BLEACHED

107: Something in his psychology

Desmond's body grows stiff as he watches Felix leave the view of the camera, leaving the host frozen on spot.

It only takes a few moments for the woman to call on a commercial that takes longer than a simple commercial would.

His eyes drop from the screen down to Heather who is sitting next to him on the edge of the bed, she gets up and walks to the Tv, her eyes wide and soaked in the salty water that escapes the grip of her eyelids, sliding down her cheek.

Roman... It's him...

Desmond eases his shoulders as he notices his wife's body starts to shake slightly.

She brings her hands up to her eyes, not to wipe her tears away but to cover her face as she collapses to her knees.

He can't be lying... He looks like his father....

She reaches a hand down to her chest, grabbing a fist full of the fabric of her shirt as she sobs silently with her shoulders shaking.

He gets up from the bed and walks over to her, squatting beside her as he reaches his hand to her head, bringing it to his chest.

She wraps her arms around his waist as she hurries her face in his chest, starting to show her emotions as her moans and cries could now be heard.

"I-It's really him... Isn't it?" She asks with a voice cracking like a broken record. "I can see it... I feel it's really him."

"It is." Desmond sighs and gets onto his knees as his wife tightens her hold around his waist, soaking his white shirt in mascara and tears.

"You knew... Didn't you?" She asks in a small voice, taking in a deep breath. "I know you did..."

"I did, yes." He nods his head and pats her head as her sobbing gets more soft and lower. "He didn't tell me, I've known for a while. I paid the man that kept him to help raise him on my behalf, so he wouldn't worry about food and shelter... I didn't know he'd take his life and leave Roman alone. Roman disappeared after that and I couldn't find him anywhere. Until I saw him again as his popularity on business grew. I would have told you, but I didn't want risking him being found out and taken away for good."

Heather clenches her jaw as she squeezes her eyes, feeling the years long ache in her heart pain her chest as she was able to see her son once more.

After all the missed times they could have shared. All the memories they could have made were robbed from them.

Taken away by a woman that deemed him imperfect...

He finally revealed himself.

"He must have felt abandoned by his mummy." Heather says in a near whisper as bites her lower lip, slightly puncturing it as her teeth sink in too deep. "He must have hated me so much... Because he couldn't understand why I didn't find him."

"You heard him, he holds no resentment-."

"But he'll never see me as his mother. I'm just a stranger to him... I birthed him but he will not recognize me, I'm just a title to him." She leans from her chest and gazes up towards Desmond, meeting his eyes as she presses her lips together. "She took away my right to be a mother to him, and I might never get it back. But I want to see him up close... I want to hug him and apologize for being weak. I want to be his mother."

"You are. You've always been. But he's a grown man and it won't be easy to want to make him see us as his parents." Desmond leans down and places a soft kiss onto Heather's head, getting her to close her head, allowing the tears to stream down her face. "All that matters is he wasn't taken away from us permanently."

Heather moves from his embrace and gets up to her knees, reaching her hand through her hair as she frowns and glances down to Desmond who stares up at her.

"Your sons are doing what you couldn't do. You should step up and show them you are their father by putting an end to your mother." Heather says as she folds her arms to her chest while he gets up from the floor. "You can't let your children be more of a man than you would. They are out there trying to protect themselves and those they love. You too should try to step in for them and show them you are their father and that you love them."

Desmond clenches his jaw as he glances to the ground, feeling the nausea from the long hidden fear of what his own mother had embedded into his mind.

The fear of opposing her.

"You're right. I can't let them handle it as though they have no father. I am supposed to protect them and yet here I am letting them do it themselves." Desmond reaches to his chest and grabs a fist full of his shirt. "