Olympus Drive Book 3: According to Plan

Chapter 48

Hector

"How many of these have you given out?" I ask, holding up the pendant I got off Sol.

"Just the three, they were sad," Jasmine says, sweetly.

"I asked you to let me know—Thyme is one thing. Little Sol? Your father's more than a bit protective of him," I say, putting it on the counter and going to wash my hands.

"Daddy, can I play with my coins?" Darius asks, toddling in holding tightly to Spot's collar to guide him. Unfortunately that only guides him towards the dog's food dish.

"Here, I'm gonna pick you up--- we're going to have breakfast then you're going to see your great grandma," I say, scooping him up to set him in his chair.

"I like my coins."

"I know, but we don't play at the table," I say, kissing the top of his head.  He has soft hair, thick like his lovely mother. It smells like him though, she brushes lemon oil through his hair. She swears it helps his skin.

"Sol is much, much stronger than you or my father give him credit for," Jasmine says.

"I know, but please? We agreed on the sand timer system, and in that agreement we said that you would tell me whom you were allowing to visit," I point out.

"I know but the timers don't actually do any good---"

"Yes they do! They make people leave my house after a set a mount of time that is a lot of good you know how grating living things are," I sigh.

"Other living things you mean?" Jasmine asks, slinking into my arms.

"If you think you can seduce me into being a sympathetic person you're absolutely right," I say, kissing her lips.

"What did you do with Sol's girlfriend?"

"Sent her on home, we were doing quite well, relieving her pain," I say, kissing her cheek now.

"Can I play with coins while you kiss?"

"Nope, we're eating breakfast," Jasmine says, hurrying to bring him his food.

"I smell it," Darius mumbles.

"I know you do I'm sorry," he can't reach for the grapes in the middle of the table to snack on he doesn't even know they're there. I feel a twinge of guilt. Down here, he knows the house well enough to navigate without the aid of a cane or his mother or I. So much so that I tend to forget that he won't know a blanket or a toy is a few feet from him, only to find him crying and pawing about looking for it, after his mother or I have set it carelessly out of reach.

"It's okay. Can I play with coins at grandma's?"

"Yeah, Dare, you can show her your coins," I say, stroking his hair before going to sit down myself. He likes going by Dare better than his full name because he says it sounds more like a girls name and sometimes he feels like a girl.  I quite like his full name so it took me more than a moment to quit calling him that. He's started occasionally correcting the pronouns we use for him as well which I doubt will go well with my stupid family who are lucky they remember one another's names.

"You're not coming with us?" Jasmine asks.

"No I ah---have business. It's going to take most of the day," I say, shrugging, "You go on alone. My presence isn't calming to most and your grandmother isn't fond of me."

"Why daddy?"

"Because people come to me when they die—I take them to live with us here. and the people up there would rather they stay, even if that isn't the natural order," I say, very rationally for a person who would actually break the bonds of hell to keep this child with me. He hit his head once, running and playing of course he miscalculated and ran into a wall. Blood everywhere, and him sobbing. He wasn't hurt badly and you can't even see a scar now, past his hair. But I still hear him screaming and crying because he didn't know that I was only in the next room. He didn't know where I was coming to save him and he was scared and hurt in the dark. And all I could think of was that someday he'd die that way. And I don't know what happens when we die but I'm going there to be waiting for him.