triplets

Part 9

"A well meaning idiot."

What a way to describe one's own father.

Accurate, but ultimately surprising to hear from Cale.

Whether it was before they'd been able to comprehend their memories or afterwards, Cale had always been the one who held the most affection for Deruth Henituse. It was a distribution of affection that made perfect sense in retrospect.

Cale had two lifetimes worth of memories with Deruth as a father and plenty of memories of him actually being a father to him that his siblings simply didn't have. He had seen and experienced just how good a father that Deruth could be at his best.

Penelope had so many issues with the concept of a family, especially father's and brother's, that any individual hoping to fit themselves inside of her heart in any of those roles would have to work exceptionally hard and be legitimately wonderful. Deruth was, frankly speaking, a flawed man and an inexperienced father who hadn't been up to that challenge.

Roksu similarly had issues with father figures but mostly had learned not to trust people easily until they'd given him a reason to trust them. Deruth had not done very much for the triplets since the day they were born. While they never wanted for material items, they had never experienced the warmth of parenthood.

Everything put into appropriate consideration, Cale would obviously hold more affection for the Count than his two siblings. And he had. Cale in his short second life had always sought out Deruth's attentions and affections and always took it the worst when Deruth didn't come through. He really loved his father and it impacted the way he thought and behaved.

Penelope and Rosku had actually privately developed the opinion that Cale was rather biased in favor of their father and struggled to see his flaws.

That was why it was so startling to hear Cale make such a statement, a look of frustration on his young frace as he ran a hand through his hair in a way that somehow managed to convey the meaning fuck, I need a drink without actually saying it.

Cale could be rather expressive like that.

Cale continued his criticism. "My father, our father, doesn't know how to cope well with grief or loss. Obviously. He also thinks that the best solution to any problem is to throw money at it."

Roksu could appreciate an ideology like that. It had certainly been advantageous to increasing his own riches while under the care of the Henituse family, specifically Deruth. Still, he could see the flaws in it as well.

"He's a doofus, using my mothers words, and his awkward inability to communicate his feelings generally leads to him appearing to be uncaring. He has the social awareness of mutt and the political mindedness of a goldfish. He's good at earning, saving, and spending money and so he relies on those three skills to get him through essentially all of his problems in life. When there's a problem that cannot or should not be solved with money, he becomes confused and withdrawn." Cale sighed. "In short, a well-meaning idiot."

Penelope, who had been listening to the entire spiel with a certain level of cathartic amusement, paused at a peculiar statement within.

She almost questioned it before she thought better of it and snapped her mouth closed.

My mother.

She shared a look with Roksu to check if he'd caught the implication as well.

For the triplets, 'mother' had never been an existence in their life. She'd died upon giving birth to them. Aside from christening them with their names, she was a nonentity.