The Life of a Scientist

The Beginning

There they were. Percy and Clara Riviera walked through the door holding a swaddled up, tiny child.

Nicolas hopped up from the couch that he had been spending the last two hours sitting on, watching eagerly through the window for his parents to pull in with his new baby brother. He had been being babysat by his Aunt Larissa ever since his father had called to tell her that Clara was going into labor and needed to head to the hospital ASAP. Percy wanted to be right beside his wife the entire time the action was going down, and he didn't want Nicolas left alone, even if he was in a doctor's supervision. Nick was only three years old at the time, after all.

Nick made a beeline for his parents, clinging tightly to his mother's legs in an attempt to hug her after being away for what seemed like an eternity to him. Both Percy and Clara gasped, Percy grabbing Nick by the back of the neck harshly, forcing him to detach from his mother's legs.

"Nicolas Riviera! Stay away from your mother while she has the baby in her arms, do you understand me??"

He had the look of pure seriousness in his eyes, his voice giving off quite the intimidating tone. When Nick responded only by looking off to the side, Percy's grip on the back of his neck tightened, causing the small child to wince in pain.

"Y-yes, Father..."

Percy held his grip for another few moments, staring hard at Nick and making his eyes connect with his. He then nodded in approval and let go of Nick's neck, shoving him backwards away from his mother and baby brother.

Many thoughts of confusion invaded Nick's mind. Why was his father so harsh to him? All he wanted to do was see his new baby brother and his parents that had left unexpectedly. This wasn't too new, though. His father had always shown aggression towards him, and the reason as to why was unclear. Nick hadn't really done anything that a normal kid wouldn't do.

Nick meandered his way around his Aunt Larissa, who had now stood up and was making her way over to see her new nephew. He walked past the couch and up the shaggy, tan carpeted stairs, making sure that his left hand was on the railing and that he was looking down at each step to make sure he didn't miss any.

When he reached the top of the stair, he turned around slowly and held the railing with his right hand now, peering down the stairway.

"I'm at the peak of the moutain! Now I gotta go to my secret lab!"

He giggled as he let his grasp fall from the railing and whipped himself around. He dashed to a door at the very end of the dark hallway that failed to be illuminated by any windows, unlike the top of the stairs. He made his way into the bedroom and shut the door harshly, which was unintentional.

"NICOLAS, STOP SLAMMING DOORS, YOU'LL WAKE YOUR BROTHER!" His father squawked from the floor below him.

"Sorry, Father!" He got no reponse.

After a short shrug, he walked over to his small wooden desk covered with beakers, test tubes, and other lab equipment. His mother had bought him his first ever science kit just last week since he had made it very clear that he had a love for science. He stripped the chair of his white lab coat - his very first lab coat - slipping his arms through the sleeves. Nick turned himself around and looked in the body-length mirror that was on the wall, examining his reflection.

He straightened his white lab coat and pulled up his deep blue sweatpants, dusting them free of the pretzels he had been eating while he eagerly waited for his parents to arrive. He looked back up at the mirror and swiped his deep brown, fluffy hair to one side, the left side in particular. His deep hair color complimented his royal blue eyes. His cheeks were red with a naturally soft blush, the cheeks themselves adorably chubby. He giggled at himself and then made himself look serious, only for him to break out in laughter at himself.

After collecting himself, he marched back over to the desk of science equipment. He opened one of the drawers below the desk, revealing bottles of different substances. He picked up a bottle of red liquid and a bottle of blue liquid, shutting the drawer with his knee. He set the bottles down and moved the spinny chair away from the desk.

"Shoo, chair, shoo! I'm tryina do a experiment!"

The chair just sat there where it was rolled to, facing him as if pleading to come back over. Nick then looked back over to the chair and patted the top of it gently.

"Don't worry, Mr. Chair, you'll be able to come back over soon. I promise."

Nick smiled brighty, like a thousand suns lit up the entire room. It had that effect on people. At least, the people that didn't seem to hate him for being him.

He turned his attention back to the bottles sitting on his desk. Carefully, Nick unscrewed the top of both the bottles, removing them and setting them aside. He picked both bottles up and began to pour them into the beaker.

Suddenly, Percy barged into the bedroom, causing Nick to jump at the sound of the door slamming against the wall after being flung open. As a result of the jump, the blue and red liquids missed the beaker and instead poured onto the tan carpet. Nick's face drained itself of color, knowing that those liquids stained, and knowing that his father was going to punish him big time.

He set the now empty bottles down on the desk gently, slowly turning around to face his father, his breath shaky.

Percy's face was beet red from the fury, his breathing picking up speed as he moved his gaze from the stained carpet to Nicolas, making Nick freeze up and hold his breath. Percy stormed over to the desk and opened the window on the other side of it.

"F-Fath-"

"DON'T TALK."

Nick shut his mouth immediately, watching in horror as his father punched out the screen and started shoving his science equipment out the open window.

"NO!! FATHER, PLEASE!!"

Percy ignored his son, yanking open the drawers below the desk and tossing the bottles of other substances out with his other science stuff, the glass shattering as it hit the pavement.

By now, Nick was sobbing loudly and begging Percy to stop, but to no avail.

Once everything that screamed science was out the window, Percy turned to the sobbing Nick.

"Didn't I tell you not to talk?!"

"Y-y-yes, but you-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW?!"

Nick jumped at the sound of his father's booming voice that seemed to echo through the house.

"I'm sorry...!!"

"Don't you yell at me, boy!"

Percy gripped Nick by the shoulders, making him wince with how rough the grasp was. He knelt down to Nick's level, looking him straight in the eyes.

"If you manage to do one more thing that pisses me off today, I swear to God, you'll wish you were never born. Your brother was brought home from the hospital today, and all you care about is putting all the attention on yourself, you ungrateful little bitch. I suggest you straighten up your act. I'm not in the mood for your shit today. You're done with science, no buts about it."

Before Nick could protest, Percy shoved him into the wall behind him and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Nick slid down against the wall until he was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking himself. The only science thing he had left was his lab coat - his first lab coat.