A/N: Everytime I read the title of this chapter, I think of Terry Crews in the movie Blended. I imagine him singing how everyone's blending.
Just thought I'd share that tidbit.
32. Blending
MacCready POV
Build Me Up From Bones by Sarah Jarosz
Wham, bam thank you, ma'am. It is done.
The Institute is no more.
The explosion was enormous—it could have taken out a whole community. And in truth, it did. I was just happy the relay site was on top of the Mass Fusion Building—plenty far for us to be unaffected by the blast.
Beth and I are now headed to the Prydwen in a Vertibird. Instead of riding on the edge of the aircraft—where she could fall to her death at any moment—she now sits in the copilot's chair. I don't blame her. She has been pretty distraught since last night when we charged the Institute.
Once Captain Laser-Beam was done burrowing into the ground, Beth and I dropped down into the hole with a team of Brotherhood soldiers. We were surprised that Maxson not only marched alongside Liberty Prime with us, but we were also surprised at his infiltration of the facility itself. It just proved he was actually serious about leading the fight.
Once underground, I was amazed at what I saw. The entire place was so white—so clean. There were trees and greenery all over the place—something I had never been used to, and probably never would be.
As Maxson had predicted, most people were asleep. Only a few humans were anywhere to be seen. We only encountered synths at first—and of all three generations. But then a few residents showed up, sporting Institute rifles like their synth counterparts. Then a few more residents. Eventually, the scientists were running around themselves, carrying makeshift weapons with them—things like alarm clocks for clobbering, and vases for chucking.
After all the threats were dealt with, we headed even lower, into the reactor room. Once the charge was placed and rigged, we went back to the teleporter room, where Ingram stood waiting with a surprise.
"What do you think he'll say to me?" Beth asks as we step off the parked Vertibird and onto the Prydwen's flight deck. "What if he doesn't like me?"
I've heard those words before—and this situation could easily be compared to the other one. I say something similar to what I said a while back. "He'd be crazy not to. Don't be silly—he'll love you."
We walk through the command deck and up the ladder, leading to the main deck. This is when Beth whips around to the sound of a young boy.
"Hey, Mom!" he says, happy to see her. "I was wondering when you'd get here."
Beth stares at the boy, not sure how to respond. He starts to look a bit worried, so I intervene. "Hey… Shaun."
I know it's not actually Shaun—it couldn't be from what she'd told me in the past. But, she decided she'd go ahead and bring him topside, like he wanted—maybe even raise him in place of the son she lost today. It's been weighing heavy on her mind, the decision of it.
"Hey," he smiles at me. "Thanks for taking me with you. I've always wanted to see the surface." He thinks for a moment. "Well, with the Institute gone… I guess I live here now." He doesn't seem too bothered by this however, as his smile continues. He looks back to Beth, who still hasn't managed to get her bearings together. "Father wanted me to give this to you. I haven't listened to it—that would have been rude of me." He hands her a holotape. "I'll go over there so you can listen to it." He walks toward the mess hall, leaving Beth and I near Danse's old quarters.
She still seems a bit dumbfounded, but she takes the holotape and plugs it into her Pip-Boy. Pressing play, we hear the voice of her sixty-year-old son, urging her to "adopt" this synth boy.
When the sound halts, and she takes the holotape out, this is when she makes up her mind.
"Please, Mom… Don't leave me here! I want to go with you!"
I saw a boy in front of us—probably around the age of ten. He had blond hair, and blue eyes. This must be… I thought.
"Shaun," Beth uttered, shock colouring her features. "What're you doing here?"
"I can't stay here!" he'd said, clearly upset over the chaos that had rattled the Institute. "I want to go with you," he repeated.
It looked like Beth had spent a while in thought, but eventually, she permitted. "Alright. Come with me."
Shaun was surprised, to say the least. "Really? You mean it?" His eyebrows had shot straight up, like I'd seen Beth's do so many times.
"Yes, I mean it!" She looked around, to Ingram, to the teleporter. "Now, let's get out of here." She put one hand on Shaun's shoulder, the other around my back, and we all stepped into the round room of molecular packaging and distribution without a backward glance.
"Shaun." Beth strolls up to the synth boy, the carbon copy of her son. "Can we talk for a minute?"
He turns toward her. "What is it?"
"How would you like to go home with us?"
With this single question, I swear Shaun's jaw will fall off. "Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Beth counters.
"Well… You said to come with you, not live with you. I figured I would go live somewhere else. Maybe even here on this airship." He looks around our surroundings. "It's neat here."
"It is." Beth looks around like the boy did. "I work here, so I'd see you often anyway. But that's not enough for me." She kneels right in front of him. "You're my son—I need you home with me. Like how it was supposed to be back before the War."
He doesn't seem surprised at this statement, as if he knows the backstory behind her life—their life, had it been as it should be.
He nods. "Okay, Mom. I'll come with you." They embrace lovingly. Shaun looks ecstatic. Beth looks joyful. Yet I can see the sadness in her eyes, wishing this was actually her son.
"Should I tell him?" Beth wondered aloud as we hitched a ride back to the Prydwen.
"Tell who what?" I asked.
"Should I tell Shaun that he's not my son—that he's a synth?" The look in her eyes let me know she felt terrified. She hadn't had much time to think about it, before he was thrust into her life suddenly. She'd been silent for a while at this point—most likely thinking about the very thing she asked me.
"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. I'd thought for a few moments before continuing, "Maybe we should ask Danse. He knows what it's like to find out about being a synth. He can probably judge better than either of us." She nodded, deep in thought.
"Wait right here, Shaun. We'll be right back," I tell the boy as Beth and I step off the boat and start heading toward Danse's house.
She hasn't said much since we left the Prydwen. She sat on the bed, holding synth Shaun all the way home—the sad look still in her eyes. I wanted to talk with her, but figured if she felt like talking, she would.
Once we reach the house of the ex-Paladin, Beth surprises me by being the first one who knocks. When he opens the door, he sees the look in her eyes, and moves to the side, silently inviting us in.
"We need some help," Beth tells him once she's seated next to him on the couch, and I on his bench press across from them.
"Anything," he replies.
"I assume you heard what happened." She looks down to the floor, playing with her hands.
"I did. Felt it, too." He puts his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"It had to be done." She looks up at him. "Anyway… I brought something home with me from the Institute… Someone." His brows raise in shock. "And that's what I need your help with."
"Beth, I'm confused."
She looks to me, as if needing help. I clear my throat and get started on the long story.
After a few minutes of explaining the situation, Danse looks more flabbergasted than I've ever seen him before.
"They made a kid?" He shakes his head. "Adults… I can fathom their want to an extent. But why a kid?"
"I'm so sure it was all part of the experiment my offspring decided to put me through," Beth says.
"And you're asking me if you should tell him he's a synth or not?"
"Yes," she answers. "Should we take the risk now, and hope he comes to terms with it relatively quickly due to his mind being that of a kid's? Or should we hold off, and risk him learning later on, and probably not taking it very well?"
"Why are you asking me?" Danse asks, looking between Beth and I.
"Because," I start, "you know what it's like to have learned your true identity—you know how hard it was. We don't want to lie to him, but we don't know if telling him is a good idea either. You can judge it better than either of us could, and we want your input on it."
"Well, first of all—I appreciate it." He stands and retrieves a bottle of beer before settling back onto the couch. "But, to be honest, I'd have to know the kid better to judge if it would be a good idea or not."
Right at the end of his sentence, Beth stands and walks out of the house—going to get Shaun out of the boat house, would be my guess. A couple minutes later, she comes back, Shaun in tow.
"This is our friend, Danse. He used to work in the Brotherhood before… he retired." Nice save, I think.
"Nice to meet you, sir." Shaun shakes Danse's hand, the child's looking fragile in comparison to the brooding man's.
"Good to meet you, too," Danse replies, seeming shocked at the child's politeness. "Beth—I mean, your mom—says you'll be living here?"
"That's the plan, sir. I haven't seen much of the island, but I like it so far. It seems really big."
"It is," Danse agrees. "Maybe your mom will let you go look around while we finish our chat?" He looks to Beth, who nods.
"Be careful, Shaun," she says. "And, if you would, don't go into the big house yet, okay?" Shaun seems confused, but ultimately nods and leaves the room. After he's gone for a few seconds, she looks to Danse, her eyebrows raised in a silent question.
"I think so," Danse says. "He needs to know."
After Beth had told Shaun he could live with us, we all headed to the mess hall for something to eat. The whole ordeal with the Institute left us all starving.
While they chatted about the past, about things unfamiliar to me due to their Institute nature, I let my mind wonder. I started thinking of what Duncan would think:
Will he be okay with Shaun living with us? We already told him Beth's son wasn't going to.
He would—sort of, in a sense—have a brother now. He's always been used to just him and I, really. He adjusted rather quickly to Beth in our lives—but will he adjust to Shaun as well, or will he be jealous of him? He's never been the jealous type, but that doesn't mean he could suddenly become jealous of him.
If we told Shaun that he's a synth, would that at all affect their relationship? Will Duncan be afraid of him, or even grossed out by the fact, if we were to tell him, too?
"Babe, you okay? Been awful quiet," Beth pulled me from my thoughts.
I smiled at her in encouragement. "I'm fine." But will Duncan be?
We decided before leaving Danse's house that it'd be best if I talked to Duncan while Beth tracked Shaun down. So, as she started heading toward Curie's house in search, I started toward our own, mentally preparing myself for whatever conversation lied ahead.
I walk into the foyer. "Duncan?"
"Up here!" he calls from his room. As I walk in, I see him sitting at his desk, writing something.
"What're you doing there, buddy?" I ask, moving in close to see his scrawl, neater than any near-six-year-old in the past managed to pull off.
"Writing a note to Mom." He looks up from his paper. "I heard the Institute explode. I want her to know that I'm really proud of her for being strong." He doesn't have a clue as to how much that would mean to her.
I smile at him, moving over to his bed and taking a seat. "She'd love that."
I then realize he has no idea about what happened—at all. He knows her son was taken before she left the vault. But he doesn't know what age he was supposed to be, what age he was. He doesn't even know her son was in the Institute to begin with. I sigh. This is going to be a long afternoon.
"Hey, come over here and sit by me," I say, patting the bed next to me. He looks curious, but does as I say. "We need to talk about something—and it actually has to do with the Institute.
"Remember how I told you a little while back, how Beth—er, Mom… needed to go to the Institute really bad?" He nods, his brows showing his confusion. "Well, it was because her son was there." I see his face light up, knowing how bad that could be.
"Did he get taken, too?" Unfortunately, he knows all too well what those evil people used to do—taking human beings in the night as if they were pigs being stolen during the medieval times.
I nod. "Yeah, he did—he was just a baby. But then he grew up. He became a ten-year-old boy for a while. Then he kept growing, until he was sixty years old. You know how old that is?"
"It's pretty old. Like, old people old." I can't help a snicker.
"Yeah. Like old people old. Anyway," I continue. "He became the leader of the Institute, and he made a synth version of himself when he was ten-years-old. Remember meeting the synths that look like humans?"
He nods, smiling slightly. "Danse is a synth. And so is Curie."
"Mhmm. And Chief Harkness back in Rivet City. He's a synth, too."
He seems appalled. "Really?"
"Yeah. So, synths aren't all bad, huh?" He shakes his head. I take a deep breath. You've lead up to it. Just say it now. "So, Mom and I—when we went into the Institute—we saw the synth version of her son, the one that looks ten." He nods, not seeing where I'm going. "He wanted to come with us—to go with his mom." He's still nodding, unaware. "Duncan, we brought him home. And he's going to be living with us, instead of her real son. Her real son is dead now."
He looks down a little bit, processing, with his face scrunched in thought. "So… her son is going to be living with us? But he's not her real son—he's a synth—cause her real son died in the explosion?" Quick learner.
"Yes…"
"So, he'll be moving into that empty room? Like you and Mom already planned?" I nod. "Okay." He seems fine with the situation. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this.
"It's okay with you?" I ask, making sure.
"Yeah. It'd be kinda like having a brother. I'd like to have a brother. I don't care if he's a synth—I like Danse and Curie a lot, and I know they're synths."
Now is my turn to be speechless. "Um, okay then." I remember the last detail. "Oh, yeah. Duncan, he… he doesn't know he's a synth yet. Mom and I were going to tell him later—we don't want to lie to him. So, when you meet him, don't mention it, 'kay?"
"Okay." He smiles at me, more enthusiasm than I anticipated. He's just happy to finally have a brother—something he'd never told me before.
"Have you wanted a brother for long?" I ask him.
"I—yeah. Living with Kate and Butch and Ellis… I got used to having a brother. Well, kind of. I thought it'd be neat if I could have a brother again. I just never said anything because I didn't know if you'd want me to have one…"
I think back to the conversation Beth and I had in bed the night before last. Seems a lot longer ago than that. Twenty-four hour days can do that. We'd both said we be interested in having at least one more kid—but that bubble was popped before it could rise too high. Having Shaun here at home turned out to be a good decision after all.
"Shaun?"
"Yes?" He turned toward his mom, an inquisitive look on his face.
"I think we need to talk," Beth said as we finished up our meal in the Prydwen's mess hall.
"What is it, Mom?" He had set his bottle of Nuka-Cola down, giving her his undivided attention.
"There's something you should know about." She looked at me, gaining a quick smile of approval. "Back home—on Spectacle Island, where we live—there's a few other people living there." Shaun nodded, urging her to continue. "There's… well, there's someone we can't talk about at the moment. But he's nice, and I think you'll like him once you meet him. Then, there's a lady—a scientist from before the War. She's odd, but nice also. And then we have a young boy." She looked to me once more, unsure of how to proceed. I took this as hint and finished the statement.
"His name's Duncan, and he's my son—from a previous marriage. Your mom and I went to DC to pick him up shortly before the whole deal with the Institute tonight, so he lives with us on the island. I think you two will get along," I said more for Beth's benefit than Shaun's.
Neither Beth nor I had told Shaun we'd been together for a while at that point. From his body language, and the few things he said concerning the matter, I knew he knew I wasn't his father, and that his mother and I had been married for a bit. He didn't seem too worried or upset about it, so that was a plus.
"Oh, okay." He picked his soda back up and took a swig. Once his mouth was empty, he asked, "So, I have a stepbrother?" To Beth's nod, he responded, "That'll be neat. I used to play with Quentin, but he was kind of mean. I've never had a brother before." He smiled. "I can't wait to meet him."
I can hear Beth and Shaun walking up to the house—their banter and laughter filling the air—and I'm glad she seems to be feeling better. Duncan looks at me, a bit nervous. "It'll be fine," I whisper to him.
The two of us leave his room and head down the hallway. Beth calls, "Robert?"
"Up here, hon," I call back. She comes up the steps by herself, having left Shaun in the living room. "He's ready," I tell her. "We're ready." Duncan smiles up at her. As the three of us descend the stairs and walk into the living room, we're ready to face whatever is about to happen.
"Shaun," Beth motions for the boy to stand from his chair. "This is Duncan." She places her hand on the latter's shoulder—who surprisingly isn't hiding behind either one of us. "Duncan—this is Shaun. My son."
For a brief moment, she looks at me—her eyes betraying the sadness which has yet to leave since last night's events. Her expression also lets me know she's wondering if I'd told Duncan everything about Shaun or not. Acknowledging her worries, I nod my head, ever so slightly. Her eyes go round, her brows shooting up. I nod again, a bit bigger. She nods herself—knowing what I mean—looking down and allowing her face to fold in contemplation.
While she's busy wrapped up in thought, I'm watching Shaun and Duncan just about stare each other down. However, she snaps out of it just in time to witness what happens next.
Shaun steps forward a little, seemingly startling Duncan some. He then reaches into his jean pocket and pulls out a pack of gum, offering it to Duncan with a small, "Brothers?"
Duncan slowly reaches and takes the gum, a small smile forming on his face. He pockets it, and looks up at Shaun. "Brothers."