Why do I keep writing drabbles that aren't actually a part of the story? We just don't know. it's because i'm too lazy to write the actual chapters
I give you, Henry's mom meeting Kieran for the first time:
Melissa knew Kieran would forever be a part of their lives the moment she laid eyes on him. She was leaning against her silver van, waiting for Henry to come out of the building he had his self-defense lessons in from 4:30PM-5:30PM every weekday. Gregory was in the car seat in the back, van door left open so the toddler could gulp in breaths of fresh air, the occasional giggle punctuating the relative quiet of the parking lot. Henry’s mom glanced up from her phone when she heard the shouts of children, a swarm of them pouring from the doors of the building with their parents. Henry didn’t appear right away, but he never came out at the front of the pack, so she glanced back down at her phone.
Half an hour, sorry, a text from her husband, Thomas, read. I’ll grab us pizza on the way home. Friday night treat.
Make sure to get extra cheese for Henry, Melissa texted back. His reply was instantaneous.
And extra bacon for you. I would never forget—you’d both skin me alive.
Hanged, quartered, and fed to Miss. Jocelyn’s horrible beasts, she teased.
How else do you think I keep everyone at work in line? You know you love me for it.
Her phone chimed a second later.
She shook her head at his old nickname for her, first used to annoy and tease, and then out of affection. The phone slid into her jean pocket a moment later and Melissa turned her attention back to the building, scanning the dwindling crowd of children for her oldest son. A few seconds ticked by before she spotted him, a smile on his face as he chatted to somebody behind him. His pale hand was gripping a brown one, and she followed it to the face of another child trailing right behind him. Dark brown eyes stared at her son’s blond curls, brown face tilted to the side as he listened to whatever story Henry was eagerly sharing.
Both children looked up at her at the same time, Henry’s blue eyes lighting up at the sight of his mom while the other boy’s expression instantly closed off. Melissa offered her son a quick smile before her gaze went to the dark-skinned boy. His stare met hers’ and the strangest sensation passed over her. For just a moment, a flare of recognition sparked inside her, dying away just as quickly as it had flared up. But the certainty that this boy, with his scrawny limbs and wary gaze, would never leave her or Henry’s life now that he had entered it, didn’t fade. It remained, even when Gregory let out a delighted shriek at seeing his older brother and Henry gave her a huge hug. The sentiment, wherever it had come from, allowed itself to be pushed to the back of her mind, but it refused to vanish completely.
“Mom, this is Kieran,” Henry announced when he released Melissa. He gestured to the boy behind him. The boy hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets the moment Henry called her attention to him, as if attempting to make himself appear smaller. “Kieran, this is my mom.”
“Hello, Kieran,” she said. She used the soft tone she usually reserved for Henry when he’d just woken from a nightmare and thought the monsters were still hiding in the shadows of his room. Kieran looked up at her and straightened just a little when she spoke to him. His expression shifted into one of perfect politeness, though his uneasiness remained evident in his tense posture.
“Hello, ma’am.” His voice was so quiet and stiff, she barely heard his formal greeting.
“Can Kieran come over for dinner?” Henry asked before Melissa could respond to Kieran.
“Is that okay with your parents, Kieran?” she asked the boy. “Are they here now so we can ask?”
Kieran hesitated before slowly shaking his head.
“I walk home,” he told her. “And Kieth isn’t home right now. He’s away so I have a baby-sitter.”
She studied him for a moment, an angry red line across his upper arm drawing her attention before she forced her gaze back to his face.
“How old are you, Kieran?” she asked, keeping her tone light. “Is Kieth your dad?”
“I’m eight. And Kieth is my foster dad, ma’am.”
Her questions seemed to be making him uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure if it was because he simply didn’t like telling people about himself or if he feared some form of repercussion for answering her questions. She was willing to bet it was a bit of both.
“Well if you’d like to come over for dinner, Kieran, you can use my phone to ask your baby-sitter if you’re allowed, okay?”
Henry grinned and Kieran, after glancing once at her son’s happy face, nodded.
“Alright, let’s get in the van then.” She waited until both boys had clambered inside the vehicle and had their seatbelts fastened before she got into the driver’s side. “And you don’t have to call me ‘ma’am, Kieran. You’re not one of my employees. You can call me Mrs. Waite.”
Melissa passed her phone back to Kieran, who seemed to only need to ask whoever was on the other line if he could go somewhere else for dinner before permission was given. The fact that the person on the other end didn’t even request to talk to her or ask who the friend was disturbed her. She shook her head as she pulled out of the parking lot.
“First, though, we need to get your arm checked out,” she told the boys while keeping her attention on the road. “Just to make sure there’s no infection. How did you burn it, Kieran?”
“I spilled some hot water on it while Kieth was making soup.” There was no hesitation in the instant reply, and Melissa didn’t bother to check his expression. He’d already proved he was good at controlling it. Another shake of her head. Eight years old.
Get some olives on the pizza, too, Melissa texted Thomas while they waited in the hospital waiting room for somebody to come check Kieran’s burn. The two older boys were playing with Gregory and Melissa had been assured the wait wouldn’t be too long.
Since when do you like olives? Thomas texted her back a few seconds later.
They’re for Henry’s new friend. I said he could come over for dinner.
New friend? That’s great, can’t wait to meet him. What’s his name?
The doctor called for them just at that moment, interrupting Henry and Kieran’s fit of laughter over the weird face Gregory was giving them. When he grinned at Henry, any hint of the wariness and fear that had earlier haunted Kieran’s face vanished. She quickly sent her reply to Thomas before getting up to greet the doctor with an easy smile.
His name’s Kieran. And he’s here to stay.
