Growing Into It

By Purple Lacey

Part 8
 
Sharee waited until there was silence coming from the hall where her son had just disappeared before turning her attention to the waiting air duct.   She took a deep breath and let it out slowly to force herself into a deeper calm, knowing the little Sentinel would be able to hear any stress in her voice. She did not want to give him any reason to back away from her. 

“Vin,” she called softly, “It’s Granny.  I know you’re upset, Sweetheart, but Granny’s here to make it better.  Come out of there now, honey, and let me see that you’re alright.”  She paused and listened closely, but did not hear any movement in the air duct.  She kept her voice low but the tone firmed a bit as she injected a little maternal power into it and said, “Vin.  Come out now.”

Sharee was gratified to hear the sounds of movement coming toward her, and made sure the look on her face was sympathetic.  Vin’s head cautiously emerged from the wall.  She did not move, but allowed the boy to slip out on his own.   When he had crawled in the room completely, she opened her arms wide in invitation.

Vin stared at her for a moment with indecision. His life after his parent’s deaths had made him a cautious child when it came to forming emotional attachments to people.  With the exception of Buck, and to a lesser degree Ezra, Vin usually took his time in accepting new people and allowing them to get close.  He had only met Sharee that morning, but from all the stories Buck had already told of her, and her own instant acceptance of Vin into her family, the child felt the beginnings of familial connection.  It was his senses that finally nudged him into making the decision to trust her.  The woman watching him so patiently smelled like compassion... love... caring.  The look in her sapphire eyes sparked memories of his own mother, and the way she used to hold him close and kiss his owies better.

Sharee watched as a shudder ran through him, and then he fell into her open arms, wrapping both of his around her neck and burying his face in her shoulder.   Sharee’s arms closed around him offering safe haven from the storm that had ravaged his world.

“There now,” she whispered, “I’ve got you.  Granny’s got you.  It’ll be alright, Pumpkin.  I promise.”

Great sobs started to wrack the thin little body and Sharee tightened her hold. 

“B...B...Buck,” Vin stuttered between sobs as he tried to explain.

“Shhh, sshh,” Sharee interrupted.  “You don’t have to say it.  I heard what happened, Vin.”

“He hates me.  Buck hates me,” the child wailed as he tried to burrow deeper into the comforting embrace.

“No, he doesn’t, Vin,” Sharee instantly corrected.  “It’s just a big misunderstanding, Vin, that’s all.  Buck loves you, honey.  He loves you more than he has ever loved anything or anyone. Buck is just as upset as you.   

You heard him just now, I know you did.  I ask you, honestly, how did he sound?  If you think back, I’m sure you’ll realize he didn’t sound angry or mad.  He was very anxious that he couldn’t get to you.  That was all he was thinking of, Vin, getting to you and making sure you were alright.”

“Nu-uh” Vin argued in a sad whisper, “He yelled at me, and he pushed me away so he could go to HER.  He cares more about her than he does me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true, Vin.  After all, I heard him calling for you, not for anyone else.  He left that woman to go after you.  She isn’t someone you need to feel threatened by, honey.  She could never take your place with Buck.  I know my son, Vin, so I can give you my word that it is the absolute truth I’m telling you.”

“But she was hurting him, and he didn’t let me protect him!” 

Vin sounded as much indignant as hurt by that thought.  The little triangle of skin between his eyebrows creased deeply, and his mouth pursed in a ferocious pout.

Sharee’s lips twitched as she fought back a smile while deliberately trying not to imagine the scene the little Sentinel had interrupted in his rush to ‘rescue’ his Guide.  Sharee was far from a prude, and she had no illusions about her son’s libido, but there were still some things she believed a mother did not need to picture in too much detail.

She cleared her throat as she made the effort to swallow back the laugh that wanted to peal out, and instead replied, “She wasn’t hurting him, Vin.”

A blonde head leaned back far enough to look her in the face as Vin responded, “But she was...” only to have Sharee interrupt with, “No, Vin.  Trust me.  In spite of what you think you saw, or heard, or anything else, she wasn’t hurting Buck.”

He pushed out of her arms to sit in her lap staring at her mutinously, his young arms crossed on his chest.
 
Sharee silently sighed, and vowed her son would owe her big time for this one.  She calmly asked, “Honey, what do you know about sex?”

tbc

Part 7    Part 8  Part 9



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