Invited

Four - Timber

"Daddy has elephants," Vance said, while we walked to the park. He held my hand. All of his little fingers wrapped around my thumb.

The kid was a little peanut with blond hair and blue eyes and seriously the cutest thing I'd ever seen. Given my profession, I'd met a lot of kids. I liked them well enough, but never saw myself as being paternal. They were fun to chat and play with. Beyond that, I didn't want much to do with them. Vance and Lara brought out a different side of me.

For them, I wanted to do everything I could and be the best role model possible. In the past, I'd made sure to be an upstanding citizen, sure. It was a necessity. Not like I wanted to party my brains out or anything. There was just a fine line to walk between being constant tabloid fodder and having a small amount of peace. Plus, if I didn't behave myself, my mother would have given me an earful. I hated letting her down.

I listened to Vance babble on about the elephants, not quite sure what he meant. Half the time I could hardly figure out what he was saying in the first place. I'd gotten better at understanding his poorly enunciated words. Over time, I'd probably become fluent in toddlerese. Sometimes, I'd noticed that all he wanted from me was just to know I was listening. It wasn't about the response.

"Elephants, huh? They sound big. I've never seen one up close," I said.

Vance spread his arms out wide. "They're huuuuuuuuuuuuge and smelly."

"You got to actually see one?"

"Yeah!"

"Where?"

"The zoo."

From what I remember, Vance was born on the ship. When could he have left to see a zoo? I doubted the Achlivans let people take frequent trips to Earth whenever they felt like it.

I gazed down at the kid. "You went to a zoo."

He nodded, absolutely beaming.

I wanted to ask him when, why, how, but I knew all of that was over his head.

"They come home with us," he added.

I raised an eyebrow. "There are elephants on the ship?"

Vance nodded again.

"Where?"

He pointed down underneath him. "With all the other animals."

"Other...animals?" I blinked.

There were birds in the Garden: squirrels, butterflies, bees, and other common woodland critters. I'd even seen a deer run through once at nighttime. A few people kept dogs for pets, and I assumed there were cats and goldfish and other things available too. Big, exotic, animals had yet to be seen. Made sense, though. After all, the Achlivans wanted to preserve as much of Earth as possible.

Shaking my head, I saved that topic for later. Vance wouldn't be able to answer any of my questions.

"So things are good with Daddy?" I asked.

Vance nodded, pausing to jump on top of an anthill and squash it.

I tried to not be jealous. He wasn't my kid. I loved him all the same. Part of me was scared that he'd be taken away from me. Then I'd lose part of my purpose on the ship, just like if Lara ever left.

We were on our way to the park to meet his dad for lunch. My interactions with Justice had been limited. Paul had always been with us. Looking at the guy, I still had a hard time believing Vance was his kid. He had dark brown hair, dark eyes, tan, and was Hispanic in appearance. Vance was so pale I wondered if maybe Rumor had cheated on Justice while they were together. I wouldn't put it past her. She's a psychotic, selfish monster like that. It wasn't my place to ask. Maybe someday in the future I would get the guts.