Maniac’s Mayhem

The next morning brings with it a whole new level of chaos, between getting the kids fed and making sure both Cierra and Claire leave on time for their appointments. Luckily, we managed to get through it all using some black protector magic, courtesy of Lyssa. Now that all that chaos has settled, the kids and I are on the couch watching cartoons.

“Shinon? Can we talk?” I ask the little girl who has dragged the white fox close to her chest as she watches the TV intently.

Her blue eyes blink slowly, then she turns to me slowly. “About what?”

“Mostly what happened yesterday, but also about some other stuff.” I say with a smile. “We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, of course.”

Shinon stares at me for a good minute, her blue orbs staring at me unblinkingly. “I will talk.”

I smile at her. “Thank you, honey. Where to start first?” I say looking in my mind for the best start. “First off you are not an extra.”

Shinon frowns slightly, holding Snowball ever so tightly.

“What I mean by that is my plan is and always has been to be as much of a parent for you as I am for Cali, and I am sorry that I have been paying more attention to Cali than to you. My intentions were never to make you feel neglected.” I explain slowly to her.

The red head stares at me for a while as she comes to some kind of conclusion. “Do you love me?” she finally asks, sounding extremely unsure.

I smile at her. “Of course I love you, and I will do my best to prove it to you.”

“Even after I hurt you.” She asks, hiding her face behind the fox.

I blink, hurt me… oh, the stabbing. “Not at all,” I say, lifting up my shirt and pointing at the spot. “See, did not even leave a mark. You have to try a lot harder to hurt me.”

Shinon shuffles closer, reaching out a hand and touching my skin. “How?”

“Well, it’s all rather complicated, but the simple explanation is that I heal really fast,” I say, patting the girl's head, making her eyes jump up in surprise.

The little kid hums and sits back down in silence for a long minute. “Why?”

“Uhm why what?” I gently ask, feeling a bit unsure.

“Why do you love me?” she asks, louder this time, looking at the floor.

“That is a complicated one,” I say, scratching the back of my neck. “I guess the most basic answer would be instinct. Like how animals naturally feel they have to protect their young.” I say, pointing at the TV.

“But we are not your young,” Shinon says, clutching at the fox, who I am now convinced does not have any bones.

I nod. “That is true, but I want you to be.”

“Is that allowed?” Shinon asks, giving me a look like I just suggested we go swimming in a pool of cacti.

“You know I am a Samurai, which means the rules don’t apply to me,” I say with a cocky grin.

Shinon’s look of disbelief grows even bigger at that. She slowly turns her gaze back to the floor, looking deeply in thought for a while.

I also take this time to think to see if there are still issues that need to be addressed only to realise there are several. I let out a deep sigh, startling Shinon as she looks at me in surprise.

I give her a small smile. “So next up, I would like to discuss going to a therapist with the both of you.” I say, looking between both Shinon and Cali, who had been listening to our conversation.

“What is a therapist?” Cali asks, looking at me with curiosity.

“It’s a doctor, but instead of fixing the body, they fix the mind.” I explain by putting a finger to my head.

“Is our mind broken?” Cali asks, looking a bit worried.

“We don’t know, dear, the mind is invisible, so we don’t know if there is any damage.” I say with a smile.

“What if there is damage?” Shinon asks, rocking herself back and forth slightly while holding Snowball close. She did not look good, making me instantly worried.

I shuffle over slightly, stroking her arm. “Then it’s up to you if you want to fix it or not.” I say, rubbing her shoulder, trying my best to let her focus on me.

“Then if we don’t fix it?” Shinon asks with tears in her eyes.

I start to panic a bit. Trying my best to stop whatever emotional breakdown is happening right now. “Then you don’t,” I pause, realisation hitting me. “Shinon, we are not going to punish you if you don’t want to do something.”

I drop from the couch, kneeling in front of her. “Hey Shinon, I am going to tell you something important now, okay? So try to listen.”

Her icy-blue eyes slowly lock with mine.

“You never again have to do something you don’t want to, I promise.” I say with a bit of a weak smile. “As soon as you tell me you don’t want to do something, eat something, or anything else, you don’t have to, I’ll make sure of it.”

Shinon’s eyes rapidly blink for a bit before she somewhat relaxes, takes a deep shuddering breath, and looks at me. “What if I never want to leave?”

I chuckle, trying my best to suppress my own tears. “Then you will never ever have to leave. I will fight anyone who tries to take you away.”

“You promise?” Shinon asks, looking really small.

“I promise.” I say in a serious tone.

“Me too, me too. I want to stay too!” Cali shouts as she practically jumps onto me.

“Okay, okay, yes, you too. I promise you both that you can stay here for as long as you want.” I say, dragging the monkey girl off my back and into a hug where the girl is upside down in my arms.

Cali screams with laughter at the motion, and even Shinon smiles a bit.

“So, getting back on topic.” I say putting the girl down. “You don’t have to go to the therapist if you don’t want to, but I think it is a good idea.”

“Why?” Cali asks, sitting down next to her sister on the couch and petting the fox.

“Well, for starters, therapists are sworn to secrecy, so you can tell them anything, and they are not allowed to tell me, your Mum, or anyone else. Secondly, our therapist has a big fluffy cat,” I say, showing its size with my hands.

The kid’s eyes sparkle slightly at the mention of a new animal friend.

“I’ll go,” Cali says with a happy smile.

“Me too,” Shinon says after a moment.

I smile. “Okay, so we do have two options for therapy. We can go downstairs to her office, or she can come here and we do it in Cierra’s home office.” I say, pointing at the door in question.

Cali gets off the couch, running to the door in question and throwing it open. She looks inside for a bit, then turns back to me. “This place is good.”

I nod, then turn to Shinon. “What about you?”

“Here is good,” Shinon says.

“Okay, I will set up the appointments then,” I say with a smile. “I guess that leaves something more fun, and that is discussing other activities that the two of you might want to do.”

“Activities?” Cali asks, looking confused.

“Yeah, I mean, things to do besides watching TV all day. Like going to the zoo, making a painting, or whatever you like.” I explain.

Both kids look at each other for a bit before Shinon speaks up. “What if we don’t know?”

I shrug. “This is not a thing you have to decide on now, just keep it in mind and once you find something you want to do, tell me.” I say, patting her shoulder. “In the meantime, I will try to come up with some stuff we could do.”

“I want drive car.” Cali says with a smile.

“That would have to wait for a bit,” I say, mirroring her smile.

“Wait for what?” Cali says, tilting her cute little head.

“Well, I would have to install a roll cage, upgrade the airbags, put in flame repellent, and up my life insurance in case your Mum finds out.” I say listing the objective on my figures.

“How long wait?” Cali asks.

“I don’t know. I will send a message to our mechanic, and we will go from there,” I say with a smile.

Cali nods, walking back to the couch and sitting down again.

“Right, so driving lessons will be a bit later. In the meantime, how about we do some crafts?” I say with a smile.

“Crafts?” Shinon asks.

“Yeah, make something with our hands and a bunch of paper.” I explain.

“What should we make?” Shinon asks.

“You can make whatever you want, but if you don’t know anything, we can make a family tree.” I suggest.

Both girls look at me with confusion. So I start simulating some examples using the house holographic projectors.

“It explains how a family is built up. You could put the two of you at the bottom and then work from there,” I start pointing at different pictures. “Your moms, aunts, uncles, grandparents and so on. It’s a good way to try and learn who everyone is.”

“Mom?” Cali asks, pulling my leave.

“Yes, honey.” I say, patting her head.

“Can I use animals, not tree” she asks, looking a bit shy.

I shrug, not being exactly sure what that means. “Of course, you can make it look however you want. Want to start right now?”

Both girls nod, so we move to the table, using a tarp to protect the table from the oncoming onslaught.