After learning most – and hopefully all – of Madelyn Shannon's secrets, Mark feels better. He feels more in control of the situation. And knowing Maddy more is just a plus.
Mrs. Young's job also makes sense now – she watches Zoe, not the house, during the day. And while Mark doesn't understand why the Shannons are having security forced on them, he does know why they don't like it – Zoe has to stay hidden almost all the time now.
The only part of the revelations that Mark dislikes regards Maddy's situation at school. Sure, he beat the kids up to teach them a lesson, but that doesn't erase the damage already done. Maddy does make more sense to him overall, but it isn't necessarily a good thing. For example, when Maddy freaks out on Josh Friday night at dinner after he calls her Mads, Mark understands. It's what those girls at school call her right before they laugh as their boyfriends beat her up. It sucks knowing that and not being able to tell Josh to shut up.
But Mark does appreciate knowing the entirety of the situation. He's the one who gets the privilege of shooting Maddy an encouraging smile when Josh ignores her requests to stop. He's one of the first people outside of the family that gets to officially meet Zoe.
Mark doesn't mention knowing Zoe to either Elisabeth or Jim. Jim scares the crap out of him just with his glare, and he doesn't see how sharing the information with Elisabeth is necessary at this time.
On Saturday both Elisabeth and Jim are working and Josh is with his friends, so Mark and Maddy are at the house alone. This works out great because, now that Mark knows about Zoe, Zoe can run around. She's incredibly shy, though that's not a huge shock considering her situation. Surprising, she takes to Mark quite quickly. Within 30 minutes, she is running around and giggling with him. Soon after, she crashes on Mark's and Maddy's laps and Maddy carries her to bed.
Maddy then returns to the couch for a break. She smiles, "You are so good with her."
"I've had practice," Mark says. "My sister is older, but we have two close family friends that I helped basically raise with their parents gone so much."
"What do their parents do?" Maddy asks.
"They're both in the military."
"But the family didn't stay together?" Maddy inquires. She's read about different wars and such and families are sometimes allowed to go with the soldiers, depending on the war and their family member's rank.
"Their parents aren't married," Mark explains. "Their dad, Nathaniel, already had another family and his son, Lucas, didn't want him with Alicia."
Maddy looks incredibly confused. "His son didn't want him to be happy?"
Mark laughs. "Believe it or not, not everyone is as selfless as you," he says, then argues when she claims that she isn't. "Anyway, I never met Lucas because he and Nathaniel didn't live in the same building as Alicia and the kids, given the whole 'family is four' thing. But I know he was going through a hard time for much of his life. His mom died during the Somalia war when he was really young."
"That's sad," Maddy frowns. "Well tell me about the other kids. And your sister. Oh, and what about your parents?"
Mark chuckles silently, "What do you want to know?" Maddy shrugs. "Okay," Mark says uncertainly. He isn't used to talking about himself. "Uh … my mom died when I was eight – she breathed in the air outside after her rebreather broke, the model was too old to function properly. She put off going to the hospital too long and there was nothing they could do to help her, not that we probably could have afforded it anyway. My dad walked out on us about … seven years ago. My sister-"
"Wait," Maddy interjects. "Please tell me this won't be depressing."
Mark smiles reassuringly. "No," he grins proudly. "My older sister, Emily, is twenty. She's in college studying bio and engineering."
Just then, Elisabeth walks through the door. Reilly says she'll wait outside. Elisabeth nods and turns toward the kids. "Emily Reynolds?" she asks. "I knew your last name was familiar. There's an Emily Reynolds who works night shifts at the hospital. She was in today."
"That's my sister, ma'am," Mark says as he stands up.
"No need to get up for me," Elisabeth says pleasantly. "Laura and I were just going to the store. Need anything?" Maddy shakes her head. "Well your sister is simply brilliant, Mark," Elisabeth says. "Though she gets easily squeamish around open wounds." Mark laughs pleasantly, not suprised.
After her mom leaves, Maddy turns back to Mark. "Wait, so if Emily is older than you and she's only 20, how old are you?"
"I just turned 19," Mark says.
Maddy raises her eyebrows. "You're so young! I thought you were older. You act older; I mean, mature. And you have this job so … I don't know. That's just what I thought."
"You're fine," Mark laughs. "And you're … seventeen?"
"I just turned sixteen," Maddy says. "I skipped a grade, so that's why I'm a junior."
"And you said I'm the mature one?" Mark asks. "You are literally a genius, Maddy. Really, when was the last time someone your age was able to keep with you intellectually?"
"Exactly my age?" Maddy clarifies. "Never, that's why I skipped a grade," she says with so much sincerity that Mark has to suppress a chuckle. "But seriously," Maddy continues, "you aren't a complete idiot."
"Thanks?" Mark says, but it sounds like a question.
"That came out wrong. I mean, my brother is close to your age; he's eighteen. And I probably know more than him."
Mark rolls his eyes. "You probably know more than most people."
"Well than let me just start over," Maddy says slightly annoyed. "I meant that you are the first one close to my age that I've felt on the same level with in a while."
"I am nowhere near your level," Mark counters. And as much as he doesn't want to admit it, it's true. He is completely out of her league.
"You read a lot, though," Maddy says, "That's obvious. And even though it is mostly military, it's still literature. And we both have read a lot about Terra Nova." Maddy glances at the floor before continuing, "I like talking to you."
Mark smiles. "I like talking to you too, Maddy."
Mark can't help but notice how attractive she is, especially when she blushes. The pink her cheeks, how her eyes light up …
Just a few minutes later Jim Shannon gets home to find Maddy and Mark on the couch talking. And laughing. And sitting so close to each other that their knees are touching. It really is adorable how the kids think the dad wouldn't notice something like that. "Hey guys," Jim says. Maddy turns slightly and smiles, but Mark moves away from Maddy ever so much as covertly as possible. Uh huh, Jim thinks. Keep smiling like I don't see right through you.
The rest of the weekend passes quickly. Maddy and Mark keep hanging out, and Jim keeps watching Mark. On Sunday night, it's Mark's turn to spend the night in the apartment again and Maddy falls asleep with a smile, simply from knowing he's that much closer.
Hope you liked the Maddy and Mark rapport!