“Son,” she started. “Are you okay?”
Sebastian’s fists tightened and he sucked in a breath. “No, mother, I am not okay. My parents threw my confession back in my face because it doesn’t suit their agenda.”
Aira’s smile fell. “I cannot speak for your father.”
“Does he know you are here?” Sebastian snapped. “Or have you snuck out?”
“He knows.”
“Have you come to welcome him back into your home?” I asked.
Aira’s brow pinched in pain. “No, I believe for his mental health, it would be better if my son stayed with you. You have protected him for many years, I can’t thank you enough for that and I hate to ask more of you.”
“I’m not doing it for you. Sebastian is my best friend, I would do anything for him. My goodwill and hospitality don’t expire because I love him.”
A growl rumbled from the kitchen and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “As a friend,” I clarified before a prehistoric tiger came to mark his territory.
Aira dragged a long breath in through her nose. “I love you, son. Your father will take some time to come to terms with your revelations.”
“You knew?” I checked what I had suspected earlier.
Aira’s lips tipped up in a sad smile. “I’m his mother, of course I knew.”
Sebastian trembled at my side. “I don’t want to ever see him again,” he whispered.
Aira didn’t seem surprised. “I understand, but I don’t want to lose you. Perhaps I could continue to visit you here?”
Sebastian nodded once. “I would like that.”
Aira’s face relaxed. “I’ve brought you some clothing and personal items. I’ve also moved funds from your family related bank account to this one.”
She pulled a bank card from her bag and some documents and placed them on the coffee table. “I’ve also paid for your room here for the next year.”
A year? She expected it to take that long for her husband to grow up? Except this was Leon, it was highly unlikely he would ever grow up.
Maggie appeared from the kitchen. “Would you like to stay for lunch?” she asked Aira.
I sent a silent prayer to anyone with the power that Aira would refuse.
“It’s mushroom soup,” Maggie pushed.
Oh no, again with the mushrooms. The girl had a thing for the fungi and it never turned out well.
“Oh, my favorite,” Aira said. “I would be honored to stay and share a meal.”
Sebastian didn’t say anything to intervene, perhaps this was part of his revenge on his mother?
Maggie clapped her hands, delighted to have a new person to torment with her food. The gang appeared from the kitchen, Hudson, Dave, and Aunt Liz carried two bowls each and set them on the dining table. Rebecca and Maggie joined us with their own suspicious bowls.
I took my seat and Sebastian pulled out the chair next to his usual seat for Aira to sit in. Her eyes widened at the bowl in front of her.
The soup was blue. I thought it over for a second. Typically, food isn’t blue—blueberries the obvious exception—however, this was a luminous shade of blue, and I had no idea how you would even achieve it.
A gray lump floated in a slow circle around the edge of my bowl, like a dead body trying to find shore. Ugh.
“What’s in the soup?” Aira asked.
Maggie eyeballed her own bowl. “Mushrooms,” she said.Yup, we got the mushrooms, kid, we just needed to know why the hell it was blue.
