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It had been a rollercoaster of a day.
Infiltrating the island, reuniting with the children, and—confronting his brother. Stopping his plan. Losing him again.
And now, back home—Milligan, memories returned, reunited with his daughter (the chances of that seemed astronomical, and yet here they were), Number Two and Rhonda bonding and finally over their differences. Sticky being accepted to Boatwright Academy, Reynie being adopted by his teacher (a lovely woman!), and Constance declining the adoption.
So many things had happened, but the dust was settling now, and it seemed he could finally take a breather.
“Mr. Benedict?” a quiet voice piped up, and he started from his thoughts, looking up with a smile.
“Yes, Reynie?”
“I thought I should—” Reynie shuffled a bit, seeming uncertain how to say whatever he was trying to say. “I didn’t know if you knew, but I thought I should probably tell you. Just in case.”
Mr. Benedict blinked. “Alright…? Tell me what?”
Reynie looked at him—waiting patiently, hands folded in his lap, attentively watching—and winced. How do you tell someone they might have a secret nephew?
“Uh, well, part of how I learned about the Whisperer’s transmitters was going into a forbidden part of the forest. On the island.”
Mr. Benedict tilted his head slightly (god, it was weird how similar he and Mr. Curtain were, but how different, because there was none of that condescension or tension in his face, and yet Reynie was pretty sure it was tilted to the exact same degree) and said, “I hope it wasn’t too dangerous?” He seemed a little worried.
“I didn’t sneak in,” Reynie said, “I… had help.”
Mr. Benedict’s eyebrows raised, but he still seemed confused, which makes sense, because Reynie hadn’t actually told him anything. He was trying to do this carefully.
“I had help from his son. Your nephew. SQ. SQ your nephew.” Reynie rushed out.
Or rip off the band-aid. That’s fine.
Mr. Benedict stared for a moment, expression barely changed, as if he were still registering what Reynie had just said.
Then his eyes widened—worry, surprise, joy—and he said, very quietly, “I have a nephew?”
And then he immediately crumpled.
Luckily, he’d still been sitting, which Reynie had made sure of, but he still felt a little bad about it.
After a moment, he stirred, blinking awake. “Hn, how long was I out?” he asked, seemingly on instinct.
“Just a minute,” Reynie said. “Sorry. It’s just—I didn’t know if you knew about SQ, but I figured you probably should, since you want to find Mr. Curtain again, and he wasn’t on the island so he’s probably with him, and—he’s a nice kid.”
“Oh,” Mr. Benedict said, rather softly. “May I ask what he looks like?” He gave a rueful little chuckle. “Any family resemblance?”
“He’s adopted,” Reynie said quickly. “He told me his biological dad worked as a scientist with Mr. Curtain. But, uh, he has black hair, brown eyes… he’s kind of tall, but that might just be because he’s a teenager, so he’s older than me. He likes to draw, and birds?”
Mr. Benedict seemed to process this for a moment (mentally wondering if his nephew would like a sketchbook with birds on it, he’d been working on his bookbinding skills and he could absolutely do that, it’d make a good birthday gift—oh he’d missed so many birthdays, oh when even was his birthday, how old was he—) and finally said, softly, “Thank you for telling me, Reynie.”
“He didn’t know about Mr. Curtain’s plan,” Reynie said after a moment. “He caught me, and he was going to turn me in, especially after I—” his face twisted a little, “—after I lied to him, but. I told him the truth, and he let me go. I don’t know what happened after that. I… didn’t see him again.”
Seeing Mr. Benedict’s face, he said quickly, “Not that I think anything bad happened. I mean, Mr.—your brother clearly cared about him! I don’t think he’s in danger. I was just—he didn’t know.”
Mr. Benedict felt… a lot of things, really.
Joy. He was an uncle! His brother had a son, that he loved!
Sadness. He didn’t know SQ. He hadn’t even known he existed. He’d missed so many birthdays, both his brother’s and SQ’s.
Worry. He’d never have thought his brother could hurt a child, but—well, he already had, hadn’t he? Was SQ in danger? Mr. Benedict didn’t want to believe it, but it was terrifyingly possible, and that alone made his heart ache.
Anger. Just a little, buried small and deep. At his brother, for hurting so many people, for staying away so long, for choosing the path he was on. At himself, for leaving all those years ago, no matter how hurt and exhausted he’d felt. At the world, for taking away yet another piece of his small family, before he’d ever even knew he had it.
Mr. Benedict wasn’t really saying anything, seemingly lost in thought.
Reynie peered at him a little nervously (less in how he’d react and more in hoping he’d be okay after Reynie had dropped such a bomb) and he seemed to realize, blinking away the heavy thoughts.
He sighed, looking a little dejected, but the warmth still reached his eyes as he gave Reynie a reassuring smile.
“Well, hopefully if—when I find him, I can meet SQ, too,” he said, with cheer that was a little forced.
“I’d like to see him again, too,” Reynie said quietly. “I just hope he’s okay.”
“Me too, Reynie,” Mr. Benedict said, just as quiet. “Me too.”