I'ma just apologize for how long this has been, but it's going to be finished today. Thanks for waiting on me.
Love, Keta
"Do you think that my mother really loved me?"
Wrenched out of her perplexing math homework by that ludicrous question, Kayla gives her brother a confused look. "I'd assume so," she replies, knowing that flat-out professing that she knew of her love would be ill advised because Flug doesn't like when people proclaim things without evidence; he says it undermines the essence of truth and scientific inquiry. "If she didn't love you, I'd really doubt that she'd have taken the time to write that note to us or even left you on our doorstep. She probably would have dumped you at an orphanage or in a dumpster."
He hums and drops his head, presumably to go back to his own homework, the kind that their mother gives him to keep him intrigued long enough to stay out of her hair while she cleans. Kayla watches as he scratches out something on his ever-present clipboard and shakes his head; even for the budding genius, statics is hard.
It's then, as she and her brother sit there in the living room quietly working, that she decides that she needs to find out who Flug's birth mother is, if only to give the little genius closure.
It takes a while: three months, in fact, but Kayla does find Flug's mother, Meredith.
"Let's go for a walk," she whispers as the bus pulls away from them, rumbling and bouncing down the road.
"To where?" Flug asks, his fingers tightening on his backpack's straps until the material groans under his superior strength.
"Away," she replies and starts towards their house. "I want to show you something." She opens the door quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone that might be home, and slips her backpack off, stashing it in her own nook. "Backpack." Flug reluctantly passes it over to her, and she stuffs it into his hole before backing out of the foyer and shutting the door behind them again.
It's then that she looks down and sees his inquisitive face peering up at her through tangled, orange curls. His amber eyes are wide with curiosity, the kind of quiet curiosity that causes him to stare up at her with exhilarated innocence. She can tell that he wants to know, more than anything else, but he trusts her and he will not allow himself to say a word that would suggest otherwise.
"You're a good kid," she murmurs and takes up his hand into her own, squeezing his little fingers with as much force as she can bring herself to use; she doesn't want to hurt him, but deep inside, she's petrified that if she loosens her grip, he'll slip away.
With a small nod to her brother, they start off down the street, opposite of where their bus had gone, and she leads him down the busy streets of their suburb and out into the city proper. She keeps her head high and her senses alert, simultaneously not wanting to draw attention to themselves but not wanting a passerby to see them as vulnerable… Just in case that passerby isn't a friend.
And Flug, with his wispy little curls and wide eyes, oozes vulnerability, but Kayla knows better; Flug is far stronger than any of the creepers that might come after them.
As they walk down the side street that Flug would come to know quite well, Flug finally speaks up, having gone completely silent during their walk. "Why are we going to a cemetery?"
Kayla sighs and grips his hand tighter. "There's someone who you should meet."
"In a cemetery?" His tone is incredulous and nearly condescending, sounding off from such a small boy. "What kind of person hangs out in a cemetery?"
Kayla can't help the bark of laughter that rips from her throat, but the amusement does nothing to quell the anxiety brewing in her chest. She doesn't want to tell him, doesn't want to face the sadness that she's sure to cause… Her hand grips the metal gate and swings it open, nearly wincing at the high, whining screech it induces. "Well, she's not hanging out, Flug… She's always here."
"Huh?"
She ushers the little monster into the graveyard, careful to shut it quietly behind them. "Follow me…" She leads the boy down the well-worn path until the end, and when the single gravestone comes into focus, she points to it. "Flug… I want you to meet your mother."
Without a word, Flug runs past his sister, careful not to knock her to the ground, and he drops to the ground before the stone, staring at the name with horror and tearful gratefulness. "This is my mom...?"
"She died right after we got you," Kayla murmurs and closes her eyes, not daring to take a step closer.
"How'd she die?" Flug asks and with a shuddering breath, runs his fingers over the chiseled stone.
Again, the girl lets out a quiet breath, hoping to calm her anxious heart; she wishes that that particular question had never been brought up. "She was murdered, Flug. And no one knows who did it."
When the sound of heartbreaking sobs reaches her ears, the young woman finally walks up beside the monster and kneels beside him, and he, after a moment, falls into her side, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. They stay like that for an hour or better, not moving, not speaking… just crying and trying to pull themselves back together.