My Triplets

Ch. 27

"Hey Dad, can I ask you two questions?" Killian asks me in this serious voice.

Eyeing the boy suspiciously, I put down my spatula from finishing up dinner. "You already asked one monkey, but sure..." I drag out the word.

"That's why I said two," he says in a 'duh' voice. Smart ass. "Anyways... soccer tryouts are next tuesday... and I wanted to know if I could go?" Killian draws out as if he was nervous about my answer.

Hmm. Sports. I guess that's a normal thing for kids their age. "Of course! Just make sure I have all the details beforehand so you can make it to tryouts, practice, and everything." Turning to the other two, I ask, "What about you two? Do you have any sports that you want to join?"

Storm looks up almost too excited about being allowed to join a team again. "Well, I was hoping I could play water polo again."

My little girl plays water polo! I can't believe one of them actually took after me! "That's great, Sunshine! I actually used to play back in high school. Have you heard about a team or should I find one for you?"

"Could you find one for me? It's not exactly a popular sport." She sighs.

"It might not be popular, but I've found it's one of the more interesting ones. Most games are stop and go the whole time, like football and baseball, but water polo only stops if a goal is scored." I try to console her.

She nods, silently agreeing.

I turn to River, he looks like he's trying to decide what to do. "Do you have any sports you want to join, Little Hero? What ones are you thinking about?" I ask him excitedly.

In typical River fashion, his choices are... well let's just say not just for him. "Well I was thinking about either Karate, boxing or wrestling. Which do you think would be best?"

"Hmm. Well why do you want to do those specific things?" I ask him. Hopefully if he airs out why he wants to do that then he'll make the decision for himself.

"I want to learn how to protect people. I thought this way I would learn how safely." He explains shyly. His head is stuck looking down at his plate as if he's either embarrassed about it or afraid of our responses.

Storm doesn't look very happy. She actually almost looks angry at him. "River Kade Sky! You do not need to protect us! Not anymore. We're safe here. Why don't you choose something that would actually make you happy?" Her voice is as cold as ice, and I don't like how mad she is about this.

"STORM! Upstairs. Now." I tell her with a firm tone. "River and I need to talk and then I'll be upstairs to deal with you."

True to her name, she storms up the stairs in anger, leaving us all behind her. Hopefully I can deal with the aftermath.

"Killian give me and River a moment alone please." I say in a softer voice. Killian leaves silently, but I don't pay much attention to where he goes. All of my focus is on the boy sitting in front of me with his head low and shoulders shaking.

Damn it Storm. Why the hell was she so angry in the first place? Did she have to hurt her brother like that?

I walk around the counter to pull him into my arms. We're both silent while he lets out all of his emotions. For all of the strength he likes to show others, River is the most emotional compared to his siblings. But after everything he's been through, the fact he can feel at all is a miracle.

Most children would have either tuned out their emotions until they can only feel anger. It makes me so happy that he's willing to show these emotions to me.

Gradually his sobs turn to little hiccups and soon he's quiet again. "Little Hero. What's wrong buddy?" I ask him softly not wanting to scare him into crying once more.