Author's Note: This set a decent number of years after the events of Legacy of the Void, in the same universe as my other fics.
"Mom, when is Dad going to be home?"
"Your father's very busy keeping everyone safe, you know he can't leave people in danger, sweetie," my mother soothed, stooping to make eye contact with me. "My, my, you just keep growing. You're 10 and you're already almost to my shoulders."
I frowned with irritation at the attempt to dodge my question. As much as I loved my mother, her mannerisms were rather predictable, and sometimes annoyingly so. "But nothing bad's happening right now, is it? He's rarely this late, even with his level of dedication as he is."
She sighed. "Things have been getting a little worse around here recently. I'm sure you've heard of why."
"You mean those troublemakers from high school? They're annoying and try to threaten some of the younger kids, sure, but I can't see them being an actual danger to any adult. They don't even have the courage to pick on us older kids."
My mother closed her eyes briefly, though she tried to pass it off as a blink. "Sometimes...the line between the two is much thinner than people realize, and...once a barrier of restraint is broken, there's no fixing it."
The front door's lock suddenly rattled and Mother unlocked it for Father to enter.
"Hey there, partner, how's my deputy doin' today?" I'd stopped asking to be Father's deputy a while ago, but he still endearingly referred to me as such.
"I'm doing great, father! I got a hundred on my test from Monday!"
He ruffled my hair approvingly before embracing Mom. I rolled my eyes slightly and ducked past both of them into the kitchen before they got any further. Honestly, while I am happy that my parents care for each other so much and all, it's just awkward to be the third wheel in such a situation, and even more so if you're their kid.
Oh, I never got the chance to introduce myself. My name's Jason Raynor, 10-year old son of the famous Marshall and war hero himself, Jim Raynor, and the former Queen of Blades, Sarah Kerrigan. Quite the interesting set of parents to be born to, but I digress. Before you all start asking questions like "Do you hate your Mom for nearly killing the entire human race?" and stuff like that, I'll get to it. Anyway, I'm about four and a half feet tall, with black hair and hazel eyes. I'm one of the top students in the seventh grade despite being nearly three years younger than everyone else, and on the baseball team, and have a few friends. You'll meet them later.
Anyway, for someone of such extraordinary heritage, I've lived pretty much a normal life here in Backwater Station, Mar Sara. Dad's the Marshall again, and Mom's got a job working as a number-cruncher with some company, but somehow still finds time to fawn over me at every Moment. It's annoying at times, but I know she means well. After all, what were the odds of her making it to where she is today? It's irritating in the Moment, sure, but at the end of the day I'd be more worried if she suddenly stopped.
Well, that was the positive side of things. I don't think I'll be able to hide things from someone as knowledgeable as yourselves, so I'll just say it. Life...is not all that easy. While the schoolwork is easy enough (Mom and Dad both insist that it's from the other parent, but I think it was from both of them), it was already hard to be the youngest in the school by one (there are fifth graders older than me), with more than a few kids picking on me for being a bookworm, especially during elementary school. Well, I'm sorry if school is too easy for me! Regardless, even those mature enough to respect rather than mock me for my intelligence aren't exactly willing to talk to me because of my parents. I didn't find out the truth until fifth grade, so initially I paid no mind to the kids to kept saying mean things about Mom and Dad. They did it to other kids too, and I was already a prime target because I was a lot younger.
That changed when I found out about everything. The whole story about who my mother was. Well, starting from when she became the Queen of Blades. Dad filled me in on the rest. The insults and taunts hurt a lot more because I knew they were true now. My mother is nothing like what they say she was to me or anyone else nowadays, but even Dad hasn't contradicted people who say that was what she was like.
Well, I don't care. Quite frankly, I think they should be congratulating her on being able to change like that rather than mocking her for it. Dad keeps trying to tell her that their opinions don't matter, and that not everyone distrusts her, but I'm not sure. If social survival in middle school requires trust and friendships, I can't imagine being able to survive on your own in mainstream society. And...call it a gut instinct, but I don't believe what he says about everyone distrusting Mom either. It's like I get random snippets of what they're thinking at random moments.
Oops, I seem to have gone off on a tangent. *Sigh* Well, at the very least, I had something to distract myself from Mom and Dad in the hall.
I helped Mom set the table while Dad went upstairs to lock away his gun. He'd never had to use it, but I suppose that the sidearm's presence might be the reason.
"Looks wonderful as always, Sarah," Dad said as he joined us.
"Well...save it for after you've tried it, huh?" she said with a small sigh.
"Mom, how many times do we have to say that your cooking is great?" I groaned. "Even the all the kids in school said that dish you made for Culture Day last year was good. Well, the ones that were fortunate enough to get some."
She smiled a little and we started the meal. "Eat your vegetables," she reminded me a few moments later as she noticed I was avoiding them. Darn.
"I take it back, I don't like it."
"Jason - "
"It was a joke, darlin'. We need to work on your sense of humor."
"I don't see what was so funny about it."
I sighed as I bit into a carrot. "You know what, forget I said anything. These are actually really good, too."
So, any thoughts on whether I should make this into a story or not?
If I do, it's pretty much going to follow Jason through the remainder of his childhood until he grows up, so for JimxSarah fans, sorry, there's not going to be much fluff. I might yet make a fluff story for those two, but that's a rough idea. I might end up de-aging Jason a bit, so let me know if you're in favor of that or not.
I promise that I'm working on the "Second Thoughts" rewrite; however I'm still grappling with a lot of the details and I've been trying to wrap up my Smash fic so I can devote more time to it.