“Sorry.I didn’t see you.”She nodded, still unsure around the big man.All of the Welsh men were large men, including the father.She’d met him just the other day.And Mrs.Walsh had introduced herself just this morning when she’d been looking for her son.All of the Walsh family had been in sometime over the last few days, and she felt like they were there only to meet her and her son.
Thatcher usually didn’t hang out at job sites with her.Usually, he was at school or on some adventure when she was at a job.But this week he’d been on break from college, and she had enjoyed having him around.Plus, he was working for Gravely and making some extra cash, and that was always good.He was going out with his friends now on the weekend and needed the extra cash when having fun.She didn’t worry about him going out too much, but she was his mom and did worry about him some.He was a great kid, and she loved him to pieces.
After cleaning up her gear, the job was nearly finished, and she was going to be leaving soon, Olivia decided to get herself some dinner and go home alone.Sidney had mentioned that he was going to be spending the night in the house, not that she blamed him; it was a wonderful home, but she didn’thave anything to do with that, so she didn’t ask if she could stay too.It was something that she wanted; to sleep in the big house, but she’d never intrude on his time here.Putting her things in the car, she was just starting the engine when she heard from him.
“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight?I know that Thatcher is going to have pizza and a movie in the mall, so he’ll be taken care of.”She asked him where he was eating.“I was thinking about having dinner at home.I was going to pick up some Chinese food and bring it back with me.The dining room table and chairs have arrived today, and I want to break them in with you.”
“You said Chinese?I love Chinese food.”He told her it was one of his favorites, too.“I’d love to get to know you better by having a meal.We still aren’t going to be mates, but we can be friends.Right?”
“If you say so.”She didn’t know what that meant and asked him about it.“I want to be more than friends with you.I won’t rush you, but I’ve fallen in love with you over the last few days.And Thatcher is wonderful.He’s a smart kid, isn’t he?”
“He didn’t get that from me.I showed him how to work hard for what he wanted, but I never got how he could read something and know it hours later, like he does.I’ve been lucky in that.”He asked if he’d had any kind of idea what he wanted to do when he got out of college.“So far, he’s just taking what he needs to take.Then, in a couple of more quarters, he’ll be able to pick a major.I think it’s going to be nursing or something in the medical field.He changes his mind about once a month on what he wants to do.”
“Sounds like something that I did each time I went back to college.I would want to go back for one thing and end up in another field altogether.But it all worked out in the end.I have a lot of education that I might not have had otherwise.”She asked him what he’d done this time.“Computers.Mostly to set them up and get them going, but I can program them as well.It’s been nice to be able to go in and set up the families’ computers for them.I think of all the jobs I’ve had, this one is the one that keeps me from being bored the most.In a couple of years, I might say that about something else, but there you have it.”
“I’m an electrical engineer.I can and have wired new homes and rewired homes for a while now.It pays good, and I like the hours.”He asked if she had to take an interpreter with her everywhere she went.“No.Just on jobs where the owner might be around.Usually, they don’t care to allow me to read their lips.Kinda a man thing, I think.”
“I’m glad that I got to know you a little better through your job.It’s been really nice for me to be able to talk to you when I want to.”She said that was certainly a perk.“Thanks.”
True to his word, he didn’t rush her into anything.Dinner was delicious.And it was fun to share it with Sidney.He was such a nice man that she didn’t feel uncomfortable around him like she usually did with big men.He was…well, he was different than any man she’d ever met.
They laughed and talked throughout dinner and clean up.He told her what his life as a dragon had been like, and she, in turn, told him about growing up with Thatcher.She’d never thought of how the two of them had grown up together until today.But she thought that she’d done a good job of raising him so far.
“You have.I mean, he’s a personable, great kid.Smart and funny.The few times that I’ve spoken to him, he’s been polite and behaved himself.One thing that I have noticed about him is that he doesn’t have a cell phone in front of his face all the time.”She said that she didn’t have one either, and they both laughed.“He’s a great kid, and I can’t wait to get to know him better.”
“Do you expect him to call you Dad?”He said that he didn’t, no.“I guess it would be up to him on what he called you.”
“I’d rather he called me Sidney than Mr.Walsh.”She nodded at that.“My dad doesn’t even like to be called Mr.Walsh.I think he is always surprised when someone calls him that.”
They talked about different things throughout the night.Nothing in particular.Just whatever they thought of, that’s what they talked about.he was even surprised when she brought up the day of the kidnapping.She told him how she’d broken her arm trying to get Toby Lea away from Winchester.
“He stomped me.Not just on my arm, though that hurt enough, but he also stomped me in the ribs when I was in his van.I don’t think he was happy that he got me over her.I fought him so much those first few days that I think he wanted to kill me.”He asked her if she thought Toby Lea would have survived.“Years later, she came to me.I think she thought that I’d hate her for some reason.I knew what I was doing when I tried to save her.I was a couple of years older than she was, and we’d been practicing stranger danger for a while now.It’s funny, they only teach you how to scream bloody murder, but they don’t teach you how to get away.I was surprised when he hit me back.I thought he’d just run away and leave us alone.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you.You were very brave.”She said that she was stupid for getting herself messed up in all that.“Perhaps.But you saved her life.What did she say when she saw you all those years later?”
“She thanked me at first.Then I think she was angry with me.I never understood her for that.It was as if she thought that I had taken something away from her at the time.Like the limelight or something.”He asked again what she had said.“She said she wished that I’d never saved her.That I’d not been fair in saving her life.”
“I don’t understand that either.Do you suppose someone said something to her, or was she jealous of you?Neither one of those things works in having you save her life.”He thought of something.“Did the newspaper blame her for what happened to you?Do you think your parents blamed her and said something to her?That’s all I can think of that would make her feel that way toward you.You’d think she’d be grateful for what you’d done for her.I’m sure you certainly saved her life.”
“That’s what the doctors told my mom and dad.That anyone younger wouldn’t have survived the birth, much less whatever else happened to me.”She looked around the room.“I never thought about what he was doing to me when he was doing it.All I could think about was that I wanted to go home to my own mommy and daddy.I don’t have any siblings.Had I had any, I might have turned out differently.I couldn’t talk to my parents at all.They would shut me down as soon as I brought it up.I think they only wanted me to keep Thatcher because it would remind me daily what I had done.I don’t think they liked me all that much.”
“Are you happy that you kept him?”Her smile was enough of an answer for him.“I’m glad you did as well.He might well have grown up in a bad home somewhere.Having you as his mother saved his life, too, I’m betting.”
They’d been sitting on the couch for the past hour and a half.They talked some more about the kidnapping, but for the most part, they talked about each other.He’d never enjoyed getting to know someone as much as he did her, and he thought that she was enjoying herself as well.They laughed a great deal, and she was crying at one point about the day of the kidnapping, but they got to know one another, and that was the most important thing.
He knew at some point she had dozed off.He didn’t move, allowing her his comfort for now.As he listened to her slight snore, he found himself falling into a stupor as well.Just as he was ready to doze off himself, he thought of how comfortable he was and that he was going to sleep the best sleep of his life tonight.Putting his arm around Olivia, she snuggled deep into his shoulder.Even as he tried to get himself comfortable, he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep without hurting in the morning.It was going to be well worth it, he thought.
Laying to his side, he felt her roll with him, and before he could tell what time it was, he was asleep.Yes, he thought before completely going to sleep, he was going to sleep well tonight, even if he had to be crunched up on the couch with Olivia.He couldn’t think of a better way to sleep soundly than to have someone laying atop of him while they slept.
~*~
Olivia couldn’t believe she slept all night with Sidney.Waking up with her head on his chest was the best thing ever, and she didn’t have any nightmares either.he didn’t say anything to her about how she’d been all over him, and she thought that was nice.When she said she wished she had something else to put on, he told her about the magic that she had, where she could change her clothing out foranything she wanted.It was the second-best thing he’d done for her.The first being able to talk to Thatcher.
Being able to speak to her son even when he wasn’t in the room with her was a perk she never thought of having.Daily, she told him that she loved him.She could sign it to him, but knowing that she could actually say the words to him made her feel so much better.He did the same, telling her at least twice a day that he simply loved her.
Today was her day off, and she was going to spend it getting the house in order.Sidney said that they could move into the new house anytime she wanted, and she was looking forward to that, but she didn’t want to pack up a dirty home to take it to the new one.She was going to save some of her furniture, but not a lot of it.The house was already furnished, and she loved it almost as well as if she’d picked it out herself.
She’d gotten herself a faerie just this afternoon.He had introduced himself as Boom.She loved the little man and was glad that he was with her.He explained in more detail about how she was going to be getting a dragon on her body once they bonded.She had to have him explain that to her as well.
