Page 56 of Three Bites

“I agreed to enough insanity today, I don’t need it to be documented,” Theo waved a warning tiny T-Rex hand at Victoria.

“What brought this on?” I had to ask.

My two companions shared a look.

“Victoria had been trying to help me with some of my triggers,” Theo said quietly but then the corner of his mouth quirked up. “And her current approach is to make the costumes she puts me in as ridiculous as possible. I hate to admit it, but it seems to be working. I can’t imagine my father ever putting me in a T-Rex costume so I can recontextualize this into a new experience.”

“I’m glad you found some peace,” I said. “And it seems you two are having fun doing this.”

“Couples that T-Rex together stay together,” Victoria boinked her big dinosaur head against Theo’s who tried to pet herwith his stubby T-Rex arms. “Anyway, aren’t you a bit early? I thought you would get back from the Cornellos in the evening?”

“I excused myself earlier than planned because I had a guest to bring home.”

“No way,” Victoria’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“Yes, darling. One Esther is safe in our Manor. And I think she is going to fit with us better than anticipated as she is a mouse shifter,” I revealed.

Vic’s mouth fell in an O of surprise before she covered her face with her hands.

“All those times I called her a mouse to her face... and you are telling me I was right? She is a literal mouse? Wait, her having many siblings makes sense now... Mice are known for having a lot of children, right?”

“Hmm, is she supporting those siblings of hers financially? That would explain why staying in a stable, well-paying job was so important to her, even with the Cornellos being horrible employers,” Theo pointed out.

“Even if she doesn’t she will probably want to visit her siblings frequently... I will see how we can incorporate regular family visits into her schedule,” I mused.

“I will talk to her and see what she wants,” Victoria said eagerly then hesitated, looking at Theo.

“Go,” Theo snorted. “Tristan will help me get out of the costume.”

Victoria took a sharp breath in, recognizing that Theo was challenging himself, taking another step in his road of self-healing, by allowing a man to help him with this.

Respecting Theo’s decision, Victoria waddled in her dino getup to the house.

“Let’s do it here,” Theo shot me a nervous smile. “No one ever undressed me in the garden so maybe it won’t be this bad.”

I tried to be careful but fast when I peeled Tristan out of the ridiculous costume. It went better than expected, maybe on account of Theo still having his everyday clothes underneath.

“It’s working,” Theo said to himself, then repeated to me. “It’s working! I can’t believe Victoria just showed up and made my life so much better. Tristan, I love her so much. How can I show her how much I love her? I need her to understand.”

“I think she already does. But as far as grand gestures go how about this...”

Chapter Twenty-seven

Victoria

I was excited for today. Theo was taking me on the promised aquarium date. And it was going to be our first foray outside in our matching t-shirts! I went with a tongue-in-check pair this time so when Theo picked me up for our date from my room his t-shirt proclaimed ‘I don’t do matching shirts’ while mine said ‘But I do!”.

“This is for you, Vic,” Theo said and offered me... a bouquet?

The tiny flowers were made out of shells and they were put in what looked like a mini-sized styrofoam cup decorated with marker drawings made by a toddler.

“Thank you...? I get the shells, but what’s with the cup?” I asked, miffed.

“This is the ultimate treasure of every marine biologist. You can’t belong to our club if you don’t have at least one of those. Or ten. Or a few hundred like Steve. Anyway, the point is, this cup started as a standard-sized, plain white styrofoam cup but I decorated it and then sent it so deep underwater it wascompressed by the pressure and it became tiny! It’s the closest to magic a marine biologist can do and I want to share this with you.”

I took the cup gingerly, fearing it would be fragile after such a procedure but it was holding up good enough to fulfill its role of an impromptu vase. Turning it around I admired the various marker squiggles, sunbursts, waves, flowers, sea shells... I could tell Theo had fun drawing this.

“Thank you. I will cherish this,” I said and put the vase on the shelf next to my desk, where I could frequently admire it. Cut flowers were beautiful in their quickly waning beauty but getting a gift that was going to last was even better.

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