A Wall Between

Chapter 46

"I'll be fine, Cooper. And if I'm not, well..." Sasha offered him a smile and a shrug. "I'm used to it."

"I know you're not fragile. Or, well..." Cooper tipped his head from side to side. "You are, but at the same time, you're no stranger to pain. That's just part of life for you. I just don't want you to go through any more hurt than you have to, okay?"

"It's okay," Sasha said. "All this time, I've had a secret plan, and I trust Mason now so I can let him on it as well. If I get too stressed, I'm going to say that I need to go to the toilet and leave."

Cooper laughed. "I guess you've got it all figured out then. Okay, I'll leave you two to it, then."

As Cooper walked away, Mason turned the screen of his laptop towards Sasha. "I'm making good progress. They're married already, which isn't strictly necessary in The Sims just as it clearly isn't in real life, but they can get married literally on the spot at any time once they're at that point in their relationship, so I figured might as well. I'm pretty sure Bianca's pregnant, so I'm going to send Logan outside for a little stargazing because I believe in equality."

Sasha had always enjoyed watching people play video games, and Mason and his Sims game was no different. He did great commentary, narrating along as aliens kidnapped Logan and he started showing the same signs of pregnancy as Bianca.

The first baby was a boy. So was the second. The second alien baby was a girl, but that didn't help with the mission.

Mason looked up as someone approached, his expression closed off and annoyed until he noticed who it was. She was in a wheelchair, which made her memorable enough that Sasha actually knew who she was from Cooper's introductions earlier.

Mason smiled. "Hey grandma."

Sasha lifted his hand and gave an awkward wave. "Hi."

"Hello, boys," Cooper's grandma greeted as she parked herself on the side of the picnic table. "Are you two enjoying the celebrations tucked away back here?"

"We're enjoying the food and also this game of The Sims," Mason said. "I made Logan and Bianca and I'm trying to get them to have a baby so that I can see what their child will look like. Now, I know what you're thinking. Mason, couldn't you have just generated them a child in create-a-sim when you made them? And yes, I could have, but that's too easy. I wanted it to be authentic."

Cooper's grandma laughed. "That reminds me of when you were a little boy and I bought you this book about a game you liked. It was full of all these cheat codes that would give you all sorts of things in the game. You tried them out, of course, but later on you came to me and you said, you know, I don't think it's much fun to cheat in games. I'd rather earn all those things than get them for free."

"That sounds like a fake story someone would write on Facebook to brag about their kid, but I do actually remember that happening," Mason said. "I'm not sure I was quite that eloquent when I was seven, though."

"Well, I'm paraphrasing. I thought it was very wise."

"Turns out I actually enjoy playing games more than I enjoy spawning objects. Who knew."

Sasha startled when something touched his arm, but it was only Cooper coming up behind him. He gave Sasha an apologetic smile. Sasha leant back against Cooper's chest and Cooper got the message and wrapped his arms around him.

Cooper's grandma gave them an adoring smile. "Look at you two. Such a cute couple."

Cooper perched his chin on top of Sasha's head. "We are very cute."

"I'm glad to see all of you boys getting on so well these days," she said as Cooper sat down next to Sasha. "You're all finding your way in the world in your own ways."