Page 18 of Reign of Light
“Do you want to climb with me? Please, please, please?” he begs, puffing out his bottom lip and letting his face droop.
I glance around the deck and back up to Weston, who now has Fern on deck with him. I don’t want to miss the call for the collection crew, but keeping Fin occupied and away from everyone as they receive the news might be the best thing until we can officially tell him. Weston knows I am going to the meeting, and he won’t leave without me.
“Sure,” I say, “but not too high.”
Jorn’s lessons come back to me as we scramble up the mainmast and I follow Fin through the ropes and beams. Just as we reach halfway to the top, we stop and sit, looking out over the view, and Fin’s chattering starts. He tells story after story, and I listen, trying to stifle my giggles at his enthusiasm and childish charm, and trying to determine what is embellished in the mind of a six-year-old, or what is actually true.
His mind runs wild, but when he finally gets bored with stories, we play games, spying things on the island and having staring contests. Anything to pass the time and keep him busy while I wait for the call from below.
A familiar low voice breaks our concentration, and I grip the beam beneath us as Fin looks around for its owner.
“Having fun up here?” Weston says as he pulls himself up onto the beam below us. My breath catches in my throat as he hops to his feet and walks across it without holding onto any ropes or hooks. I almost call out, begging him to be careful, but the way he moves with confidence and finesse makes me fall silent, reminding me he has lived on this ship for much longer than either Fin or myself. Scaling the mast and crossing these beams is probably second nature for him.
“Lot’s of fun, mister Weston! Do you want to play a game, too?”
Weston looks at me before gripping the wood between Fin and I.
“Actually, Fin, I need to talk to you about something.” The muscle in his jaw tightens, but his eyes soften as he looks up into the boy’s face.
Fin waits eagerly, with no idea that the news Weston has to deliver isn’t exciting, and I wonder if he will ever truly understand the weight of it all. Weston doesn’t make him wait long.
“Do you remember when I told everyone the dust was almost gone? That we didn’t know if we could get more?”
Fin’s smile falters slightly, but he nods. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, we found out that it is all gone, so we all have to stay here now. Together.”
“Oh.” Fin’s voice drops along with the corners of his mouth as his brow furrows. “So I can’t see my sister or my mom or my dad again? For real this time?”
Weston nods solemnly. “Yes. For real this time.”
“That makes me sad,” Fin murmurs, and my eyes snag on his chest as he takes in a shuddering breath.
“I thought it might,” Weston says, and nods down toward the deck below. “But you have a big family here. Everyone cares about you, and we’re not going anywhere.”
Fin’s eyes sparkle with the hint of tears, but he looks at Weston hopefully. “Are you going to be like my dad?”
Weston’s throat bobs, but he doesn’t look away from Fin. Tears prick at my own eyes and I blink them away, trying not to think about the lost vision we all had for our lives.
“How about more like a big brother?” he says, and my chest aches.
Fin looks at me, then back to Weston, and his nose scrunches. “But you’re old.”
Weston’s laugh rings out around us, flowing on the wind, and I can’t help but giggle with him.
“I’m not that old,” he says with one of his rare, genuine smiles. Fin returns it.
“You’re more like a dad old,” Fin says, then turns to me. “Lennox, are you going to be my family, too?”
My chin quivers as I fight the quickly returning tears in my eyes. “Always, Fin.”
This family may not be the one that any of us envisioned. Hell, who could envision meeting a group of strangers on a magical island and think you’d be willing to lay your life down for theirs? But it is who we have, for all of eternity. Even though it isn’t the life that we pictured, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
He nods, his shoulders still slumped slightly. “I’m still sad, but I’m happy about you.”
“We are too, kid,” Weston says and pats his leg. “I also think Roley might come around soon.”
Fin perks up at the news, his tiny body squirming on the dangerously high beam.
