Page 21 of Like Fathers, Like Son
Anneka suddenly smiled, and it was like the sun came out from behind the clouds, beaming down on me.
“Your name makes so much more sense now! Yours, and your brother and sister. You’re all named for fire after all. I did think it sounded that way, but I couldn’t figure out why anyone would do that.”
I grinned, wondering why it took so long for us to have a normal conversation like this, and why it felt so natural and real.
“Yeah, exactly. Daddy Gray picked our names, because of how much he loves fire.”
Anneka glanced at our house, then looked at me again.
“Why do you have two dads? Most kids only have one… or none.” Her smile had disappeared in an instant as she remembered her own situation. Suddenly I hated her father so much more for the way he made her smiles go away. I wanted her to always be smiling.
“They don’t really tell us much about how they met, but it seemed normal to us, at least until we realised most other kids don’t have three parents. It works though, especially with mum expecting twins, and there being three of us already. Both of my dads help out with us and spend a lot of time with us.”
I was making it worse. I could see it happening, I could see her mood sinking back down to where it was when I came out to talk to her. Maybe that’s why I invited her to my house, even though it was probably a really weird thing to do. Besides, she wouldn’t say yes, would she?
“Okay.”Oh.
13
Anneka
Theirhousewassonormal, for a family so strange, with three parents and family outings to set fires.
“Oh hello, Anneka. Would you like a nice cuppa?” Blaze’s mum was so pretty, with the palest blonde hair, twisted up in a complex braided pattern. She rested a hand on her swollen stomach as she watched us come over to the counter.
“I’m okay, thanks, Mrs uh… Mrs…”
“Wilma. Just call me Wilma, and you remember Blaze’s fathers, yes?” She pointed behind her, and I watched them both walk into the room, looking surprised to see me there.
“Hi Anneka, I’m Gray and this is Dory. What are you two up to then? Going up to Blaze’s room, eh?”
“Gray! Take no notice of him please. He doesn’t have an off switch, believe me I’ve looked.” I didn’t really understand Dory’s comment, but I smiled anyway.
“I um…”
“Ignore them, love, they’re just being dicks. Do you want to sit up in Blaze’s room? The little ones are in their own room so they won’t bother you. I don’t think you want to stay down here with these two idiots hovering over you.”
His room? His parents would let me go up in his room with him? No way would my parents allow that. Well… my dad wouldn’t have, but he’d walked out, so it wasn’t up to him.
“Do you want to?” Blaze was watching me with a nervous look on his face, so I nodded, purely because I didn’t know how to behave around all three of his parents.
He walked past his dads, and I followed, taking care not to bump into the blonde dad’s bandaged arm. Burns? His entire arm and shoulder were bandaged, even the hand. How bad had it been?
He’d seemed pretty relaxed and wasn’t acting like it was hurting though. In fact, I distinctly heard him telling Wilma to get off her feet and let them bring her a cuppa, but then he laughed and said, ‘well, Dory will, babe’.
“Your parents seem nice,” I said lamely, as I followed Blaze into his bedroom. It was smaller than mine, with a single bed, small bookshelf, and a wardrobe in it, and when I walked to his window, I could see down into his back garden, and mine.
“They’re a bit embarrassing sometimes, but I love them. So, do you want to sit on the bed with me?”
I shrugged, and joined him, sitting with my back against the wall like he did.
“So… you don’t have a TV in here?”
“Nah, I read most of the time.” I got up to look at his books, but they were mostly fantasy type things about wizards and stuff, and not my kind of thing.
I caught sight of a book just under his bed, and pointed at it.
“Is that what you’re reading right now?”
