10 The Dire Consequences.

Lucinda pondered what she should do standing in front of her bedroom door. She knew Theo was in there, but would he want to see her. She reached for the handle and hesitated again, has she been that clueless of what her son felt all this while.

Lucinda braced herself once more and pushed through the door slowly.

Her gaze scanned the room, the curtain was drawn leaving it in a gloomy darkness but a slight gap in one gave a crack of light.

The sound of sniffing came from around the bed, Theodore dark curls were visible from where she stood. Lucinda slowly approached him.

Standing next to him, she saw his arms wrapped around his legs and his face turned away from her gaze. She slowly lowered herself to sit beside him unsurely. They haven't talked much about a father figure in their lives. It was a topic that though brushed upon, she didn't like visiting it much. In her own stupid way, she actually thought the presence of sir Connor was enough, she didn't think he need more than a friendly male. Sigh, it was her mistake.

She should have listened more. How was that stranger more in tune than her?

"I'm sorry.." Theodore tiny voice first sounded. Strained and low.

Huh? Lucinda turned to him.

"No,no dear. It wasn't your fault," she bit her lips her gaze cast down at their feets side side by side. It has always just been the both of them." I should have listened more and asked how you felt."

"No. That's not it..." the little boy trailed off. " I-i..." the words couldn't come out. She gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

A few beat past and a rustle of paper sounded. Lucinda saw Theodore retrieve a paper from his pocket, then he slowly handed it to her, lowering his head more and avoiding her gaze.

With a side glance at her son she unfolded the paper and studied it. On the rumpled up page was a sketch. Rough, but she could understand it. Three people were drawn there. Her, Theodore and...a male figure. Their names were tagged next to the drawings but at the male figure's it just had the word 'papa' with a question mark. Studying it more, she saw the addition of the man was freshly drawn.

"You don't need to feel bad mama" her concerned gaze went to his. He finally looked up at her. His nose and cheeks were flushed, and unshed tears were glistening at his red rimmed eyes.

"Theo," came her gentle voice." I want to know how you truly feel" Her son though young has always acted far above his age most of the time. He liked being talked to like an adult and not a child most times. She knew when to keep the balance.

"I didn't just wanted a papa.." he began. "Theo, realized he wasn't growing fast enough to protect mama. Although i love mama alot, i can not deny that I won't be able to give mama the love other mama's and papa's share" he sniffed.

"Theo doesn't think mama is lacking in any way. But... i just wanted something more for mama. Wanted mama to be happy with a partner. Something Theo couldn't give. And..." he hesitated, his gaze casting down for a moment " i too just.. wanted a papa.".

He knelt and turned to his mother. His small hand reached to clean under her eyes. It was at that moment Lucinda realized tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Don't worry mama. Till i grow big and strong, I'll need help to keep mama happy and safe. Because my mama deserves the best." She felt her heart beating against her rib cage, her love knew no bounds for her precious son. In one swoop, she reached out and pulled Theo into her arms. Her child burst into tears. Finally giving into his childish needs which he often ignored; always trying to prove strong, always trying to grow faster than his age.

"I-i didn't know" her voice was chocked up as tears silently ran down her face. She closed her eyes, and rubbed her hand over his wavy dark curls. His small head shook side to side on her shoulders. " you don't always have to be so brave. Mummy is always here. I love you more than anything else, my precious boy" Lucinda rubbed her sleeve against her face. In her son's tiny arms, she was defenseless. A weak side to her shown only to this small bundle of joy, her lifeline.

"Its ok.." she held him tighter.

So, they sat there on the floor together, holding on to each other and wept, each strong being showing their weakness in that moment. Needing each other presence to heal.

•••

Running her fingers through her son wavy hair, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"My lady" Connor pushed in and gave a low bow. Sighting the sleeping child he lowered his voice.

"You need to see this" despite his low tone, Lucinda could sense the urgency in his voice.

Her brows pulled into a slight frown. After tucking Theodore in, she followed him out the door.

"What is it?" She asked after closing the door behind them.

"Not here my lady. You need to sit down for this".

Connor expression remained serious till they entered another room. She rounded the desk to take a seat before turning to Connor that stood beside her. His brows were slightly furrowed and his gaze tinged with worry as he said "you have a letter,"

She didn't see how that was a problem.

"Its from Lord Magnus " he wordlessly passed the letter to her. She stared silently at the rolled parchment in front of her. Her gaze turned hard, staring at the paper like her fiery anger could set it ablaze. She wished it would.

"Do i need to honor this message?" her tone was sharp and clip.

Connor swallowed "As much as i too don't want to honor it. We have to admit, He hasn't sent any message to you for a while, so i think its in your best interest to check it out at least." for a while? He meant years. After stopped sending messages, trying to make Lucinda out to be the guilty party for what transpired that night, And his relentless quest in getting an apology from her, claiming her step sister felt bad. She hasn't gotten any message from him since. It stopped coming in before her due date. Not even to ask of Theodore, since his birth.

This new message from him, although unwanted, did make her curious. What did he want this time around. Better yet, what audacious words does he have to spew now.

Since her hard stare didn't burn the parchment, she reluctantly picked it it. This form of message seemed more formal since be didn't bring it in an envelope this time. Removing the seal she rolled it out and began reading the content.

The words staring right back at her was audacious. White hot anger burned through her veins.

What?!