The wind blew Heather's dirty blonde hair over her face, blocking her view of the park right in front of her. It was the perfect day to fly a kite like what Josh had suggested, but it was also the day she was going to confront him. Just like as if her thoughts had brought him closer, she saw him in the distance with his own kite. Maria let out a gasp and ran over to the man in the distance; Heather reached out for her but stopped when her daughter had leapt into his arms.
Heather sighed as Josh laughed, picked her up, and whirled her around like a father would do to his daughter. A sickening feeling came over her as she realized what might be at stake here if she brought up Donna right now.
"Mommy!" Maria turned around, "He brought his own kite"
"So I can see that. Are you a good teacher?" Heather asked as she slowly walked up to Josh.
"I'll try to be. I haven't flown a kite since I was a little kid" Josh smiled to her.
"Can you teach me, Josh?" Maria asked.
"Of course, I can!"
"Then let's hurry!"
"Why don't you start unwinding your string" Josh suggested, "Your kite won't go too far if it's close to you. Try to unravel it as much as mine. Do you want me to show you how?"
"I can do it" Maria plopped down to the ground and started to unwind her string.
"So how have you been? I can kind of already tell that you're not yourself" Josh turned towards Heather.
"What makes you think that?"
"You're not as smiling and joking as usual"
"I've just had a hectic week"
"I know what you mean"
"Josh, I have to ask you something. Just promise me you won't take it the wrong way" Heather reached out and gave his forearm a slight grip. But when she reached out and just slightly touched him, Josh grimaced and stepped back. Worried, Heather took a step forward, "Josh, what's wrong?"
Josh only gave a slight smile as he looked down to Maria, still unwinding. The little girl didn't seem to have noticed what was going on around her. So he turned to her mother and slightly pulled down his jacket. Revealing his freshly wrapped arm where beneath it was a werewolf scratch.
"I was scratched by a wolf. Don't worry-"
"Don't worry?"
"I've been attacked before"
"Come again?"
"I'm fine"
Josh reached out and grabbed onto of Heather's hands like how he used to with Nora. Instead, Nora was a thousand miles away from his current thoughts right now.
"When did this happen?"
"Two days ago" Josh sighed, "Around the time when my friend was infected with the flu"
"You make it sound-"
"Fatal?"
"Was it?"
"No, thank God"
"Was it Sally that got infected?" Heather inquired.
"It was Aidan. He doesn't really have a great immune system" Josh lied, "For some reason, he pulled through. We both thought he was going to die"
"I'm so sorry. I'm glad he's doing well though" Heather replied.
A couple of awkward moments went by between them before Maria bounced up from her place on the ground. Her smile went from ear to ear as she waited for Josh to instruct her on what to do next. For a while, Heather watched the two running around, their kites high in the sky. For some reason, she couldn't help but wonder what Joy meant about her life being thrust with theirs.
Maybe she should just leave with Maria back to New York, what harm could it do? She already knew that Donna was a very dangerous witch and could only guess that she would do if she knew Heather had a daughter. Heather picked up her hand and traced the pink pearl around her neck. She doubts that the new power she just unraveled will help her against someone like Donna.
Josh walked over and plopped down next to her on the bench, "Man, she loves to run. You should sign her up for some sort of track team"
"Trust me; she'll be out in about an hour"
"You're still quiet, Heather"
"How's Sally?"
"She's uh- great" Josh replied, "She's been wanting you guys to come around. Why do you ask?"
"Just thought it would be nice" Heather shrugged, "We talked about Aidan and didn't get to Sally. Where did she disappear to?"
Josh turned and looked to her, "What? I don't follow you"
"You said that she and Aidan had disappeared off somewhere. You just never said where they went" Heather pointed out.
"Hiking"
"Hiking?"
Josh nodded, "They wanted to go hiking in Canada ever since we've all moved into that house. I would've gone but someone had to look out for the house"
"I'm glad you decided to stick around"
"Me too"
