The Beginning of the End - Jenlisa

Chapter Eight

∞∞∞

True to Jennie's words, his NINI was nowhere to be seen that afternoon, when Riley exited the school building.

But there was someone waiting for Riley – someone he could recognize in a heartbeat despite having never seen once in real life.

If there was something in this world that Riley hated more than he hated seeing Jennie being upset, that was being left in the dark for the sake of his safety. Because how could one be safe when they didn't know what the danger was and where it could come from? Too bad Jennie didn't understand that, and was under the false impression that she could protect him from everything. Riley knew Jennie tried, and he appreciated that. Jennie had, after all, done a perfect job until now. But there were aspects Riley could help Jennie with, matters he could understand. Riley was a child, but that didn't mean he didn't own a brain.

Heaving a sigh, Riley approached the stranger with slow, yet precise tiny steps. When Riley reached the blonde woman, Lisa crouched down in front of the handsome boy, dark-shaded sparkling eyes that were so much like her own studying her carefully, with a mixture of fondness, pride, incredulousness and wariness swirling inside them.

Riley knew the blonde woman, and he didn't know her from a picture. No, Riley knew her because his heart told him so. Unfortunately, that was the only thing the handsome boy could rely on that moment.

But Riley didn't like relying on his heart in such situations, because that made him vulnerable, so the boy turned to his mind, and blurted out the words he knew he could be sure of.

"Hey, LILI."

∞

The resemblance was staggering.

Lisa had only seen her son once before, and that had been from afar. But sitting here now, across from him, Lisa couldn't help but wonder if it had ever been possible for her to walk past him on the street one day and not notice him, not realize, despite the fact that she hadn't known of his existence until merely three days ago.

Riley had Jennie's khaki hair and Lisa's dark dim sparkling orbs, but the strands stuck up like the blonde's own, and his eyes studied everything with an analytical power she herself mastered through analyzing every step of a choreography on one mere view. The grin was her, without a doubt; perhaps the laugh as well. Lisa's energy, Lisa's happiness, Lisa's affinity for such cute toys. But everything else, from what Lisa could tell was Jennie's specially his attraction for milk ice cream and gummy bears. Jennie's way of thinking, Jennie's way of drawing conclusions, Jennie's way of speaking – even Jennie's mannerisms. The stubbornness was something Riley had inherited from the both of them, but the way Riley used it in his favor? Just like Jennie.

And perhaps that was partially the result of Jennie's influence over Riley, since the brunette had been the only parent the little boy had ever known, but the fact remained: Lisa saw Jennie in Riley as much as the brunette had probably seen the blonde. And Lisa's question was... how has Jennie dealt with this for so long?