“Wait, you have a good side?” Ares interrupts, making Kratos laugh.
There’s a quiet knock on the doorframe, and all three of them turn.
“Dinner’s getting cold. Your Papa will be disappointed if you don’t enjoy it properly,” Mama says.
Oh.
I haven’t spoken to Mama in a while. I mean, I send her texts and respond when she reaches out, but I don’ttalkto her.
Is there anything to talk about?
Ares gets up and opens the door for her. “Hey, Mama. Want to chat with Pandora?”
I cringe internally. “If you’re having Papa’s dinner, you should all go do that for me. I’ll live vicariously through you all!”
“You’re right,” she says. She smiles at me, gentle as ever, but there’s something in her expression that tells me she knowssomethingis up. “Kratos, Ares, Mel — go on. I’ll be right down.”
The twins exchange a look, but they both shrug and file out. Mel follows only a few steps behind, probably eager to get away from me, which has Mama sitting down at the table in front of the tablet to fill the screen.
I could end the call, but I’m notthatrude to my own mother.
“Hi,” I say awkwardly.
“I’m glad to see you, Pandora,” she says. “I was hoping to get to talk to you. I know you’ve been busy.” She smiles at me, but there’s something concerned about it that has my hackles up.
Has Papa said something to her after all?
“Yeah. My intro to biochem class is kicking my ass,” I say as an excuse. “Professor Richter seems to hate me. Do you think if I offer her sexual favors, she’ll go easier on me?”
Yeah, I’m deflecting with a bad joke. If Mama is scandalized, she won’t have time to worry about anything else.
She shakes her head, but there’s a small, rueful smile on her lips. “You are your father’s child,” she says, her voice dry. “Somehow, I don’t think that will work.”
Where’s her usual scandalized outburst?
“Well, my other idea was to leave dead rats on her doorstep, but I don’t think that’ll make her like me either.” I rest my chin on my palm.
That has her eyeing me askance. “No, I don’t think it will either.” She levels me with a look. “How are you really doing?”
I tense up, because I want to lie and tell her I’m fine, everything is peachy, there’s nothing to worry about.
Even Mama wouldn’t believe that.
“I’m taking care of it,” I say instead, a lot softer this time. “I want to handle my own problems without running to my parents all the time.”
She falls silent, absently tucking a strand of long brown hair behind her ear. “But you remember that you don’t have to deal with it alone, don’t you? You’re an adult, and you can take care of yourself — we all know that without a shadow of a doubt — but sometimes, we need to lean on the people who love us.”
I give Mama a crooked smile. “Don’t I have to make my own mistakes, too?”
Not that I think I’ve made any mistakes so far.
The house fire wasn’t a mistake.
Killing Zayden wasn’t a mistake.
Blaze, Asch, and River aren’t mistakes.
They can’t be.
