Enraptured

Chapter 61

I hesitantly knocked on Theo's closed bedroom door as Demetri stood by my side, giving me a supportive squeeze to my shoulder.

Not wanting to accidentally wake him if he was still sleep, I called out softly, "Can we come inside, honey?"

Surprisingly, even though it was still quite early in the morning at only 7 AM, a flurry of scrambles scurried about behind the closed doors. The sound of fluttering papers and dropping pencils floated out from the room until the door finally opened up was a messy little boy standing in front of us.

Although he was in his pajamas, his hair was tousled every which way and his eyes had little bags hanging underneath them. His face was pale, almost as if it had been completed drained of life.

Handing the bowl of fruits off to Demetri, I worriedly crouched down to Theo's height and cupped his little face between my hands, gently turning his head side to side in a panic. "Are you not feeling well? But you're not warm... Do you have a headache? A sore throat? A—"

Theo patted my hands and gave me a weak smile as if he was trying to reassure me. "I'm not sick, mom. I just got caught up in one of my projects for school."

I furrowed my eyebrows and questioned, "Did you stay up all of last night to work on this project?"

He diverted his eyes and tried to pull away from my hands, but I refused to let him go.

I repeated my question firmly, "Theodore Katz Caddel, did you stay up all night?"

He shamefully confessed, "Yes..."

"Why?"

He flinched ever so slightly from my harsh tone. I had never yelled at or even raised my voice at him before. He never did anything to upset until now. How could he hurt himself like this?

I sighed and pulled him into my arms, tucking one of my arms under his bottoms and the other around his waist. Theo's eyes widened as I lifted him off the ground with a bit of a struggle and walked him over to his bed, trying to ignore all the papers and textbooks lying around.

Demetri followed me quietly, setting the breakfast aside before joining Theo and me in bed.

Snuggling Theo between the two of us, Demetri stroked my head soothingly and calmly told Theo, "Your mom didn't mean to yell at you. She was just feeling bit anxious because you seem to be hurting yourself by doing this. We heard from your professor that you were already acing all the exams and assignments, so we were wondering if there was any reason why you decided to take on so much work."

Theo nodded solemnly as he leaned into Demetri's side, mumbling softly to me, "I'm sorry for making you worry, mom. I just wanted you to be proud of me..."

I pressed my lips into a thin line before releasing a heavy sigh. Giving into his watery eyes, I scooted closer to my two boys and warmly wrapped my arms around Theo as I pressed a soft but reassuring kiss to the top of his head. "I've told you so many times already, but your dad and I don't care if you are a genius or not. You've already accomplished more than others have in a lifetime. We only want you to be happy and healthy. Just know that you can tell us anything at anytime. We will never judge you."

Unable to contain his tears anymore, little pearls started trickling down his cheeks one at a time. He reached his thin arms out for me as he buried himself into my lap with a muffled sob. "I'm so tired, mom..."

I stroked his head tenderly, easing out all his anxieties little by little. "I know, honey..."

Demetri's eyes shook with every sob that came out of our boy. Although he didn't say anything, it was clear how much it hurt him to see Theo like this.