The Academy

Eighty

Tink:

"Hello?" I murmur groggily, picking up my cell. "I need you to get down here, like now," Jace says, sounding scared to death. "Alright pumpkin. I'll be there shortly," I assure him, flicking on the bedside lamp. "Please hurry," Jace says, hanging up. "Peter, something's wrong. I'm taking Nathan with me because I know this is about Matthew. You can come if you'd like but I'd be more comfortable with you here for the kids," I say, throwing on my black skinny jeans and white tank top. He nods and mutters a vague I love you.

"Nathan, wake up baby, I need you to come with me," I say, handing him his shoes and snow jacket. He nods, and yawns as I help him into his jacket. "Honey have you learned about Parabatai in school yet?" I ask as we climb into the cold car. "Yeah," he says, his eyelids drooping as if he's going to fall asleep on the way there. "If I need you too, will you be parabatai with Matthew?" I ask him, knowing that it's not right to ask someone to bind themselves to a person that thwy haven't known for longer than two years. "No, I want to be parabatai with Samantha, not with Matthew mommy," Nathan says. "Alright. When we get to Uncle Jace's house you can go back to sleep on the couch," I say, not disappointed in the least.

I sprint through the door and nearly crash into the most torn apart Jace I've ever seen. I put my arms around him and hold him tight, not caring what the issue is yet, only caring that he is in pieces over it. "Where is he?" I ask, draping my trench coat over my own son who is already sound asleep on the couch. "His room with Rose," he sighs, leading me to my old room. "Hi Matthew," I say, taking the quiet child from his mother and setting him on my hip. "Hi Tink," he yawns. "Can you tell me what's been going on?" I ask. "Nightmares and scary pictures," he says simply, pointing at a little table in the corner.

"Come here, let's go talk about it," I say, excluding his parents from the conversation. We sit down and the small table and he holds up a picture. Matthew explains everything, everything but the shadow figure in the corner. "Okay, do you see these things in your head?" I ask, setting his picture face down. "No, but when. I draw it's like I need to draw or I'm going to explode," he says, illustrating with his hands the explosion. "What about the nightmare you had?" I ask, crossing my legs. "That was the first time. It was scary. You had black eyes and Grandpa and Daddy said you were dangerous. Nathan was dead and so was mommy," Matthew says, starting to cry. I pull him into my lap before Rose can interfere. "Its okay baby. Why isn't that in the picture?" I ask. "This was completely different from the pictures," he says with a shudder. "Jace has he had his angelic power rune done yet?" I ask, holding Matthew tighter and rocking him a bit. "No, he's getting it tomorrow," Jace sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So I can't heal you with my stele yet. But I'm going to come back tomorrow and we can talk and draw okay? You sleep in mommy's bed, doctor's orders," I say, tickling him and kissing his cheek. "I don't want to sleep," he whines, kissing my cheek back. "Baby you have too. Tomorrow daddy and I are going to help you sleep. After you see grandpa for a little bit," I say, handing him to Rose. She promptly goes into her room and shuts the door.

"Jace as soon as he gets the Angelic Rune I can give him runes but that needs to be his first and I don't have enough power to give it to him. Please don't think of me as a therapist but pumpkin, he needs therapy and I'm going to give it to him. He won't know it because I'm his aunt. He is still going to play happy and be a normal kid but at night and when he draws you need to contact me. He's going to be okay," I say, standing across from Jace and crossing my arms. "Rose doesn't think so, she's scared about what the art teacher told us when we went to the Academy the other day," he tells me, sounding stressed. Welcome to marriage. "The art teacher is an old bat who says everyone is going to have adventures. She thinks it is a self esteem booster. Parents are always scared shitless about it. Matthew may have an adventure or two but he's a Wayland. He can handle it. You need to keep your head about it. He is only two and you've got a while until you need to be worried. Get some sleep. You need to live like you are going to lose him. Live more, love more, fight less. Be a fond and happy memory, not one he's going to block out. Seriously though, get some sleep tiger. Be on your game tomorrow. Hordes of women are going to throw themselves at you when they see you carrying your gorgeous son, and then you get to come home to the more than fairest of them all," I say. He gives a short laugh but nods.

On the way out I give him a quick hug and he kisses my head with a , "Goodnight love, drive safe, take care." I get Nathan and I home safely and then I put him to bed and spill my guts to Peter about everything that just happened.