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Shadow was doing Science.
That was nothing new; he usually spent most of his day tinkering over the unfortunate remains of whatever kitchen appliance had been left unguarded or reviewing some random lab result he’d partially forgotten about. No, what made this so different was that he was running The Experiment. He’d been working on this for months, running the calculations over and over again until he could do them in his sleep.
Now all he had to do was put it into practice and document the procedure. He clicked on his tape recorder.
“Date: 17th day of the month of Swimming. Experiment: E35-1. Subject A is in position. Test run will commence shortly. Test subjects B and C currently are unconscious and show no signs of distress.”
Five minutes later, Shadow had to admit the only thing he had really managed to accomplish was giving himself a headache. Apparently, it was not possible to reduce someone to a pile of soot by glares alone.
“Experiment E35-1. Status complete. Results failed,” Shadow reported as he slumped up against the walls of the nursery. This made Ceridwren, a.k.a Subject A, clumsily crawl over to her big brother where she proceeded to show him the drool covered plushie she’d been gnawing on.
At least he hadn’t woken up the twins, otherwise he’d be dealing with a swarm. Aly had already made it very clear she expected him to at least act civilly to them. Which was rather hard to remember when he was being used as a jungle gym. She’d even gone so far as to use the tamper-proof gate to ensure he spent “quality time” with his 3 newest family members.
He was a Big Kid. Too big to be in the nursery again, that was why Aly had given him his own Big Kid room. He didn't even know why she had brought these - these intruders into their home. She already had him. She hadn’t needed more!
Shadow felt himself get warmer as hot wet tears began welling in his eyes. Big kids never cried. He refused to cry.
It was illogical; sooner or later Aly would realize the horrible mistake she’d made and rectify it. All he had to do was be patient. He could do that. He wasn’t good at it, but he had done it in the past and would do it again. Just for a little while longer.
But for some reason, instead of leveling out, his breathing became short and choppy. He choked back whimpers as one rebellious tear broke free. The rest followed soon after in a silent, unbroken stream. A soft sob escaped him, and he covered his face with shaking hands.
Quiet rustling alerted him that the twins had woken up from their naps and were now settling around him and Ceridwren. Dimly, he was aware of clumsy, uncoordinated hands patting him on the shoulder. One of them was even hugging him, if rather sloppily.
Big kids didn’t cry. All he needed was for Aly to see he was still her little boy. She didn’t need anyone else.
And he would do anything to prove it.