The child, the Wild and the Morbidly awkward Introvert

Bumbling

CORA

Andrew had told me who he was and though at the time I had been buzzing with unbearable rage that had made me feel blind and shaky, forcing me to quickly sit down. Instead of showering him in blows as I wanted to I resolutely sat down and started glaring at the poor cake that had now been waiting patiently for us both to do something to it for the last half an hour or so.

I eventually blinked out of my stupor and turned to see Andrew had started flicking through channels on the television as though he had been doing this for years now. Where was Mina?

"You're awfully comfortable." I retorted.

"I am expecting some kind of slap or blow at any second now so I may as well enjoy myself while I can."

"And your version of enjoying yourself is flicking through channels."

"What else do you want me to do?" He was notably silent then. "Do you want to talk about the weather? We can talk about the weather-" he suddenly cringed as I raised a hand to take the remote from him.

"I shan't slap you." I took it off him and flicked it aside. "I just need to know something."

"Go on."

"You've literally been grooming Sparrow for your dad this whole time." I was so angry that I had turned calm.

"I know that's what it seems like but no. No I am in fact doing what I felt I owed Sparrow after everything Barron did to him. He disgusted me and I decided to divorce him as my father and side with Sparrow instead. Sparrow deserves better and it is my responsibility to ensure that he gets exactly what he should have gotten and better."

"You sound so righteous that I am having trouble believing you."

"So you would rather I admitted to grooming Sparrow which I have not been doing. Think about it; if I was grooming him why did I not just hand him over as soon as Barron was released? Why have I spent so long trying to make sure he is safe from Barron."

"So you say."

He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair that I noticed was prematurely greying.

I took my time digesting what he told me before stretching the toes of my left foot. "I believe you."

"Not that I needed you to-"

"We may as well be in cahoots now that we've both been fired."

"I came to see your son?"

"Why do you care about him?"

He stiffly got to his feet and cleared his throat before glancing at his watch.

I folded my arms defensively. "Why on earth do you care about my son? He isn't here for you to turn into the next big thing. You lost your chance with Sparrow so you may as well retire." I gestured at the cake. "This is for you-" I scanned the room around us "-and now I have to go out so I assume you will be able to show yourself out." I walked out without turning back once.

Ollie, Alex and Mina were huddled and crouched around a laptop, heads very close together and faces transfixed in strikingly statuesque expressions of attention. Michael sat on the floor to one side, playing contentedly with his legos and looking remarkably better than he had the first day I saw him. Despite how long I had known him for I found myself helplessly drawn to my son and had to force my attention back to my friends who had started whispering.

"Guys."

Ollie jumped, his shoulder hitting Alex who twitched guiltily before looking directly up at me as Mina flushed beside him and shot me a beady stare suggesting she had possibly just killed someone.