“Oh, my goodness! What does he have you doing now?” Maeve asked, when she saw Niko carrying her son toward her.
“Playing on the splash pad,” Niko said.
“I’m going to climb up there,” Griffin said, as Niko put him down and he started climbing up the thick ropes that were woven into nets. The buckets above the nets tipped over and splashed water all over Griffin and the other kids climbing the nets, making them scream in delight.
Niko grinned as he watched the boy climb up the net on his way to the water guns that were mounted along the walkway above them.
“I’m sorry you keep getting rooked into taking care of him. He’s just a little worried about what’s going to happen to us next. I keep telling him it’s okay, but he doesn’t seem to believe me.”
“It’s okay. I like him. He makes me feel important.”
“Griffin does?” Maeve asked.
Niko nodded as he looked up at Griffin, who’d made it to the top and was shooting his water gun at some kids on the opposite deck. “I’m usually the comic relief. The one that parties longer and later than anyone else. I even run the bar the Pride owns. It’s probably because I don’t have a mate; I’m not looking, and tease everybody else as they find theirs.”
“Ah, I see,” Maeve said. “Well, it sounds like you’ve got a fun life.”
“I do. But, it’s nice to have Griffin take one look at me and decide that I’m the best one to protect him and his mother. Kid doesn’t even know me and took one look and said, that’s him. That’s the guy that I’m going to get to protect me and my mom.”
“Does something to your heart when someone you least expect thinks the world of you, doesn’t it?” she asked, her own focus on her child having the time of his life.
Niko didn’t answer.
She turned to find Niko standing there, blatantly staring at her. “You alright?”
He just kept staring.
“Niko?” she asked.
Niko snapped out of it and blinked a few times. “What was that?”
“I just said it’s nice to have someone believe in you.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Would you happen to know anything about Gwen? Is she okay?”
“They’re working on her right now. She’s getting an IV and they’re monitoring her. There’s a lot of people gathered around her that know more than I ever could about medical treatment, so I’m pretty sure she’ll be okay. We were lucky the Variant arrived when they did.”
“That was a little unsettling, to be honest,” Maeve said.
“The Variant? They’re alright. We’ve met them and built up a friendship with them. There’s nothing to worry about. They’re good people, just been fucked coming and going and slow to trust.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t have thought twice, but some of them were with the Falwells when they attacked us.”
“I can promise you that it was not any of the ones that are here today. They’ve been freed and are rebuilding their lives. My guess is the ones that attacked you are still captive and have no idea that freedom is even a possibility. Those still in captivity have to follow orders or they’re killed.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It is. But regardless of who and why, I meant what I said to Griffin. You and he are safe here and you won’t have to leave. You are welcome here for as long as you want to be here, even longer,” Niko said.
Maeve reached out and laid her hand on Niko’s forearm. “Thank you, Niko. That really means a lot.”
Niko stared at her hand as he took a step back.
“I, uh, I gotta go. The bar’s waiting,” he said.
Maeve slowly removed her hand and watched him without a word.
