You're Mine

chapter 87

Thursday, 6th October:

Logan: 13; Layla: 7; Leo: 3; Twins: 1; Eleanor: 2

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"Mommy, daddy made breakfast.", Layla beamed at her mother when she joined them in the kitchen. The three oldest kids were already sitting at the table, while she walked in with the twins. "We're having pancakes."

"Great.", Amelia fake-smiled as she handed her babies a plate with cut pieces each. Owen noticed how Luna happily started eating while his son didn't. "Do you want to eat by yourself, or shall I feed you?", she asked Lucas, who emotionlessly stared at her before he silently grabbed his plastic fork and handed it to her.

"Aren't you going to eat?", the trauma surgeon wondered, noticing how his wife hadn't even touched the plate he had prepared for her. "There's enough for everyone. Logan already fed Eleanor, too."

"I don't have time to eat breakfast.", the brunette shared, glancing at her youngest daughter and Leo to make sure they were eating before she went back to focusing on her one-year-old boy.

"Yeah, well, you usually don't have time because you have to prepare ours. But today, dad did that and our lunchboxes are ready too. You can eat, mom.", the thirteen-year-old reminded her, making her hesitate for a moment in which she realized that he was actually right.

"Okay, grab your stuff. We are leaving in ten minutes.", his mother told her two eldest children. "Leo, you're ready. Wait here with your dad, please. I'll change the twins.", she added once they were done with breakfast.

"Amelia...", Owen stopped her before she could leave the house. "I know I have betrayed your trust. I know that as of right now, you hate me. I also know that I have been an ass to you and that we have been fighting the past days, but if there's even the smallest part of you that sees a chance for us and our family, if you have a little bit of love left for me, don't text me the address and come back home after dropping them off.", he quietly begged, so the kids wouldn't hear him. His wife just looked at him, leaving without replying anything.

The redhead anxiously kept staring at his phone. He was expecting her to text him any minute but suddenly, he heard someone open the door. His heart skipped a beat when she put down her keys. Was she really giving him another chance after all?

"You came back.", he almost whispered, not believing his eyes. His wife just shrugged and grabbed a photobook of the kids to continue working on it. "Can I sit here?", he carefully asked her, watching her nod. Since she didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, he quietly looked at the photos laying on the table in between them before he grabbed one of Lucas smiling a little.

"That was on their first birthday.", Amelia shared, offering him a small smile as well. "He rarely shows any kind of emotions.", she mumbled, knowing he was sick. "But when he does, my heart just explodes."

"What's wrong with him?", her husband wondered. He had been worried ever since his arrival. While Luna was rather chatty for her age, her brother never replied to anything he said, he just stared. "Is he mute? Because I remember him making noises before I left.", he explained, scared to stir up another fight by reminding her of his tour.

"Alex says he's a selective mute. Usually that's something that kids who have been traumatized may become and normally they aren't younger than three or four. He can speak. He just doesn't. He can show emotions, but he doesn't.", the brunette informed him, adding the photo to the page of the twin's first birthday.

"Traumatized?", the redhead questioned. "What has traumatized him?", he wanted to know, his heart breaking. "Did I do this by leaving?", he began to blame himself. "So, he has never talked to you? Not any word? I mean, they can't speak much yet, but stuff like mama?"

"We don't know. I mean, not to sugarcoat you, I think your leaving is the reason. He was such a daddy's boy. He always wanted to be with you and then you were gone. But we won't know, so it doesn't make sense to argue over whose fault it was. It happened.", the neurosurgeon shrugged. It was obvious how much this was hurting her. "And he does talk to me sometimes. But only when it's the two of us. Nobody has ever heard his voice but me. And I value those moments, even if they are extremely small, but I do not pressure him into talking. We usually communicate over signs like pointing to something and nodding or shaking our heads."

"Okay.", Owen swallowed heavily, trying to process the news. "Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. Is it overwhelming Lucas if somebody speaks to him?", he questioned curiously. "And how are the kids dealing with this unusual situation?"

"It depends on how safe he feels.", Amelia answered softly. "Beside me, he is fine with his siblings, your mom, Derek, Miranda, and Alex talking to him. When others speak his limit is a sentence. He usually reacts with some gesture but if he's overwhelmed, he just stares. That's how you know that it's time to leave him be. Lucas is...he wants to be by himself mostly. He doesn't interact much with the other children. Leo doesn't like his little brother at all, because he is so energetic and never gets his will when he wants to play with him.", her voice broke. "He likes to be read to by Logan and sometimes, not often, Layla hands a toy to him and he takes it. His favorite thing to do is to sit down and get snuggles. He can cuddle for hours. But he is still such a lovely baby and a wonderful soul, Owen."

"Come here!", the trauma surgeon said as he got up to embrace her, noticing how hard this was on her. He didn't say anything else, already feeling like he had overstepped, but his wife slowly let her guard down and tightened the hug to cry into him.

"Just don't understand this wrong, please.", the brunette started again after she had calmed down a bit and broke the hug. "It is an anxiety disorder. He can speak in situations where he feels safe but when he doesn't talk, he isn't refusing to, he really cannot. Something is holding him back. He can't speak in those moments, even if he wanted to."