safe here anymore. 

“We can see how things go,” he agreed, placing another kiss on her temple. “I just don’t think this thing is going to go away.” Sadness laced between his voice. He wanted to have the family that him and Oakley deserved. Karma should be rewarding them at this point for everything. 

“I don’t know if I want the Capitol to win though,” he said quietly, voicing the concerns that flooded his mind in the quietest moments of his life. “I want us to be safe, but the Capitol has put us through so much. I don’t know what to think Oaks.”

Once Birch said that, Marina nodded.  She could use a break and Birch was a great man.  Carefully she shifted her daughter into Birch’s arms and smiled.  “You’re really sweet for saying that,” she told him.  “I’m trying but it isn’t easy.  This single mom thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

She shrugged, shaking her head slightly.  “I mean…I have some help but I’m sure it’s not the same as how you’ve got Oakley.  It must be nice to have her.”

“You have no idea. That woman has saved my life time and time again,” he replied with a smile. He held Waverly in his arms, rocking slightly. The little one had her eyes closed and he couldn’t help but admire how small and fragile she was. It had been a long time since one of his kids was this small. Ten years ago was the last time one of his kids was in his arms like this. 

Birch rubbed his thumb against Waverly’s soft skin, his expression soft. He let out a content sigh before meeting Marina’s gaze again. “Kids are a lot harder than we think they will be. They lean on us so heavily and we have to be strong even when we desperately need someone to lean on. It’s a little easier with someone to lean on, but you don’t want to lean on them too much. They deserve their rest and to lean on you too.”

Aspen frowned at Paisley’s comment. It reminded her of her own days in high school back in District Nine. It reminded her of the reason why she had requested to be homeschooled for her last year of school rather than finish her education in the Capitol. “I know it sucks, believe me.” Aurelia had been popular, but Aspen had always been cripplingly shy. The only reason she had friends or people that knew who she was at all, was because of her sister’s outgoing nature.

“Want to know the best part of it? It ends after a few years.” Some people enjoyed high school, but Aspen hadn’t outside her art class. “It’s only a few years and you know what, there will come a day when it doesn’t matter.” High school was only four years of what she hoped was a long, long life for Paisley. “Want to know what I think? I think you’re beautiful and smart and talented. If you want to eat pumpkin seeds go right ahead.” Aspen told the little girl with a laugh as she playfully tossed a few pumpkin seeds at her.

“I think your dad would agree,” Aspen told Paisley with a laugh as she tossed some slimy pumpkin seeds at Birch.

He scooped out the pumpkin guts slowly, not looking at his daughter, in case she shut down. Listening to the reassurance that Aspen was giving Paisley was relieving. Birch knew that listening to parents wasn’t cool and often what he said could go in one ear and out the other. But, having Aspen say what he was trying to hopefully helped Paisley accept it. 

Paisley laughed a little when Aspen threw seeds at her, swatting them away. She looked at the girl with admiration. “Thanks Aspen. I just would prefer to be home with mom and dad, painting. I’ll eat my pumpkin seeds, but also probably just spend my lunches in the art room instead of the cafeteria. Maybe I can get one of my friends to come.”

The seeds landed on his plaid shirt and he stuck out his tongue at Aspen. “I do agree. And I think it’s very brave and smart to stay in high school the entire time. I only did one year of high school before going to work.” It was the symptom that Paisley had to endure as a kid of District-born people. They would give her their traditions and District sensibilities and then the Capitol kids would either bother her about it or confuse her. 

“Do you have a tray Aspen? We can toss all of our seeds on the baking sheet and roast them while we keep carving.”

“Well, as much as I’d love to help, pretty sure if I tried hiding any of your candy stashes, I’d just have them for myself.” The Pembrookes had been a pretty large family, especially with the two dogs added to the mix. Rhys felt like he had his hands full with just Hudson and Rosie as it was. But Birch and Oakley were great parents and adored their kids. One of the few in the Village that managed to find their pocket of happiness despite what they endured to get there. 

“At least you have a general idea of where they all are,” he replied with an amused chuckle. “I told Hudson to stick near the Village gates. Pretty sure they have certain streets closed off yet, and Peacekeepers everywhere, but I still want them close.” 

While Hudson was growing up and feeling more independent, Rhys also knew with everything that happened recently, he couldn’t help but feel a little overprotective. Especially given that he had been caught up in one of the collapsed buildings from the explosion. Rhys was still a little anxious without the kids in sight, but he tried not to let himself be overbearing or too worried. Hudson was responsible, he would look out for Rosie. 

Birch laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “It seems that my candy will have no chance at being preserved past tonight,” he joked. That was the life in a house that was full to the brim of people. It’s not like he would have it any other way though. He loved that his and Oakley’s house was full, at least almost. There could’ve been another kid, but it was hard to think about that during this turbulent time. 

“You would be surprised how often my intel on the kids is wrong.” Those kids liked to change their minds on a dime. He nodded, knowing the Capitol was still on the lookout for something to go wrong. “I can keep an eye out for your kids while we’re out if you want. I think we will probably hit a couple of places near the Gates and then head home. I can’t say no to them, but I can reduce the Capitol time.”

He huffed out a sigh. “Crazy times we live in, eh?”

Ollie knew that he had trouble keeping his emotions in check after a seizure. Usually, it threw him off kilter and it made a lot of things surge up within him that he couldn’t often control. He was getting mad at the fact that this was his life, that there was no escaping his condition even with medication. He was always going to be like this unless he tried to make his life as stress-free as he could make it. In this world, however, that was a pipe dream and he knew that. Even through his good days, when he was pranking and having fun with his sisters and going to visit his friends, there was still the inkling in the back of his mind that things could go wrong at any moment.

His father’s words weren’t comforting, because they were the same ones he had heard all of his life. Ollie kept quiet, plopping down on the sofa when Summer brought him some water. He looked at her, eyes half lidded and exhausted and he nodded at his little sister.

“Thanks, Summer,” Ollie said gently as she went out to play.

Ollie sat quietly on the sofa, not bothering to reach for the water. All he wanted to do was rest since his head was hurting and his eyes felt like they could explode. But then his father detached his arm and started talking. It would’ve been okay any other day, but Ollie was angry at the cards life had dealt him and them the looming final Reaping was on his mind. So he hadn’t meant to snap so hard, but he couldn’t help it. 

“Yeah, sure, Dad,” Ollie said, his voice raising as he looked up with a fire in his eyes along with his exhaustion. “You lose an arm, you get a new one. Mom can’t walk, so she gets new legs. I’ll just order a new brain the next time I go into the Capitol!” 

He sat through Ollie’s outburst, his face cringing slightly at the words he was spewing. Birch knew that Ollie’s anger tended to spike on the other side of a seizure. The disorientation, the confusion, the unknown, it all piled up and there were other things stressing him out too. But still, it didn’t stop Birch from feeling a little hurt. More for Oakley than for him. His son truly didn’t understand what she went through everyday. 

His eyes softened a bit when Ollie finished. He rubbed at the back of his neck, the tick of him picking at his implant getting the better of him. “I can’t make you be okay with this Ollie. You either live with it or you are burdened by it. It isn’t my choice, though I do hope you choose the one that can be harder, but in the long run is better.”

Their dog, Sunny, a sweet border collie, came ambling into the room at the sound of Ollie’s raised voice and jumped up on the couch, laying beside him. “See? Sunny wants you to feel better too. He will help all he can.”

It took everything in Dahlia’s will power not to start tearing up at his words. She took a shaken breath in and slowly out through her nose as her stubborn nature replaced it. She didn’t want to get angry at someone like Birch Pembrooke, who had been nothing but a kinder, older man toward her and anybody in his vicinity. Except, well, Delsin. She understood his anger toward him. In fact, she understood why Delsin wasn’t much of a great figure in the Village, but she liked to see the best in people. Unfortunately, Birch wasn’t showing his good side either at that moment.

She watched him put the bags down in front of the door before coming to sit down on the top porch. Dahlia wanted to sit, but she wasn’t the type to show weakness in a time like this. If anything, she refused to back down on something she fully believed held truth. Delsin wasn’t a bad person. He made bad decisions. There was a difference between the two things and she was almost certain that Birch wasn’t seeing the difference in that, either. So she decided to give him a piece of her own mind.

“It doesn’t sound like you want him to get better if you’re trying to convince the one person who is trying to make him better that it’s not a good idea to do so,” she pointed out, crossing her arms between her belly and her chest. “I’ve been hoping for the last two years that he’d make it out on the other side, alright? I know what it’s like to lose hope and think that there is none on the other end of it. But there is a difference between a bad person and a person who made bad decisions. Del made bad decisions, alright? That’s all. He’s… he’s better than what you think he is. I know without a doubt, that if you ever went off the deep end for whatever reason, Oakley would fight tooth and nail to save you no matter how bad you’ve gotten. It’s no different for Delsin and I.”

Birch let out a sigh. “It seems like I’ve been misunderstood. I’m not telling you to give up. I’d very much like to see that Delsin is different from the actions that he has committed against my wife and my family. I would like him to show me that he is this good person.” He reached to the back of his neck and picked at his implant in his uncertainty. Birch hadn’t meant to rile up Dahlia. He didn’t want her to be stressed because of him. He just didn’t want her to spiral if everything didn’t work out. 

“There has to be a point where you realize that all of the effort and hard work you put into him is too much. I hope its a point that will never come. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice yourself to save someone that is beyond saving.” There was a fire in Dahlia and he knew it. Birch just wanted to look out for her. Better than he had Oakley when Delsin had made his bad decisions. “Not that Delsin is past that point. What you’re doing is brave and admirable. I just-I don’t want you hurt, my dear.” 

Birch got up from the porch step and walked past Dahlia, his hands in his pockets. “Take it from this old man, Dahlia: if Delsin loves you the way you say he does he would not want you to destroy yourself in the process of trying to save him.”

@birchpembrooke

Aurelia poked her head around the living room door. Eleven’s stylist had just run a few ideas for next years tribute parade by her, and frankly they were terrible. The poor guy had clearly worked hard on them, though, and she didn’t want to shoot him down too harshly. She was hoping Birch could give her some pointers.

“I see you’re busy,” she commented with a small smile, noticing the pillow fort in the centre of the room. “Do you want me to come back later? This can wait.”

Birch looked up from his place among the pillows on the floor. Pillows were piled all around him, blankets strung above him. The living room was a mess, but it wasn’t hard for his girls to convince him to do this kind of thing with him. They were only this young for a little while longer. He had to hold onto it as long as he could. 

He smiled at Aurelia. “If you’re okay having an important meeting in the middle of a pillow fort, then please come join me. Clem and Summer are off getting some snacks for a special meeting of the Pillow Kingdom.” Birch patted the spot beside him. 

Dahlia tensed. She didn’t want to hear that. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. She didn’t want the doubt to be pressed into the back of her mind, not when Delsin was actually attempting to make himself better and do these things for her and their son. She had told him the gender of their baby when he hadn’t meant to, and to know the look in his eyes when he realized it was something she’d never forget. This unbelievable happiness even through his sickness. 

“I told him the gender,” Dahlia said tightly. “One thing at a time. Positive reinforcement and incentives and shit like that.” 

She was starting to wonder if she should have accepted Birch’s help, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Her back and her feet were killing her and Birch was a nice man and he had his reasons to distrust Del. She couldn’t blame him for that, but she wasn’t appreciative of his words to place doubt in her about him. Reid would only have one biological father and if she could save him enough to give him a chance at a new life, she would do it.

She would have been thankful for his offer if he hadn’t mentioned Del. She stopped at the base of her stairs as she looked at him with a bit of a fire in her eyes.

“Birch,” Dahlia said with a tightness to her words. “I understand what he did to you and your wife. I do and I’m not making excuses for him, but you can’t offer me help without helping him, too. I’m trying to make him better while also trying to take care of our son. What will make this whole thing better for me is his recovery and I can’t have people bringing him down or putting doubt in me. Have your judgement toward him all you want, but I’m trying to save a life and give a little boy a Daddy.”

She took a deep breath and shook her head, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “It’s just hard right now. I’m trying my best and I think he is, too.”

Birch didn’t blame Dahlia for turning on him, but it was hard for him to mince words about Delsin. That man might be one of the only people he actively disliked at this point in his life. He loved Oakley with his entire being and anyone that hurt her, no matter their state of mind, was in his bad books. He didn’t want Dahlia to have to go through the same thing. 

“I’m not doubting you Dahlia,” he started. “I’m completely biased against him, take everything I say with a grain of salt. Recovery for literally anything can go wrong for a multitude of different reasons. For your peace of mind, you shouldn’t put every shred of hope into this one outcome. Believe me, I know what it’s like to hope too deeply.” 

He took a breath, climbing the stairs of her home and placing the bags on the ground. Birch took a seat on the top step, running a hand through his hair. “I do know that helping you is helping him and believe me when I say I want him to get better. I just–I hope you know that saving someone’s life and having that person in your life after are two different things. They’re not mutually exclusive.”

Ollie wasn’t sure if he wanted to move yet, but as soon as he started to realize he was still on his front porch, it became all the more imperative that he got inside. No need for prying eyes to his situation. He swallowed the lump in his dry throat and reached for his father’s extended hand. As he gripped it, he took notice of its hard exterior as his prosthetic and used it to heave himself to sit up, and then get his shaking legs underneath him. 

His head was still swimming and he felt tired, and with his legs trembling, he had to hold onto his Dad’s arm to keep his balance as his breathing came out a little more heavy than normal. It felt like he just ran a marathon after not training for it. His heart was still racing and he felt tears burning behind his eyes.

“I hate this,” Ollie said, his voice cracking as he gave a soft sniffle. “I hate this.”

Birch led his son through the front door. He tried to take as much of his son’s weight so he could just focus on moving each foot forward. Despite his prosthetic, his arms were strong from when he was young and he’d ensured he kept them strong, working with his horses, in the garden, and by helping around the Village. Birch had to make sure he was strong to support not just Oakley, but Ollie and the rest of his kids if they needed anything like this from him. 

Hearing his son’s voice, his shoulders fell a fraction. When he had Ollie sitting on the couch, Birch sat next to him. “Life doesn’t deal everyone a fair hand, son. All you can do is make the best of it.” 

He looked down at his prosthetic and watched Summer place a glass of water on the coffee table for her brother. She looked at Birch and he gave her a grateful look. “If you want to play later Ollie, I’ll be in the backyard,” Summer said, before running out the back door. 

“You should talk to your mother about this,” Birch started, pulling his prosthetic out of its socket. He placed it on the table and pursed his lip a little. “The couple of years after I lost my forearm, I had the same thoughts. Especially during my Games I had those thoughts. But now, it’s harder for me to fully hate this thing. Your mom though, she’s living a good life and she still has her bad days. She’d know how to say what I’m trying to better.”

The way he talked about Oakley and their relationship put a smile on her face.  It was wonderful that he had someone who completed him in that way.  It was something she wished she had herself.  It wasn’t as though she felt empty without it, but sometimes it would be nice to have someone.

“I might just take you up on that someday,” she told him.  “As much as I love her sometimes it gets hard and exhausting doing it by myself.”  She adored Waverly more than anything but it could be too much.  “I swear she’s usually a sweetheart so you’re welcome to her cute little baby snuggles whenever you’re nostalgic for yours being small.”

“Well I think I will take you up on the little baby snuggles, if you’re okay with that,” Birch replied, holding his hands out hopefully. He was always nostalgic for when his kids were young. It was a little simpler. When they were young, before Ollie had turned 12, Birch didn’t have as much worry in his heart. He had closed off the part of his brain that reminded him that there would be a chance that Ollie would be Reaped as 12 and no one would volunteer for him. 

“You know, you’re doing amazing, with it just being you,” Birch commented. “I think I might’ve screwed up royally if it was just me with Ollie all of those years ago. You, of all people, will knock this single mom thing out of the park.”

She loved him.  These moments together were the ones Oakley treasured the most.  Sure, they should have been responsible and just worked on making a meal for their kids, but she wanted to spend a little time in his arms.

She twirled beneath his arm before moving into his arms.  She gripped him for stability as they slowly started to sway together.  It felt right.  He was the one person she could always count on and she never wanted to change it.

However, when Birch spoke she tilted her head up to look at him.  Truth be told, she’d been thinking about it, but with the bombing she wasn’t even sure if it was safe.  They might be better off leaving things be so there was less attention on their family.  “I’d thought about adopting again,” Oakley admitted, “But after the bombing…I’m starting to think it might be safer to leave things as they are.”  They’d wanted a son when Birch went to Eleven to adopt the first time only to come back with Summer.  Oakley wouldn’t have changed that for anything in the world, but sometimes she still felt there was a piece missing.

He locked eyes with Oakley, as he led them swaying around the kitchen. He listened, taking in her soft words. Birch had the same thoughts. He didn’t know if would’ve been better if he had voiced his ideas before the bombing happened. Would the kid they adopted feel safe with them if right after they came here, a bomb went off?

Birch placed a kiss on her forehead. She was right and those were his exact thoughts, but it felt a little wrong that someone else dictated how they felt about having more kids in their house. “I thought about it too. Ollie will be leaving home at some point, I don’t know if we can keep him here forever,” he added with a small smile. “And then Paisley isn’t too far behind him.”

He let out a soft sigh. “I wish things were safe here. And I don’t want our new kid feeling like we brought them into a warzone. Some place that might be less stable than their orphanage. I wish it were different.”

“Well, no one can say our fearless leader aged well,” he told Birch with a laugh. Then again, he didn’t dress up as Snow in order to look good. There was a lot of reasons for his antics, but there were very few that could fully appreciate his motives. Fellow Victors, most of them would get it. Anyone else, well, they could just think he was dressing up as an idol or whatever other stupid things they wanted to believe. “I, however, will look much better in a hundred years than this.”

Cambric had to laugh. “If I don’t teach your kids how to have fun, who is going to do it?” He joked as he tossed a roll of toilet paper in Birch’s direction. “Besides, I don’t think your girls are the type to go stringing paper in trees unless it’s those chain things people make at the holiday time.” Cambric didn’t want to think about the snow and cold that was quickly approaching them.

“A stroke of genius?” He added with a laugh. “Just wanted to make a statement I guess. I am not the type to encourage blowing up buildings and hurting civilians. People need to stop and think about things, really think about them, you know?”

“Always a modest man, Cam,” Birch laughed. It was easy to make fun of the age of the president. He was getting older, but he still had the power and the ability to instill fear into his heart. The president’s voice and words were still as sharp as a knife. 

“I think you’re vastly underestimating Clem. Sometimes I think she’s a mini-me and that’s a little terrifying. Plus, you’ll always have to compete with Ollie.” Birch knew it wasn’t great to teach his kids how to prank people and goof off like this, but it was hard to stop his instinct sometimes. Besides, these kinds of pranks were absolutely harmless. 

Birch raised his eyebrows at Cam. “A statement? You certainly have done that Cam. Just be careful. A statement can be taken in many different ways.”

“I wanted to be prepared for anything,” she told Birch with a laugh. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure what you needed to carve a pumpkin, but her stylist had brought her a whole kit with all kinds of tools and stencils in it. “I am told this is the best kit for it, so we’ll see.” 

Aspen had to laugh because she didn’t doubt the little girl was a natural when it came to carving pumpkins, she had seen the ones decorating their house. “This I can handle,” Aspen told him as she cut into her pumpkin and made a jagged pattern around the top of the pumpkin. “So do you eat the seeds?” Some people in the Capitol had talked about them, how it was something people in the Districts did.

“Sometimes all you need is a knife, some thumbtacks, and creativity,” Birch replied, as that was all he had when he was younger. Growing up in Eleven, around the autumn there were fields near his home that would be harvesting pumpkins. Most would be sent to the Capitol and the richer Districts, but the more deformed ones were sold at a a good discount. His mom would always be able to afford two and Birch would work on his pumpkin with his brother Ansel. 

Paisley followed suit, cutting the top of her pumpkin, while Birch did his and watching the girls to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves. “We always did. Roast them in the oven while we carved the pumpkins. We made some yesterday and Paisley brought some to school, right?” he asked his daughter. 

She nodded, raising an eyebrow at her father. “The kids at school thought it was funny. High school sucks sometimes.” Paisley turned a little quiet and Birch gave his daughter a kiss on the head. 

Birch pulled the top of his pumpkin off and laid the lid to the side before sticking his hand in the pumpkin. He couldn’t use his prosthetic for this because it would be hard getting the pumpkin guts out of the little seams around some of the fingers. “Now you just gotta pull all of the stuff out.” 

He almost didn’t recognize Birch with the costume on and with his head down. Especially with the green tights and hat. His brow quirked when he had looked up, confirming his assumption that he was indeed calling out to his friend. Rhys smiled on his approach, stopping next to him and nodding in greeting after the pat to his shoulder.

“Pretty sure the same thing would happen back home,” he replied, “Valor’s staying home, might be handing out candy still. But I’ve got an extra stash hidden away for Hud and I.” Because if Rosie got hold of it, the bag would have been gone in the hour. Or until she had a tummy ache. While Hudson and Rhys had a case of the sweet tooth, they knew their limits. 

“I was just coming back from the Delaroux house. They have a haunted Halloween walk set up this year. Haven’t gone in since I’m technically still out of commission.” He lifted his arm with the sling slightly for good measure. He only wore it now for the final leg of his recovery for good measure. “Hudson’s out with Rosie. Pretty sure they’re planning on hitting up The Capitol for the ‘good stuff’.”

Birch smiled. “There is no where I can hide in this house. Four kids and two dogs? I don’t think there’s a place where a nose doesn’t venture. I couldn’t even bury it in my garden. Sunny would get into it. That pup has the craziest nose.” It was the reason Sunny had failed service dog school, he was always getting side-tracked. So, Birch had convinced Sunny to come be their delightful family dog. They had had several dogs over the years, not including the service dogs that Oakley had or the ones that they had trained for the service dog school. 

“Oakley, Summer, and Clem are around here somewhere with Pebble tagging along with Oaks. Paisley decided to stay home and hand out candy with Sunny and I’m not sure where Ollie ran off to. Sometimes its quite the feat keeping track of everyone and every dog.” Thankfully at the moment they weren’t training any service dogs. The house could get quite chaotic. 

He nodded. “Those sisters could probably scare me pretty good. I might be staying away. I think the girls want to go into the Capitol at some point. Not sure I want to, but damn if I can’t say no to them.”

Dahlia was appreciative of Birch’s enthusiasm, but she could tell that he wasn’t Del’s biggest fan. It was things like that, that made her question her judgement on him, but she saw something beneath the surface that no one else seemed to. Either that, or it was her own mind playing tricks on her, attempting to see something in a man that wasn’t there. She tried to see the best in people, even if her best was non-existent sometimes. 

“Yeah,” she said with a heavy breath, putting her hand against her side where Reid was putting a little too much pressure. “He, um, doesn’t know the baby’s name yet. I’m kind of holding that hostage. Then again… I think I have to. If he pulls through all of this and gets better, I need to decide which last name he will end up with.” Birch questioned it and Dahlia gave another defeated sigh. “No. Lucus has his brother to deal with and Mouse has her Dad. I can’t ask them to help me out and there’s not much going on while Del’s recovering. I just have a couple of things left and everything in me wants to make sure everything is ready to go now that it’s down to the end of the wire.”

There was a lot that Birch wanted to say on the matter to Dahlia. He had his opinions, some steeped in bias and others not. But, he didn’t know her that well and didn’t want to step into something that was definitely not his business. But, Birch did want to see Dahlia thriving and not regretting her decisions. 

“I guess I would suggest re-evaluating the need to hold hostage a name to make him get better. Do you really want someone who could leave once you give them everything they want? The only way to find out is to tell him.” Birch wasn’t sure who Delsin was without the morphling addiction or who he was when he was recovering. He hoped that the man was good and not an asshole. “But, that’s just one man’s opinion, I’m definitely not the smartest person here.”

Birch nodded. She should be resting, but Birch couldn’t make her do that. “Well, you know where we live. You can always ask me for anything and I’m sure Oakley would say the same. Although, if it does have anything to do with the man in your mansion, I can’t guarantee I’ll be a lot of help.”

Ollie didn’t want to move yet, as his head was pounding so hard he could feel it knocking on the back of his eyeballs. He took deep breaths to try and get himself back to where he could move without wanting to fall back over. Ollie didn’t react to anything until he could feel his father’s presence getting closer, his hand on his leg. The questions were standard, but Ollie took it seriously anyway. He knew why it was done.

“Oliver,” Ollie said, taking a deep breath, keeping his hand over his eyes so the sunlight wouldn’t burn through his growing headache. “I’m…” He pulled his hand away for a second to look at his Dad, then glanced over at the front door on the other side. “…home.” 

He closed his eyes again but didn’t cover his eyes that time as he answered the other questions. “It’s… um… October… twenty-something,” he said. He didn’t pay attention to the date on a normal day. “I had… I had an, um, seizure.”

He let out a breath, patting Ollie’s leg with his hand. His son was going to be okay today. But, three seizures in the past couple of days? Birch wasn’t sure if this was something that they needed to go to the doctor for. Was it really just stress or indicative of something else? A medication change, a reevaluation, some sort of other medical intervention, or even therapy? There were so many questions. He wished Oakley was around, he could at least count on her to have a better course of action. 

“That’s good, Ollie.” The sun was bright out here and he hoped that his son could walk inside with him. “We should head in. Summer’s getting you some water and then you should be okay. We can talk more inside.” 

Birch moved to his feet, holding his prosthetic out for Ollie to take. He didn’t want to rush Ollie and he was perfectly okay standing here like this until his son was ready. “Take your time, bud.”