Zero

Chapter 18

Luke's POV

"Is she asleep?" Sierra calls, her voice soft. She's leaning froward, trying to see Zara, who is laying on the other side of me. I glance down at her, a small smile on my face as I stare at the five year old. She's fast asleep, her head resting against my side as she clings to the material of my tee shirt. Petunia is curled up right beside her.

"Yeah," I answer, "She's out cold."

"I figured since this is her favorite part of Frozen 2, and she's not singing."

I grin, "I think the arcade last night and shopping with you, Crys, and KayKay earlier just took it out of her." She nods, just smiling at Zara sleeping for a few moments.

"So Lu," she starts, breaking the quiet, her tone more serious, "How are you feeling, babe? I know that you were kind of tense when Calum said he went to the Blaze ceremony."

I shrug, "I'm fine. I just think it's a little weird he went to her ceremony since she's just doing what Molly already did."

"Molly never hit half a decade," she reminds me, making me roll my eyes, "Luke, Blaze isn't trying to steal Molly, or Psyche's, glory. She's just trying to keep the city safe. Molly would be glad that someone is helping the police after she died." I wince at her words, desperately trying to ignore the ache that is starting to burn in my chest.

I sigh in defeat, knowing I'm not going to be able to get Sierra to see my point, "I get that. It just kind of feels like a betrayal to Molly and her memory to go to that ceremony."

Sierra reaches over and grabs my hand, "Luke, babe, Calum is going to live his own life, okay? He's going to go to the Blaze ceremony, he's gonna support her as a superhero. He's eventually going to move on from Molly's death. One day, he's probably going to go on a date, get a girlfriend, fall in love, and maybe even get married, and have more kids. I don't think you even consider that as a possibility, and that's not good. He's not going to stop living just because Molly died. And he's not going to be on the same mourning timeline that you are. He may be ready to move forward a lot faster than you are. You can't be mad at him for what he's doing or going to do." I start to feel a little dizzy as I listen to her speak.

"I- I don't know if I can see him with anyone else, Si. Ever. I mean, it took me forever to see him with Molly in the first place, and now I can't see him with anyone else. What happens if he does find someone else, has a kid with them, and then Zara gets pushed to the side or something?"

She gives me a look, "Really Luke? You know that would never happen. Zara is Calum's world."

I sigh, "I know. I'm just scared of what might happen. I know it's dumb."

"Luke-"

"I'm gonna take Zara upstairs," I cut in, my throat getting tight, "I don't want the movie to wake her. We can just let her sleep until Calum gets her later." Sierra just nods and watches as I carefully scoop the five year old up in my arms and carry her to the guest room.