Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 98

Shaking his head, running a hand through the thick locks, he sighs heavily. "Darrius needs a family, a support system, not to be gawked at and developed into what the government wants him to be. Documentation isn't going to know what to do with him, Nic. He's not an elf... it seems like a poorly way to educate him when we're a breath away from everyone finding out what he is. In any case, he has you to instruct him."

Turning my lips down at the corners, I place the breadstick down. 

"Would that be such a bad thing? When are we going to tell him...? Randy, I can't teach him what society must, he has to learn about these people if he's going to be the spirit of the earth." My voice softens, it was uncharted territory for him and a sore spot for sure.

 Verando had never lived up to his father's expectations, with brutal training and constant bombardment to be better, we both had reservations about allowing any sort of school to touch our children. But, he was so adamantly against anything out of his control.

There were times like this when I felt like the kids belonged to two seperate families. His children and the ones he let me borrow on occasion, I'd been so absent the first part of my lycan life that the kids had definitely flocked towards him and he cared for them profusely. But, I often wondered how much he was willing to let them go when it came to me. 

It was almost as if he didn't trust my judgement, maybe even the slightest bit protective of them from me. I couldn't blame him, and yet, I worried what would happen if push came to shove about decisions. Who had the final say? One was mine, one was his, genetically. But, together, they were ours.

In our parenting styles, we clashed on a lot of things. My parents, while odd and distant, did love me to some extent. My mother had raised me, loved but bored, sheltered but catered to, I didn't want to imagine a life where my child didn't get to embrace the magic inside of him.

If we were going to raise a magical child, he was going to need my help and it would be up to me to set that boundary. It was time to take my portion of the kids, the responsibility and the head ache, but first he would have to let his guard down.

"He's three." He responds shortly, earning my patience. I would get nowhere by snapping at him.

"He's almost four. Once he turns five, the magic is going to get stronger every year."

"Then we'll wait until he's five."

Placing my fork down, I fold my hands in my lap, watching him in a silent standoff. "Remember when you promised me you wouldn't lock me up anymore? You kept that promise.. but now I need you to do the same for Darrius. I want this. Darrius wants this. We have to try and find a way to make this school into something he can participate in because once he turns eighteen, they're going to come for him... and he won't belong to us anymore... and I'll be damned if he is as sheltered and sad as I was when that time comes."

Flinching, Verando averts his eyes to glare at the waiter who immediately turns on his heel and goes the opposite direction. A mixture of regret and remorse for what we would have to do to prepare the child for a life of responsibility. The sweet, kind boy who loved his daddy and gave the best hugs.

I never imagined the man who left his children behind could fall so head over heels for a child who wasn't his own yet it seemed he was struggling with the idea of losing the boy more than I was. I loved him, but I understood the path. Verando seemed to see it as an obstacle to be overcome, something we could avoid, a trial to be faced. 

As if I was the one trying to take Darrius away when it had been the opposite once the decision was made to raise him.

It was a permanent ending to this story. We could not escape it, Darrius would become the unicorn.