Page 90 of Beautiful Chaos
Ant hasn’t spent much time with Oakley, but he knows Silas blames himself whenever anything goes wrong. He’s always hoped Silas would find someone, and his chest aches with the thought that they might not be able to move past this issue with the fathers.
As annoyed as he is, Ant silently vows to at least listen to what everyone has to say.
Ignoring the parents, Indaja reaches across the table, and Silas reaches back. She grips his hand until his eyes, so reluctant and dark, meet hers.
“This is not your fault.”
His chest hitches and his eyes flatten. It’s a brief loss of neutrality, which he quickly regains control of.
Still holding Silas’s hand, Indaja turns her attention to Oakley. “This is also not your fault.”
Oakley wipes his hand across his mouth, then surreptitiously wipes his eyes.
She releases Silas and turns to Ant and Erik. “I have followed Silas’s case from the moment he was rescued from that lab. While Edison has been an incredible mentor, his efforts would have been for nothing without the stable, loving home you provided him.”
Ronan shifts uncomfortably at the other end of the table, his chair squeaking against the floor. Indaja ignores him for now, focusing on Ant instead.
“Silas shared with me your one rule. Would you mind sharing that with the table now?”
Ant hesitates, then uncrosses his arms. He reaches out, tracing the wood grain of the table with his finger. His jaw sharpens and tears spill. He ignores them.
“Our one rule is that Silas is loved no matter what he does. That he would be loved no matter how successful or not our interventions were. The rule is that he is loved regardless. Because a child always deserves love.”
Indaja turns to Silas. “Did you believe Ant and Erik when they introduced you to this rule?”
Silas reaches down to pet Cupcake, avoiding eye contact with his fathers. “Not at first. Not for a long time.”
“But you believe it now?”
“I kind of had to.” He gives a wry smile, returning his hand to the table. “My dads are pretty stubborn.”
Erik gives Ant’s arm a brief squeeze. Sy only addresses them by their names, but he always calls themhis dadswhen he’s talking about them to other people.
Maybe that doesn’t sound like much to the casual observer, but to Ant and Erik, it’s everything.
“What led you to believe them?”
Silas takes a sip of water. He sets down the glass and considers it for a moment before answering.
“Well, I guess I kinda discovered that there’s a hidden rule in love.”
“Which is?”
“Trust.” He thumbs away a drip of condensation. “My dads found safe ways to trust me. To show that they believed I was doing the hard work.”
Ant presses his hands over his heart. That was exactly what they’d done.
“What’s one of the ways they trusted you?” Indaja asks, her tone encouraging.
Silas’s eyes glisten. Sending a small grin to his fathers, he gives a one-word response.
“Blueberry.”
Ant and Erik are visibly touched by this answer. Erik kisses the top of Ant’s head. Blueberry had been his idea.
It had been a big gamble, introducing Silas to their horses, given his history with animals. They weren’t, however, operating on blind faith. They run an equine therapy center, and their horses are trained in both therapy and search-and-rescue. They remain calm even in the trickiest of situations.
“Tell me about Blueberry,” Indaja asks.
