Chapter One Hundred and Forty Eight
...
The orphanage was at the top of a tall hill, surrounded by a forest on all sides. It was advertised as a place that would help troubled (and powered) children control themselves in a lovely country setting, far away from the prying eyes of civilisation and citizens. The advertising pamphlet showed lush green fields, younger children on a playground and swings, and a classroom filled with studious elder children. The Matron was on the advertising pamphlet as well, dressed in a homely blue outfit with a smile pasted on her face. The pamphlet sat on Matron's desk as a point of pride, her smiling face displayed for all visitors to grace her office. No matter where you sat, you couldn't escape Matron's smile.
There were rumours in the organisation about that smile: some said it was CGI, others said it was the only time she had ever smiled in her whole life, while others swore that the cameraman had died the same night he took the photo.
Warden One just thought it was fucking creepy. Warden Two thought the whole pamphlet was creepy, but neither of them dared to say it to each other, let alone Matron, who was terrifying on a good day. Today wasn't a good day; it never was when the boss called for an update.
"The boss is calling at ten o'clock sharp. He is very punctual and will not tolerate tardiness; answer the call within three rings or we might as well all start packing our desks, understood?" Matron said sternly.
Warden One rolled his eyes; they didn't even have desks. "We go through this every month, Matron. We know what to do when the boss calls."
"Not even the Commander could stop us from answering that call," Warden Two added, appeasing Matron's stern expression at Warden One's tone and attitude.
"Good, now... what the hell is that?" Matron asked, her eyes wide as she looked out the window behind the two wardens.
Craig teleported for the final time, collapsing down onto the grass as soon as his feet hit the ground. Ethan swayed on his feet but didn't collapse, and one by one, he let his friends out of their melted forms.
"Thank you for flying C&E. If you need to puke, get in line," Craig groaned.
"Dude, you have to get up; you can't be incapacitated this early in the game. Uh, mission," Adam corrected, glancing over to Connor, who apparently really didn't like this rescue mission being called a game.
"Okay, okay, I'm up. Ooh, look at those mountains. The hills are alive with the sound of - "
"Cee, shut up," Ryuu muttered, shaking his head.
He was worried about his Papa because Connor had been silent for the last three hours, a stern expression on his face that made Ry think he really shouldn't be joining them. It wasn't the sort of silence that he had while meditating, it was the sort of silence that came before a storm, where you watched the clouds and lightning in the distance, but still waited and prepared for the devastation to hit. It was the calm you experienced while waiting for the lightning to strike and the thunder to roll, and when it did, it scared everyone for miles around. He was worried because Andy said this is what Connor got like before skirmishes, and it reminded him far too much of the stoic and broken man Connor had been when he'd returned from being a prisoner of war. Ryuu didn't want to lose his father all over again.
Honey took his hand and squeezed gently. Ry squeezed back, harder than he intended, but Honey just smiled at him.
"Are you sure we don't need masks, Honey?" Ethan asked, even as they started to walk up the gravel drive to the large brick building, sticking up out of the hill like an eyesore.
Honey was quiet and didn't respond. In fact, the whole place was oddly quiet despite being advertised as a home and school for children. It was a weekend, so where were the children? There was no noise, not even from a bird or bug. Justina looked at the ground as they walked, trying to determine if there were even any ants nearby.
"Anyone else getting serious fucked up vibes from this place?" Terrence asked.
No one answered because the answer was an obvious yes and saying it aloud would only make it worse. Layla and Warren were leading the group and by the time they made it to the building, a woman was waiting for them in front of the building's front door.
"Not much of a welcoming committee," Craig muttered.
"Babe, quiet; Grant's concentrating," Jewel murmured, taking his hand in hers.
Craig bit his lip and nodded. Grant was standing with Beau, watching the house with an intensity that indicated how hard he was concentrating.
Taser, left hip. Power repressing cuffs, right hip. That's a power detector in her hands, not a phone. Two wardens gathering kids to fight if Matron says so. Six scientists experimenting on three kids in the basement. Seer is... hiding in a bathroom. Upstairs, Donny's voice said in their minds, the words clear if faint.
"Welcome to Strayward Orphanage. Do you have an appointment to see us?" Matron asked pleasantly, despite her unpleasant expression.
"No, we don't," Layla said. "You can put the power detector away as well, please, Matron. You'll find out our powers soon enough."
Matron's eyes widened slightly, then she stepped back into the building, her voice bellowing and disturbing the silence. "Fight!"
"Grant, with me," Warren said, striding forward without waiting for a response.
The door was in flames before they reached the step and Warren grabbed Matron, the taser melting even though his hands weren't on fire. Matron's eyes widened when she realised that no one was fighting yet.
"Where are the wardens?" Warren asked, blue flames clenched in his fist.
Matron screamed as the blue flames burnt into her body, burying through clothes and skin and muscle, digging until her very marrow was aflame. "Upstairs! Please, let me go!"
Warren let the flames continue to flicker against Matron's clothes, several spots burning straight through her body, and dropped her on the floor as she sobbed and screamed.
When the blue flames alerted them to the entry, Layla ran forward with Ry and Connor a step behind her. Ethan and Zach went around one side, Craig going around the other side with Jewel and Beau. Justina watched the forest for a moment, then nudged Terrence before he could follow after Robin and Adam.
"Can you get me a microphone and speaker?"
"Sure. Why?"
"Because the animals are being kept away from the building and they're pissed about it. There's a force field above and around us, but not underneath. The ants will help until the force field is stopped."
That didn't all make sense to Terrence, but he held out a microphone a second later anyway. "It's on; go for it."
Justina nodded and started to make a screeching noise that hurt Terrence's ears.
Well, that ruined Disney Princesses for him.
"You okay, Honey?" Terrence asked, seeing her still standing there.
Honey blinked and nodded. "Yes. I need... I need to get to the basement. There's a hidden entry over there. Electronic pad, code is... it changes too often, fuck."
"I've got it, Honey. C'mon," Terrence said, going with Honey in the direction she pointed, leaving Justina to project her voice to whatever animals lived in the forest.
The ground started to rumble in a way that made Terrence think of Robin, but it was accompanied by noises that definitely didn't remind him of his friend. He didn't know if it would be better to be inside the building by the time that impending stampede arrived or not.
...
"This place is nice. We should look at saving up to move into one of the apartments here," Jared said to Sarah as he carried a box into the apartment.
"Honey hasn't said anything about it," Sarah said, opening her own box with a sharp box cutter.
"Okay, rebuttal: we do something that Honey doesn't have a say in. We don't need her approval for every little thing, Sarah."
Sarah scoffed. "We do plenty of things without getting Honey's approval. Need I remind you of the thing we did yesterday, or the thing we did last weekend, or - Edith, what are you doing up here? I thought you were looking at the apartments on level three?"
"Oh yes, but I was passing by, and I thought you were talking about sex so I thought I'd ask about your baby plans."
"Oh, my god. I'm leaving. Sarah, we'll talk about it at home, away from... this," Jared muttered, shaking his head.
"Ooh, did I interrupt a fight? What's the topic? Wedding, receptions, babies, holidays?" Edith asked, poised and ready to pounce.
"Edith, I love you and I mean this with all the kindness in my heart: fuck off. I need to talk to my husband," Sarah said, setting the box cutter down and gently pushing Edith to the door, closing and locking it behind her. Sarah turned to face Jared. "All right, what the fuck was all that about?"
"Nothing. I'm just in a shitty mood, that's all."
"That was not a shitty mood; I've seen you in a shitty mood, that was not it. Is it about helping out here on the weekend?"
"No. Well, not all of it. Look, can we just drop it?"
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Not on your life. Spill. C'mon, you promised me to talk about these things, remember?"
"I made that promise when you were naked, that doesn't count," Jared said, a smile twitching at his lips.
"Of course it counts. Now, talk, or the pillow gets it," Sarah said, grabbing a throw pillow off the lounge and holding the box cutter against its tender fabric.
"Put that down before you hurt yourself," Jared muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'll talk, okay?"
"Thank you."
Jared waited until both the box cutter and throw pillow were in their rightful places before sitting on the dining chair, running a hand through his hair. "I'm... frustrated. Not at you or doing this, though I'm starting to get really annoyed at Edith," he muttered, looking over to the door that he was positive she had her ear pressed against.
"You and me both," Sarah said, seeing Edith's shadow beneath the door and wondering if Honey knew of a way to get Edith to leave them alone.
"It's Honey."
"Huh? Where?"
"No, she's who I'm frustrated at. It's like... every single thing that we've ever done seems to have some input from her or is an idea from her or needs to be checked with her before we do it. The only thing we've done without her input was get married."
Sarah frowned and opened her mouth, then closed it as she truly thought about it. "We make plenty of decisions without Honey. Like... uhh... what to watch and eat."
"Honey cooks for us. Granted, it's because neither of us can actually cook and we probably wouldn't even if we could, but we don't have a choice beyond which meal to microwave. And a lot of the movies we own are ones she bought us as gifts."
"Okay... but she's a seer."
"She's a seer who obviously has more important things to worry about than us. Honey's your best friend, and I get that, but she's not a magic eight ball we can use for every little decision. We're both relying on her to make decisions for us when we really shouldn't. It's like... a safety blanket. We're scared to make the wrong choice so we have to ask her every time there's a choice to be made. We have to at least try to make our own choices some of the time, even if they're wrong!"
Sarah bit her lip as she thought about it. She really was asking Honey about a lot of simple things that she probably didn't need to, more than even Jared knew about, but it was comforting and reliable. She didn't screw up or feel bad because she knew the answer or what to do and say. Sarah wondered if she really was relying on Honey too much or if it was natural to ask for a friend's input about things like food and nail polish and toilet paper brands. Okay, that last one sounded a bit much, even in her head.
"Damn, you're right. I'll ease up on the little things. I'm still asking her about the big decisions," Sarah said.
Jared grinned. "Like getting married?"
Sarah groaned and walked over to kiss Jared. "You're lucky I love you."
"I really am," Jared agreed.
"All right, we'll finish here and go home to walk our babies. Then I've decided we're having sex."
Jared was out of his chair in a second, opening the box on the table. Sarah laughed, then stopped when he paused and frowned. "What is it?" she asked.
Jared lifted a magic eight ball out of the box and handed it to her, a note stuck to the box.
Welcome to your new home.
You're all set to move in; your rent has been paid for your current place until they find new tenants.
You own this one outright - consider this my wedding gift for you!
Love you both.
Honey
"What the hell?"
Jared just sat and stared at the apartment around them - styled exactly how he would have chosen, with furniture he liked, and in an animal-friendly building - and tried to process the fact that they owned it. Sarah sat down on the lounge, holding the throw pillow to her chest and trying to breathe and wondering how she could ever thank her friend for this.
There was a knock at the door. "Is everything all right, dears? I can't hear anything," Edith admitted.
"Not now, Edith!"
...
Layla didn't have to run to catch up to Warren. He was waiting for her by the time she made it inside, and when they were together, Grant left to join his boyfriends and girlfriend. Connor was still silent and Ry mimicked his father, indicating with hand motions to check the rooms were empty before continuing through the building.
"The kids are upstairs. The ones being experimented on are downstairs. Up or down?" Warren asked Layla.
Layla thought for a moment, then looked to Ry and Connor. "If we go up, will you go downstairs?"
Ry nodded. "Okay. Good luck. We'll meet you at the rendezvous spot."
"We'll be downstairs before that, hopefully," Layla said, already heading up the staircase with Warren beside her.
Connor followed Ryuu downstairs, ensuring that they weren't being followed and that they were alone the whole time. His blood was pumping at a regular pace, his heart a steady beat, but his energy and adrenaline were warring within him. It felt like he was back in the Special Forces and though Connor knew he was scaring Ry, he couldn't bring himself out of it long enough to assure his son that everything would be all right. So long as Ry survived, Connor would be fine. Connor swallowed hard, hoping the metallic taste in his mouth was phantom memory rather than reality. It would suck if he'd bitten through his tongue again.
They stopped as they neared the basement, high and thin child-like screams rent the air between them. Connor could smell blood now, and he knew it wasn't his own, nor was it a phantom memory.
Ry swallowed hard and looked to his father, who looked like he was being tortured rather than the child in the room beside them. He had to get both the kid and his father out of here before they couldn't leave at all.
...
"What do you think?" Anita asked, holding up a dress.
"It's pink," Heidi said, shaking her head.
"It's not for you, dear. Others like pink clothes," Anita said.
"I'd say it's more of a coral, anyway," Ellie said, grinning and grabbing another four dresses and adding them to the trolley.
Heidi just wrinkled her nose and returned her attention to the list that Honey had given to her. "Thirty grey shirts, and forty black. Polo is okay, scoop neck preferred," she read clearly.
"Thirty? That's more than I was expecting. You still don't know how many Honey's bringing back?" Anita asked Ellie, who shook her head.
"Keeping her cards close to her chest on this one. I have nothin' but instructions," Ellie said, shrugging.
"Oh, there's shirts. Come on, we need to hurry if we're going to make it back in time. Honey said they'll be back at three, and it's almost ten now."
"We're getting lunch on the way back, right?" Ellie asked.
"I think... oh, what was her name? I don't remember, but she's opening the bakery downstairs. She's doing food for everyone. She even took dietary preferences, so Richard's previous order of butter and chocolate croissants is now as many vegetables as you can fit into a food without making it look like a vegetable. Oh, and no dairy."
Ellie laughed. "I hope she likes a challenge, then. My Paddy will keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't try to sneak someone else's food."
"Oh, thank you. There's the grey ones. Were there any sizes, Heidi?" Anita asked, stopping by the large display of shirts and looking around to see that Heidi wasn't with them. "Heidi?" she called, frantic and a hundred scenarios running through her mind about Heidi being lost or kidnapped or hurt in some fashion or even taken by her biological mother. She knew it wasn't entirely logical, but it could happen, and the fear was still there. It wasn't so long ago that Mrs. Brighton had found Zach, after all.
Ellie looked back the way they'd come and saw Heidi's bright hair near the jackets. "There she is."
Anita left the trolley and practically ran back to the jackets and Heidi, stopping short and trying to calm her racing heart. "Heidi. Are you all right?"
Heidi jumped in surprise at Anita's sudden presence, and nodded at her question. "I saw... I mean, I found this. It's on the list. We need twelve," she added, holding out a soft and fluffy hoodie in a deep blue colour.
Anita forced herself to breathe and calm down because she was so utterly grateful that Heidi was alive, but she recognised that she was still somewhat terrified of things that could have happened while she was distracted. "It's a nice hoodie, Heidi. Do you want one, too?"
Heidi looked at the hoodie, then to the rest on the rack, and shook her head. "There's only twelve. The kids will need them more than me."
"If you want one, then I will find one for you. Go help Ellie with the shirt sizes, okay? I'll bring these over," Anita promised, smiling and squeezing her shoulder gently.
Heidi's eyes widened and she smiled, hugging Anita firmly. "Thank you!"
Anita grabbed all twelve hoodies and headed off to find a store attendant, hoping she hadn't promised her daughter something she couldn't deliver.
...
Zach was uncharacteristically quiet and it worried Ethan. Even though they were alone now, Zach had hardly looked at him, and he shook his head when Ethan tried to take his hand.
"Zach, talk to me. Please?" he asked, voice quiet and yet so loud in the silence around them.
"Not yet. Please."
Super Jesus, it must be bad, Ethan thought, even as he forced himself to nod, to try to be understanding when he didn't know what was going on and didn't understand at all. He hated the feeling of helplessness even more than the feeling of anger that had been coursing through him since he'd found out about this horrible orphanage.
They stopped short when someone stepped out from the back of the building. The girl looked to be their age, maybe older, and she had a collar on her throat, and a look of determination on her face. Even with the distance between them, Ethan could see her eyes were a milky white colour; she was blind.
...
"Do you think it's enough room, Dess?" Barney asked, looking at his wife.
Decima looked around the room that was bigger than their dining room - with twenty-one people for a full family dinner, it needed to be adequately sized, after all - and raised an eyebrow at her husband. "I think you'll be fine, love."
"Maybe I should talk with Andy about dividing the space. He's still around, isn't he?" Barney asked, looking out the glass classroom window to see if he could spy Andy.
"He's still helping bring moving boxes inside, Mr. Sylvan-Colores. Wendy and I brought all the stationery inside. Do you want them added to each desk or handed out when the kids start?" Donny asked, holding a heavy box of notebooks.
"Sorry, Ms. Peace!" Wendy called over her shoulder, barely dodging Nina as she rushed outside, phone pressed to her ear. "Right, where do you want the box of colouring pencils, Mr. Sylvan-Colores?" she asked, a whirlwind helping her hold the box aloft.
"I think they can each have their own set. From what I can gather, they haven't had anything of their own before, so it'll be nice. I can do this, you go help with finalising the apartments."
"Is Nina okay?" Decima asked, looking outside to where Nina was pacing back and forth in front of the one-way wall; the outside was reflective, but inside the classroom, they could see everything clearly. There was a switch to change the glass to a frosted panel, in case the view outside became too distracting or, Decima thought, too overwhelming.
"She's still trying to deal with the Mayor's sex scandal. Layla can't deal with it as his PA since she's still technically a minor, so Nina's been put to the task of trying to deal with the media while the Mayor hides until it all cools down. It's not going well because now his actual mistresses are coming out of the woodwork.
"People are also starting to question whether Jetstream has been given an unfair advantage over other superheroes because of her relationship with the Mayor," Donny said, sounding like he was on the verge of laughter or tears.
"Poor Nina. Maybe I should yell in español and steal her phone? They will think she has been robbed, not having a party," Decima murmured.
Donny laughed then. "If she's not off the phone by the time we're done putting out the stationery, I'll help you rob her myself."
"Ah, such a sweet boy," Decima said, patting his cheek with a gloved hand. "You go help with the apartments, we will finish this. I will call you when it's time to steal la Niña's phone."
...
Craig had to shift his face so he'd stop talking because he was going to bring this whole mission down around their ears if he didn't shut up. He really needed to shut up and he needed to not be nervous, though one of those issues was easier to solve than the other.
"We'll be okay, babe. I promise," Jewel murmured, stopping short.
Beau looked over her shoulder to see a young child, probably no older than fourteen standing in front of them, a collar around his neck and fear in his eyes.
"Oh, sweetheart. Are they making you do this?" Jewel asked, trying to work out what the collar did before the poor child had to fight them.
It didn't look like any of the power repressing cuffs or their new designs; it didn't make sense to send someone to fight them without their power, anyway.
The child opened their mouth to respond and a shock came through their collar, a high-pitched whine escaping their mouth instead. They were panting a second later, a small shock, but enough to remind them of their purpose, and held up their fists with a look of determination as they shifted.
...
"We're going to be late; they said 10am for the Eastern Hemisphere, not Western!"
"I am flying as fast as I can, Master Patrick. May I remind you who pressed their snooze button three times this morning?"
"If we miss this, Nigel, I will sell you for scraps."
"Of course, Master Patrick."
"Pat, calm down. We'll get there in time, okay? Nigel won't let us down," Maleah said, stroking her fingers through Pat's hair as Kiara dozed beside them.
Najair was looking out the window, trying to keep track of where they were going and meant to be, while Lorcan had his eyes closed and was listening to music to keep his heart pounding to the intense beat he could hear. Najair fell back as Nigel put on an extra burst of speed at Maleah's words, cursing as his dress flew up to reveal his pink galaxy space tights.
"I will not let you down, Miss Maleah."
"Oh, so you listen to Mal? Rude, Nigel."
"I know, Master Patrick."
"Stop your cursing, Naj. It's what you get for stealing our clothes. You've got your own dresses and tights," Maleah said, kicking at her brother.
"Yours are prettier," Naj said, fluttering his eyelashes.
Maleah narrowed her eyes. "You're using my eyeliner, too, aren't you?"
"Makeup's expensive!"
"I know that! You're the reason I've had to replace my eye shadow palette? Oh, you bastard!"
"You love me."
"Apologies for interrupting. We have arrived at our destination. Are you still, ahem, storming the castle?"
They scrambled out of the car quickly, Maleah kicking Naj on her way out, as Kiara narrowed her eyes at the tights Najair was wearing.
"Did you steal my tights again? Naj, you bastardo!"
Lorcan rolled his eyes at his siblings and jogged up the last part of the hill. "Hurry up, or it'll all be over by the time you get there!" he called over his shoulder, Maleah darting past him in an instant.
Pat hurried to catch up to them and behind them, Nigel drove up the hill with a crunch of gravel under tyres. "You could've driven us to the top, Nigel!"
"C'mon, Pat!" Kiara said, full of far too much energy considering how she'd been asleep only moments ago.
Pat jogged to keep up and they all stopped at the top of the hill as, all at once, flames burst through the windows of the top floor.
...
Connor and Ry ducked low into the basement room, unnoticed by any of the scientists. Whether the children noticed was beyond their ken, but if they did, no one raised an alarm. Connor took down two scientists before anyone realised a thing, and Ry kicked out the knee of a third, leaving three scientists standing. Three children were strapped to chairs, monitors on their hearts and temples, and their thin gowns doing nothing against the sub-temperature in the basement surrounded by cold hard earth and subway tiles.
One of the scientists grabbed a scalpel off the tray beside them. They aimed a left hook at Ry. Ry stepped back nimbly to avoid being hit, but the blade between the scientist's knuckles had a long enough reach that it connected with Ry's face.
Ry gave a gasp of pain and surprise at the sudden motion, but it was the red spray of blood that painted the white tiles that made Connor step forward. He grabbed the scientist's hand, scalpel and all, broke their wrist in one swift motion, and then stabbed the scalpel into their stomach. He dropped them to the floor, grabbed the next scientist, and the one trying to run away, and slammed them against each other, the back of their heads connecting with a sickening crunch. Connor dropped them both to the ground, turning and ensuring that others weren't coming, that this wouldn't be an ambush, that they wouldn't be surrounded and hurt and Ry was bleeding, Ry had been hurt. After everything he'd done to make sure his son stayed safe, his boy was hurt. It was Connor's own fault; he should have known what the scientist was going to do, he should have known, he should have stepped forward instead of Ry; his son was hurt because he wasn't fast enough to save him.
"Papa! Papa, I'm okay. Hey, Papa. Focus. Focus on me. Come on," Ry said.
He wiped at the blood that was streaming down from the cut on his eyebrow, but it didn't stop the bleeding. Ryuu knew that head wounds bled a lot and it was probably nothing more than a superficial cut. He could still see, his brains weren't leaking out of his head, and it was enough that he was still alive right now. He just needed to get his father to realise that, too.
Connor was still tense when a body launched at him, and it took all his willpower to recognise that it was Ry and to not attack. He held Ry against his chest and breathed heavily, his senses full of Ry's scent and the god-awful smell of blood. It was warm and wet against his skin, but he didn't even care.
"Good, Papa?" Ry asked when he felt Connor trembling in his grip.
Connor nodded and then shook his head.
"Okay. How about we keep going with the mission? Save the kids and get them outside. Can you do that for me?"
"Yeah," Connor said, his voice barely a whisper.
He was a soldier, he could do this. Even as he turned, Connor wondered if he really could. The three children looked nothing like his child, but at the same time, they were all Ryuu, lying there and strapped to chairs as some fucking sick bastards tortured them to make them... what, more powerful? Fuck, he should have killed them slower.
When Ry was certain that Connor would be okay, he stepped forward to the three children. "Hey, kids. Want to get out of here?" he asked, smiling briefly and hoping he didn't look like a deranged maniac with blood on his face and hands, and dead and incapacitated scientists strewn around him.
The kids just stared ahead blankly and didn't respond.
...
"Ma, I've got another box of your baking things. We're out of room in the dining room, unless you want me to play Tetris?" Corvin called, grinning.
"Put it in my bedroom, Core! Oh, does it have the cupcake trays? I need more! Come taste this when you're done," Ammie called.
Corvin looked at the neat label with his mother's familiar small handwriting on the box as he carried it through the apartment to add to the ever-growing number of boxes in his mother's room. She'd decided to start cooking in their apartment instead of her brand new industrial kitchen in her brand new bakery, so their moving day had turned into a moving-cum-baking day. Corvin wasn't entirely surprised; the last two moves had ended the same way, as well. He was fairly sure that several boxes hadn't even been opened in the last move, since their tape was peeling, and the dust that had gathered was thick enough for him to write his name clearly.
Even though he had been born and lived in Maxville for his whole life, Corvin had seen more of it than most. His mother had a need to pick up and move every so often, and this would be their fifth home in Maxville. At least they were higher off the ground this time, and he'd been told that his window could open into the common area inside the building. Corvin was anticipating the end of the day so he could test it out.
"Found the cupcake trays! How many do you need?" Corvin called out, setting the box on her computer desk and pulling the tape off.
"Three? No, five!" There was a pause, then she said, "Just bring as many as you can find!"
Corvin grabbed the handful of trays - still shiny and clean; for her messiness in general, she kept her cooking wares spotless - and the silicone ones, just to be on the safe side, then headed through the box-filled apartment to find his mother holed up in the kitchen. "What am I tasting?"
"Funfetti with chocolate swirl. Tell me the truth about the chocolate; too much cocoa?" Ammie asked, holding a cupcake out to him.
He swapped it for the cupcake trays and took a generous bite. His mother ignored everything else as she watched him chew and swallow. "S'good, Ma. It's only a little bitter, but if you dust it with icing sugar, it'll be amazing."
"Ah, excellent. You're amazing. Thank you, sweetheart. How are you going with the boxes?" she asked, even as she started to scoop batter into the first of the trays.
"Good. Three left to carry, then only three hundred to unpack," Corvin guessed.
"We only had two hundred last time."
"We didn't have twenty-six glass mixing bowls last time."
Ammie paused, then grinned and shrugged. "Worth it."
Corvin laughed and headed downstairs to get the last of their boxes, stuffing the rest of the cupcake into his mouth along the way.
...
End of the hundred and forty-eighth chapter.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.
Author's note: Don't forget to read Pizza slice of life and Heist Week in the Flames and Flowers fic - they're both Mother Nature related!
