Page 47 of Duty

“Just … duty waits on no one,” he said cryptically. “I wasn’t expecting a whole legacy worth of duties to come falling on my shoulders, but here I am. It’s certainly reminded me that in fact, my life is just as much a mess as anyone else’s is—simply in different ways.”

“I don’t—”

“Understand, yeah I know. I’m glad you don’t, though.”

Haven frowned. “Why?”

“Because none of that matters when I’m with you.”

Oh.

“But my parents,” he added after a few seconds, “well, they’re a different story.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugged. “Kim and Gio—that’s my mom and dad—they would have been proud of me, regardless of anything else. I could have flipped burgers on the side of the road, and they would have told me to go ahead and live my best life, as long as I was happy.”

Haven laughed softly. “Really?”

“Really, yeah. They … I’m their only child. My mom had a rough time after I was born, I guess, and she was scared to go through it again, so they didn’t have more kids. I think that really affected the way they chose to raise me in a lot of ways.”

“And how was that?”

Andino made a noise in the back of his throat—amused and contemplative at the same time. “Freely, you could say. They didn’t hover. They didn’t make choices for me, or put down very many rules … if any. They just let me go, and followed along for the ride. Yet, I never really went wild, or found myself in too much trouble. I had fun, took some risks, and always had a safe place to fall back on. I learned a lot about who I am and who I wanted to be because of the way my parents stepped back and let me figure it out on my own. Most people can’t say the same, you know? I was lucky.”

Haven could hear it in his voice …

“And you love them for that,” she said.

“I do,” he admitted. “I love them for that the most. And what about yours, huh?”

Haven widened her eyes. “My, what? Parents?”

“Mmhmm. What are they like—or were, when you were younger?”

“Uh, typical, I think.”

“You think?”

Haven grinned. “I mean, they didn’t want me going crazy, but they let me stay out until one, and Dad let me help at the bar from the time I was fifteen. Couldn’t make drinks or serve them, though.”

Andino chuckled. “Sounds decent.”

“And then I wanted a tattoo once; they said no, and I went and did it anyway. First time they ever grounded me, but what were they going to do?”

“The tattoo was already there, I suppose,” he said.

“Exactly. And I think my mom helped with that, too. She’s an artist; paints for a living, but it’s more a hobby now that they’re retired.”

Not to mention she doesn’t get around as well as she used to.

Haven didn’t bother to mention that.

“Anyway, my mom explained despite the fact they didn’t like or agree with it, this,” she said, gesturing at her colorful ink marking up a good portion of her visible skin, “was a way of expressing myself, and expressions of one’s self shouldn’t be contained or controlled. The only thing they asked was that I didn’t tattoo my face or hands.”

“You haven’t, either.”

“Nope,” she agreed.