The Meeting

Theo

From the moment he could talk it became clear that Theo was a deep thinker, an affectionate child with little control over where his mind would take him. He could recite facts like no other child I had met, and would ensure he told everyone in the house how much he loved them before he would let an argument overrule the happiness felt within these four walls. As Aoife had grown Theo had found his own interests, finding pleasure in spaceships, puzzles, and anything that kept his brain active; the two never lost the incredible bond they had.

The arrival of Finn had been overwhelming for Theo, even if Leah and I hadn't noticed just how much. As our newborn lay sleeping in his crib, the four of us sat down to dinner; Aoife and Theo counting the number of chips on their plates to make sure neither child had been given preferential treatment.

"How was school?" Leah smiled at the two.
"Boring." Aoife sighed.
"Good." Theo smiled back.
"What did you learn about today?" I asked in Theo's direction.
"Subtracting, and then we drew a picture of our families." Theo said proudly.
"Eat up and then you can show us." Leah smiled towards him.

The conversation soon turned to tomorrow's planned movie night, a night that we had promised as a way of reminding them that Finn's arrival hadn't changed anything for us as a family. Leah cleared the table, enlisting Aoife as her assistant much to her disappointment, whilst Theo ran to his school bag to show off the picture he had drawn. I noticed how Leah and I stood tall, Aoife beside us in her football gear and what I assumed was meant to be a guitar around her waist, Finn was in Leah's arms. It was a cute picture, until I noticed that Theo had placed himself on the other side of Aoife. There was nothing special about him; Leah had her Arsenal top, I had a microphone, Finn had a love heart around him, but Theo had drawn himself with nothing. Just a stickman. I decided against commenting, wanting to speak to Leah before I jumped to conclusions. The two disappeared to enjoy their last batch of freedom for the day before they were sent to bed for school, Leah and I fed Finn before she gave me the I'm guessing we're going to bed too eyes from the living room door.

"Le, come here a minute."

Leah smiled and sat beside me, her arms pulling me closer to her as her perfume clouded my nose and made me relax. I lifted Theo's picture from beside me, placing it into her hand. Leah too smiled at the picture, before a frown began to form on her face.

"Why's he drawn himself like that?" She screwed her face up.
"That was my reaction too."
"Did you ask him?"
"No, I didn't know if I was overthinking. What does that even mean?" I sighed.
"Could be nothing, could be something though. He's so quiet that sometimes I just assume he's fine." Leah sighed too.
"I'm sure he is, will we keep him off tomorrow? See if your Mum can have Finn?"
"Sounds good to me, I'll text her."

And that's what we did.

— — — —

Theo was confused when we told him he had the day off, checking the calendar to see if we had put a teacher training day in it, making Leah and I laugh at his eagerness to stick to the school rules. Amanda came to get Finn once we had dropped Aoife off to school, Theo affectionately stroking his little brother's head before he left.

"Right, what do you want to do today? We can do anything you want." Leah said, clapping her hands together.
"I don't mind really." Theo said quietly.
"How about we go to the planetarium?" Leah asked.
"Really?" His eyes lit up.
"Yeah, let's go." Leah said, stroking the top of his head.

We arrived at the planetarium with a very excited Theo, he stood between Leah an I with his arms extended to hold both of our hands. As we watched the interactive shows and played on the machines his infectious little laugh filled the room, and his bright blue eyes dazzled every time he saw something that he didn't expect. He filled our heads with facts about each planet, telling us how spaceships worked and how long it took to travel to mars. This was one of those moments when I really couldn't believe I was so lucky to have such incredible children. Leah tried to act like she wasn't mesmerised too, but every now and then I would catch her carefully reading the information blocks that stood beside pieces of history; her eyes would dart away when she noticed me laughing at her.

We took Theo to McDonald's for lunch, his little legs swinging whilst he sat on the chair waiting for his food was warming my heart. The drive home was filled with Theo recalling the things he had learned at the planetarium, and his promise to not rub it in with Aoife that he had the day off and she didn't. Leah was the first to mention the picture, something both of us had been putting off all day.

"Theo, you know the picture you drew in school?"
"Yep."
"Well mummy and I noticed that you didn't give yourself anything, you know like Aoife had a guitar and Finn had a love heart. You were at the very end of the line too. Why was that?" Leah said, trying to reason with the youngster.
"I don't have anything." Theo said innocently.
"What does that mean?"
"Aoife is good at football like you, and Mummy is good at singing. And Finn is good at being cute." Theo said.
"You're good at lots of things." I could hear the sadness in Leah's voice.
"Not really." He sighed.

My eyes on the road ahead had spotted a park so I decided to pull off so we could talk to him properly. Leah didn't know what to say to him, and to be honest neither did I. I did understand it though, he had grown up in a house full of music and football, so his little interests had probably seemed so minimal compared to ours. Theo ran to the climbing frame, looking back to see if we were watching him as Leah and I sat on the bench.

"How can he think that? He is incredible." Leah sighed.
"Do you remember Aoife asked us what happened if she didn't like music or football? I think that's his problem."
"I don't care what they're into, I just don't want to hear them say they have nothing."
"I guess we never really know what's going on in their little heads."
"Theo, come over here a second." Leah smiled.

Theo came running over, plonking himself on Leah's knee and lifting his shoe up to my lap, obviously thinking his lace was loose.

"Your lace is tied, silly." I chuckled, making him laugh too.
"What do you want to be when you're older?" Leah asked.
"A singer or a footballer." His eyes looked at us for our approval.
"What if you could be anything?" Leah asked again.
"A spaceman, or a scientist." He said proudly.
"We would be so proud of you if you were a spaceman, or a scientist, you know." I told him.
"Not a singer?"
"You don't have to be a singer just because I am, or a footballer just because mummy is."
"I don't?"
"You can be anything you want to be." Leah said, cuddling him into her chest.
"I'm gonna go to space!" He beamed.
"That's my boy." I smiled.
"Theo, you know we love all of you, don't you?" Leah sighed slightly.
"Yep. But I don't mind how much you love me. I want you to love Aoife and Finn the most because they are my brother and sister."

I watched as Leah's eyes welled up, struggling to take in the selfless thing that he had just said.

"We don't need to love any of you the most, we have huge big hearts that have enough room to love all three of you the same."
"Mummy's right, we have three separate parts in our heart for each of you." I added.
"Say it Mummy!" He giggled at me.
"You say it." I stuck my tongue out at him.
"No, you!" He laughed harder.
"We love you all..." I began.
"Mummy!" He waited for me to finish.
"Turty tree and a turd percent each." I said, my Irish accent sounding stronger than it had in years.

Leah and Theo's giggles echoed around the empty park, his head tilted back as he vibrated on Leah's knee with laughter. Once he had calmed down, Leah placed him onto the ground and knelt down in front of him, I thought she was going to remind him one last time how much we loved him, she had other plans though.

"Do you have to be fast to be a spaceman?" She asked.
"Yep. Really fast."
"Race ya to the car!" Leah shouted before making a run for it.

— — — —

A few weeks later, Theo burst through the front door, kicking his shoes off in the hallway and rustling through his school bag for something.

"I drew a new picture today in school." He said as he walked towards us, Leah standing behind me kissing my cheek as she did every day when she returned from the school run.
"Let's see!" We said in unison.

The picture that Theo had drawn was almost identical to the first, the only difference being that he was in a spacesuit, and Leah and I stood at each end of the children, rather than him being by himself. Leah lifted her eyes to meet mine and smiled before walking towards the fridge and proudly hanging Theo's portrait there.

"Perfect." She said as she admired it.