Page 59 of Pucking Them
I freeze. “Why wouldn’t you?”
Eden grabs the trash can from the edge of the room, before dropping it with a clang at the foot of the bed.
Robyn struggles out of the blankets, crawling to join Eden. She smiles at him encouragingly.
She seems to be turning into a Firestarter herself.
I’m not sure if Eden is a good or bad influence on her.
“Because we never even knew when our birthday was,” Shay replies, “until the Prince family adopted us. We didn’t understand what birthdays meant. So, they’re special but also challenging for us. And…” He glances at me underneath his eyelashes, “…our birthday is next week.”
“What?” Robyn squeals, outraged. “Why didn’t you tell us? We are making this the best birthday of your life and that takes planning.”
“Says the woman with birthdayphobia, who tried to hide her own birthday,” Shay points out.
“Wearegoing to make it the best birthday of your life.” I capture Shay’s soft lips, surprising him. “If you need to feel safe — fucking owned — to share that with us, then I’ll make sure that it happens. You’re stuck with us. This is your home. If you can’t fully trust it yet, I’ll keep proving it to you. But thank you for telling us about your birthday. I will protect your faith in me like I do your heart.”
Shay kisses me then, happy and spontaneous.
My lips curl into a smile.
I love to see Shay’s spirits lifted.
I glance over his shoulder and am equally pleased that Eden’s eyes lighten, when he strikes the match and the flame sparks to life.
Robyn kneels next to Eden, as if in a holy rite, supporting him.
Eden doesn’t look away from Shay, as he sets the flame to a corner of that shocking article.
The flames curl around the photograph of his parents.
Yet Eden keeps his gaze fixed on his twin.
I almost shout out, as Eden keeps holding onto the paper, while the white-hot flames flare higher and higher, closer to his fingers.
At the last moment, he drops the blackened embers into the bin.
His shoulders relax. His forehead smooths.
Robyn holds out her hand to Eden, and he takes it. Robyn pulls him down onto the bed.
“Better?” She pushes Eden’s hair back from his face.
He answers by bending his head for her to more easily slick his hair into place.
Then he snatches up the Guide and shoves it across the bed toward me.
“Do you want me to show him what you wrote last night, bro?” Shay checks.
Eden nods.
Shay reaches for the book, flipping it open and passing it to me.
The page is smudged with tears, but I can still make out in Eden’s handwriting:
I won’t be controlled, powerless, or owned again. It would kill me a second time, and I don’t know if I would be re-born.
My throat becomes tight.
