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The day they showed up wasn’t a day that was a particularly good day to begin with. The day had begun rather abruptly and clumsily with phone calls and last minute meetings. The twins had been bickering all day and Virgil had been distant with his headphones constantly on. Logan had been overly tired and snippy from staying up too late with a good book the night before and Janus was ready to rip his hair out. Patton was no where to be found, having left the weekend before to get back to his little housing complex and his up and coming business of a café. All in all, none of them were at their best and a few of them, Janus in particular, were at their worst. The whole little family were piled together on their way home from a series of interveiws that Roman had insisted that everyone attend. With his nephews now being exposed to the rest of the world, Roman thought it important that they be exposed to what their lives could be full of. He taught them how to deal with paparazzi and spur of the moment interviewers. The boys shared little interest in what their famed uncle did and even less interest in becoming part of his movement. To be fair to Roman, though, they also showed little interest in following Remus on his excursions too. Their slightly more crazed uncle had spent the entire time muttering to himself about things he could stick up his butt before he got caught. Needless to say, Janus had kept a close eye on him for the entirety of the interveiws. Now, as they were all riding home together, the twins argued back and forth about side parts versus middle parts and Virgil zoned out to his tunes while Logan glared grouchily out the window. Janus turned the car into the familiar driveway and resisted the urge to scream. Instead he pulled the car to a stop and asked,
“Whose car is that?” Because there was a strange car sitting outside of Roman’s house. It was a small sports car painted the most obnoxiously bright pink that anyone could think of and was absolutely covered in a series of stickers and magnets. Logan peered at the car with wide eyes, taking in the bright color while the rest of the car fell silent,
“I don’t know,” Roman said at last, forgetting that he was passionately about to slaughter Remus’ argument with his own, “Maybe an interviewer came here instead of calling?” Virgil tugged one earbud out and frowned,
“Whose car is that?” He asked, having previously been deaf to all the world except his “sick beats”.
“We don’t know.” Logan said, looking less grouchy and more curious now, “Do you think it’s her?” He asked, emphasizing the last word. Janus shook his head,
“No, Logan, it’s not Grace she would rather be caught dead than in a car like that.” Grace, Janus’ grandmother, was a constant threat in Logan’s mind and he spent many outings just keeping an eye out for the toxic elderly lady.
After sitting in silence for another few seconds, Janus sighed and opened his car door, stepping out into the Florida afternoon sun. He squinted at the car before slamming the door shut and taking a few steps forward. As he did so, the pink car’s doors swung open and a man and a woman climbed out. They were tall and thin, looking something like movie stars. The woman was wearing a tight dress and high heels and her hair hung long, frizzy, and loose over her shoulders and was colored a sort of deep violet hinted with silvers and grays at her roots. The man’s hair was gray and trimmed short, sticking up in the front. He wore a simple yet elegant three piece suit with a bright orange scarf around his neck. The rest of their clothes were neutral colors, making the pops of purple and orange stand out like a sore thumb. Roman gasped and climbed out from his side of the car and stared,
“Mom? Dad?” He stammered, looking perplexed. “What on earth are you doing here?” The woman’s wrinkled face broke out into an easy smile, one very much like the one Roman wore for his pictures,
“Darling, sorry we didn’t call, we were out of the country.” Remus joined Janus and Roman on the outside of the car, staying partially hidden behind Roman. Logan and Virgil continued to watch from the interior of the car, only half catching what was being said.
“You’ve been out of the country for years.” Roman pointed out, “Why are you here now?”
“We heard about the children.” The man said, shrugging slightly, “Wanted to see the squirts for ourselves.”
“Mary’s children.” The woman stressed, “I wanted to see what was left of my darling baby. She’s been missing for so long but we never gave up hope that she would come back to us.” Tears gathered in the woman’s eyes, “I guess we can stop waiting now, knowing she’s really gone.”
“You left the country,” Remus whispered, “how much were you waiting for her to come back?”
“What are they talking about?” Logan whispered to Virgil from where he was leaning against one of the windows,
“I think they’re talking about Mom.” Virgil muttered, looking off.
Virgil rarely talked about her. He remembered her, at least, he told Logan he did, but he never elaborated on her. She was a mystery to Logan, lost before he had time to properly know her. Virgil had once told him that he was glad that she never got her hands on Logan and that was that. Virgil himself held much more about her close to his heart but never shared the good, the bad, or the ugly with anyone on the outside. Even his therapist knew better than to ask him about his birth mother as the subject would immediately get Virgil to shut down and shut up like he’d been threatened with having his lips sown shut. Now, as they sat there listening, Logan’s curiosity and the burning desire to just know who these people were and how they’d known his mother, slipped out of the car and peered at them from around Remus’ back. The woman was in the middle of saying something as he did but she stopped mid-sentence, looking alarmed and going somewhat pale,
“Good God, Jeffrey, look!” She pointed and the three adults in front of Logan turned to see what she was pointing at. Roman looked at Logan with something deeply protective in his stare, like he would rather sweep the boy in his arms and bundle him back into the car than have him out and exposed like how he was right now.
“Why, Emily, he looks just like her.” Jeffrey announced, pulling off his sunglasses to reveal his brown eyes that looked remarkably like Remus’. Logan peered at them before shyly stepping out into the open. The woman took a few steps forward before stopping, casting a look in Roman’s direction,
“How could you keep them from us?” She asked, sounding hurt to her core, “You know how much Mary meant to me!” Her voice rose accusingly but her hands fell to her sides, looking limp and lost, “Come here, child, and tell me your name.” She beckoned softly, looking pleadingly at Logan. The younger boy looked hesitant before taking a few steps forwards before a hand caught his shoulder and he was pulled back. Virgil took a step in front of Logan, glaring hard at the man and woman who were standing there,
“What do you want?” He demanded, sounding hard and cold like he did before Patton, Roman, Remus, and Janus came into his life. Logan instinctively hung close behind him, knotting his hands in Virgil’s hoodie and peaking out from around him. Virgil was safety to him but he was still curious about this couple,
“We wanted to meet you, of course.” Jeffrey said, looking hurt that Virgil would step in his way like that, “You must be hers too, you look so much like her.” Virgil huffed, sparing a glance in Roman’s direction,
“We have no interest in meeting you.” He growled out, looking defensive. The man and woman stood in utter shock for a mere three or four second before they began to stammer out questions and excuses,
“What? Why?” Emily asked, looking sorrowful, “We never heard from our dear daughter and now you won’t even let us meet her children?! Let us at least know your names, please? You’re all I have left of her.”
“That’s not true.” Virgil ground out, “You heard from her, I remember her calling you and asking for help. You did nothing, though.” The couple shut up immediately, looking shocked,
“What? How do you remember that?” Jeffrey stuttered at the same time that Emily announced,
“She never called us.” Realizing that her husband just gave them away, she shot an accusing look at him before turning back to Virgil,
“Alright, she called us once, a long time ago and asked for money but we weren’t going to just give her money to keep doing her horrible lifestyle like what she was doing. We told her that.”
“Even if you hadn’t given her squat, you still could’ve offered a helping hand.” Virgil accused, looking hurt, “She needed you and you did nothing. She died because you did nothing.” The man and woman flinched at the accusation.
“Now, don’t you dare accuse me of killing my precious daughter!” The woman shrieked, “I’ll have you know that I would’ve done anything for her if she had just come back to me for help.”
“She was too proud to do that,” Jeffrey agreed, “wanted nothing to do with us or our lifestyle.”
“That’s enough.” Roman said, stepping in front of Virgil and Logan, effectively cutting off the connection between grandparents and grandchildren. “I think it’s time for you to go, they don’t want to meet you and I frankly don’t want to see you either.” The woman gasped,
“Darling! After everything we’ve done for you?! How could you be so cold to your own parents? We’ve done nothing but give you the finest life and the finest things and this is how you repay us?”
“I never asked for a life full of finery.” Roman snapped, “I asked for parents who loved me but I didn’t get that.”
“Remarkable misfits.” Remus muttered, “How the mighty have fallen from their thrones.”
The little groups were now at an awkward stand off. The family wished to get inside their house away from the couple but the couple was standing directly in the way. There was no way to get to the house other than to go through them. Roman put on a determined face and marched forwards, ignoring how his mother reached for him and caught his sleeve,
“Roman,” she pleaded, “you can’t do this to me. I’m your mother for God’s sake!” Roman shook her off and didn’t reply. He turned back towards the little group that was standing behind him and beckoned them forwards,
“Come along, my dears.” He called and Janus came up behind Virgil and Logan and urged them forwards. He stayed glued to them as they approached the touchy couple and directed them past them. Emily reached out and grabbed Logan by the wrist, pulling him away from the safety of Virgil and Janus. Virgil immediately bristled and hissed as he wrapped an arm around Logan’s waist to keep him from being pulled away,
“Let go.” He growled, looking deadly. Logan struggled to pull his hand free but Emily held on tightly,
“Your name!” She shouted, “I at least deserve to know your name!” Logan glanced at Virgil who was glaring hard and looked like he might bite Emily’s hand off. Remus was hovering behind them, looking unsure how to proceed and Roman was fishing out his phone.
“Let him go or I’m calling the cops.” Roman stated firmly, holding up the phone, “Now, mother.” The woman continued to hold on and let out the most pitiful sob Logan had ever heard,
“Why are you doing this to me, Roman?” She asked, swiping at imaginary tears, “I’ve done nothing to deserve such treatment.”
“You’ve done quite enough, thank you.” Janus said and Logan twisted again, trying to get his hand free.
“Let go you bitch before I bite your fingers off.” Virgil snarled and the woman looked so shocked she let go. Logan immediately retreated behind Virgil who looked quite scary at the moment. This was a Virgil Logan had seen many times and had often relied upon. This Virgil would do anything or his baby brother just to keep him safe. Virgil reached back at took Logan’s hand in his own, pulling them both past the man and woman and into the house.
“He threatened me!” Emily wavered, “You heard it, he threatened me.”
“And you were harassing him.” Remus said, looking bored with the whole situation, “You’re lucky Virgil didn’t bite your fingers off. I would’ve let him.” Janus slipped an arm over Remus’ shoulders,
“Alright, that’s enough, let’s go inside.” He guided the crazed man indoors and Roman didn’t bother sparing them a glance before he shut the door and locked it.
“Crazy people.” He muttered before turning to his nephews
Virgil still looked murderous and defensive. His whole body was rigid and he looked ready to pounce at any second. Logan was trying to calm him down, whispering soft words and looking mildly unsettled at how wound up his brother was. Virgil let out a low growl and wrapped Logan in his arms, pulling him close,
“I’m not letting them take you.” He whispered fiercely, “They can try their hardest but I won’t let them take you.”
“No one’s taking me away.” Logan soothed, “I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying right here with you.” But this seemed to do little to calm Virgil down who continued to hold onto his brother tightly.
“Alright, alright, just breath.” Janus whispered as he approached the boys slowly, “Everything is alright, Virgil, just breath.”
“Alright?” Virgil hissed, “Everything is not alright. Those…those people are out there and they could try anything they wanted to get Logan.” Virgil squeezed Logan tighter, “They’re monsters. They wouldn’t help her even when she begged for it. They wanted her to come crawling back but she couldn’t leave! None of us could leave because of him.” Tears began to gather in Virgil’s eyes. Roman looked alarmed but stayed calm while Remus whined softly in the background.
“Okay, we hear you, I won’t let them touch you. I promise.” Roman said gently as he approached the high strung youth with his hands up, “They can’t get you in here, I promise.” He slowly brought his hands around Virgil and pulled the teen in close, tucking his head under his chin. “Shhhh, you’re alright now. I won’t let anything happen to you or Logan.” This seemed the break Virgil who hid his face against Roman’s chest and let quiet sobs shake him,
“She cried so hard after that phone call.” He babbled between sobs, “They just left her to die.”
“Don’t think about that anymore, Virgil.” Roman breathed, checking his own horror to be revisited later, “Just breath and remember where you are now.”
“I’m home.” Virgil sniffed, “I’m safe.”
“Yes you are,” Roman sighed, “You’re home and you’re safe.”
“I’m safe.” Virgil repeated like a mantra, “I’m safe.” Logan managed to wriggle free from Virgil’s grasp and made his way to the window where he peered out at the man and woman who were still standing there, arguing amongst themselves. He wondered what they were talking about and he wondered how many more secrets Virgil held about their mother that he would never share with Logan. The past was a painful thing to hold onto, that much Logan already knew but Virgil would go through any amount of pain himself if it meant that someone else would be spared that same pain.
Eventually, the couple came and knocked at the door several times, calling for Roman to come and talk to them. No one answered the door or even considered it. Logan sat at the window, staring out at them and wondering if there were any good people in the world outside of his little family. They left in the end, arguing loudly and shouting that they would be back. Roman and Janus grimly discussed getting a restraining order against them and Virgil sat curled up on the sofa, clutching a pillow to himself and staring off into the distance. His mind was elsewhere as Remus patted his head and played with his hair. Logan left the window and came over to his big brother, settling next to him and waiting until Virgil came out of his daze and looked at him.
“They’re gone.” Logan said softly, leaning against his big brother, “They left and Uncle Roman will keep us safe.” Virgil nodded grimly, reaching out and pulling Logan against himself and sighing deeply,
“I’ve got you.” He whispered, “We’re safe.”
“Yes,” Logan agreed, “yes we are.”