The Fall of Forever {A MyStreet FF}

{26} Second

TW: Blood

As the weather started to cool more for the coldest month of the year, so did the tension about the potion experimentation.

Garte, Zack, and Elizabeth continued to subject their children to medical testing. The children's memories were wiped of it, and spouses were not asking questions.

Garte and Derek were incredibly busy with their sales of the potion, encouraging investors to continue giving their money. They had a knack for it. They were both charming and funny, each laying into their own talents and weaknesses. However, such business meant they were home less often than they already were.

With more money, Michael was able to conduct adult experimentation as well. The businessmen were left out of it, as those experiments had nothing to do with them. Derek wasn't appeased, but Garte had little care so long as his oldest son was well.

Snow was settling onto the ground on a weekend day that all five friends were allowed to be home with their families. It was a rare occurrence, but not an unappreciated one. They all appreciated a day off, even if it meant that not all of them were home.

Garte's boys were excited about the snow. Garroth was especially excited, which made Garte smile as he realized that the little one might have been dead a long time ago had he done nothing. He also found a pit forming in his stomach out of fear that Michael would reverse the potion.

Zianna was talking with her husband at the kitchen island while the boys stared out the window. She was still under the impression that he was struggling mentally and that was the reason he was spending so much time at work. She would have pressed for a different solution, but didn't want to put out what flame she thought was left in him.

She did, however, notice that Garte was beginning to neglect giving their middle son attention. At first, she thought little of it. He had been away for some of Zane's infancy in a psychiatric rehabilitation center and knew they bonded less because of it. He was always closer with Garroth, and made it a point to pay special attention to Vylad.

"It's not his doing he's not mine," Garte had said to Derek once. "I'll be damned if I'm the one who makes him feel like it."

But, she was noticing bouts of favoritism. When she tried to speak with him about it in an effort to stop a problem before it arose, he denied it profusely. Something in her quickly discovered that this was going to be a recurring conversation for years.

So, when Vylad came up and tugged on Garte's shirt, she was hardly surprised when he was so gentle with the toddler. However, her heart ached for Zane.

"Daddy," Vylad had said.

"Hi, my little one," Garte smiled and picked Vylad up. "Do you need something?"

"Outside?" Vylad asked. It was hard to tell whether he was excited on his own, or excited because his brothers were.

"After lunch, buddy," Garte told him.

Zianna's phone rang as she watched her husband converse with their youngest son. She went over to pick it up and answer the call. Realizing it was her best friend, Sylvanna, she was more eager to answer the phone.

"No lunch," Vylad smiled and shook his head. "Outside!"

"What? No lunch?" Garte tickled Vylad, which earned a giggle. "You can't play in snow on an empty belly."

"Mmhm!" Vylad argued, still smiling.

"I don't think so, you rascal," Garte tickled Vylad once again.

"Oh my Irene," Zianna's hand flew over mouth while she was on the phone.

Garte's attention quickly snapped over to his wife. His eyebrows crinkled together as he adjusted Vylad in his arms. He could vaguely hear Sylvanna over the phone, who sounded hysterical, but couldn't make out what she was saying.