The House at the Edge of the Cliff

What Happened?

Alexandria had a lot going on in her mind right now. The wheels underneath her long, fiery hair had been turning for quite some time now. Still, she seemed to not be able to make up her mind.

There was a decision hanging in the air. Something she had been thinking about for a long time. Something she and Sihu had been quietly conversing about when no other ears were present. It was something she would not even dare think of in peters presence.

She was sitting in her room on a chair. She had been stitching up an old blanket, but she had stopped and been staring at the wall for a long time now. She was startled out of her thoughts when a little ball of energy crashed into her.

" Mama!" her little five-year-old boy cried out joyfully as he jumped across her lap. The woman smiled, moving aside her equipment so that she could steady him. He wiggled his little legs as he looked up into her eyes. His eyes looked just like hers. Brown like caramel.

She ran a hand through his fuzzy orange hair. Noticing that there were some wood chips and dirt tangled in there. She needed to brush that out. She liked keeping her boy clean and soft.

She licked one of her fingers and used that to wipe off a little smudge on one of his cheeks. His little fists gripped onto her shirt tightly as he clung to her.

Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him close. He was a little bundle of everything that ever mattered to her now. He was the thing that gave her purpose in this dull, meaningless place. Everything she ever did was dedicated solely to him.

For that reason, she did not like him playing outside that much. His older siblings did not appreciate that he was very obviously mom's favorite. She had to keep an eye on him almost every minute or else one of the older kids would trip him, or push him, something to hurt him in a way that could be deemed as an accident.

She gave a big smooch on his head and he wiggled around in her arms with a giggle. She picked him up and set him on his feet. The big smile that he always gave her shining brighter than the sun she almost never got to see. That sun would never be able to warm her as his smile did though.

" You are a dirty little boy, and what happens to dirty little boys..." She sang in a tune sounding voice. Grinning widely when the little boy shook his head. Alexandria nodded in return. " Dirty boys have to be cleaned!" She said, reaching out and attempting to snatch him.

His small child legs carried him with a speed that she thought should not be possible for something so small. But they did and the little boy ran from his mom, screaming in delight as she playfully chased him around the room. His laughter filled her ears and warmed her soul.

He made his way for the open door, right as his father stepped in. The little boy crashed into his father's legs and tumbled to the floor. Alexandra gasped and moved to help her son up, but stilled when she saw the unimpressed look in Peter's eyes.

The little boy looked up at his father. One of his tiny little hands was placed on his boot. One thing Alexandria made sure of, was that Peter never really had a big role in her son's upbringing. Every time he tried to step in, she would strategically move in his way. Being sure to not make him mad in the process.

This led to a very nerve-wracking relationship between the two. Peter, only viewed the little boy as small. A little bug that took up all of his wife's attention. Gunner knew that this man was his father, but he only ever associated his father with being angry. The man made a shooing motion with his head.

" Go on Gunner." He growled out. The little boy stayed exactly where he was. She could see the fear growing in his little body, How he started shivering under his father's growing ire. She held her breath, her chest constricting tightly when Peter leaned down, a snarl forming on his face as he glared down at his son with enough wrath to light a fire. " I said, scram boy." He hissed down at the small child.