𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

70. 𝐼 𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑢

May 13, 2023

Queen

I didn't think I'd be so emotional letting go of Saint. I mean, I knew he'd be safe and I'd be seeing him every other day, but something about this felt more permanent...even though it wasn't. I'd gone long periods without seeing him when Syn and I were sharing custody, but this felt different. When I'd give him up to go to Syn I'd know I'd see him again on an exact date. There was no uncertainty about it. But in this situation, I was clueless. And it broke my heart.

I didn't know how long it'd take.

"Mommy is going to see you soon okay, Baba?" I told him, tickling his small stomach. He burst into a fit of giggles making my heart ache that I'd be deprived of that sound for however long. It made things easier that he wasn't crying, but Saint was a smart infant- he was the fucking anti-Christ. Somewhere down in that peculiar mind of his I was sure he knew what was going on. His silence and bubbly mood subconsciously gave me a feeling that we had his approval to go.

As strange as that sounded.

Iris stood up from beside Cain and gave me a tight hug, sandwiching Saint between us and making him scream in glee. I laughed at his reaction and Iris's eyes watered as she looked at me. "Promise me you'll be okay?" She asked.

I smiled, thankful for her genuine concern. "I'll be fine, I swear."

"If you need anything, don't be afraid to call, okay? Me or Cain, we'll always answer- day or night," she ranted, moving her wavy hair over her shoulders. "Also, we can have Saint here on some days so he doesn't feel too uprooted if you're worried about that. We'll make sure that-"

"Iris," I said, my heart melting at her kindness. She was always like that, but I didn't need her to go off on a tangent trying to get me to be okay with Saint staying here with them. "I know. If there's anyone I trust most in the world with Saint, it's the two of you."

She let out a relieved breath and smiled. "Good, I'm glad. I don't want you to worry. The two of you have a lot on your plate and-" she paused, slapping Cain's hand away from her thigh. "I'm in the middle of a conversation, Cain."

"A boring one." He groaned, rising to his feet and wrapping an arm over Iris' shoulders. "She knows that Saint will be okay with us. We're fucking aunt and uncle of the year- no, of the century."

"Oh yeah?" Iris asked, looking up at him with a bright grin.

"Fuck yeah," he replied.

"...ffff-uck," Saint repeated, making Cain's smile turn into a shit-eating grin as what seemed like pride filled him.

Iris on the other hand was shocked, a hand placed over her mouth as she hit Cain's side. "Look what you did!"

"What?!" He laughed. "He doesn't even know what it means."

"You can't say those words, Saint," I said to him softly. "Your uncle is an idiot, don't be like him."

"It's not good to fill their heads up with lies," Cain chimed in.

"She hasn't told a lie," Iris said, crossing her arms as she looked at him.

Feigned shock riddled his features as he placed a dramatic hand over his chest and gasped, looking between the two of us. "My wife...and my own sister...I truly have no one in this world."

"Cain get out of my face." I rolled my eyes. We all started laughing, small conversation flowing between the three of us as Saint watched us with big curious eyes. Sometime during our conversation, my eyes drifted to Syn. He and my father seemed engrossed in some conversation, paying no mind to us being loud in the middle of the living room.