Page 82 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“You mean, like, at all?” Jacob frowned, trying to understand.

“Yep. I have this… condition. It means going outside is really hard for me. I get scared and have to run back inside before I faint. It isn’t pretty. So I stay in my house and talk to people online, like you guys.” She smiled at them.

Sammy’s eyes widened. “I was scared when we moved to London. I didn’t want to go.”

“Because it was different from Atlantic City?” she asked with compassion.

Sammy nodded. “Yeah, and my friends weren’t there.”

“I didn’t want to go either,” Jacob confessed. “But Dad needed to go away, I think.”

“So you went for him?” Annabelle said.

Jacob grinned. “And to see our uncles. They’re all living in England and Scotland now. They’re Dad’s four best friends that he grew up with, and they’re all really cool. One of them used to be a martial arts fighter.”

“That’s Uncle Beast. He’s got loads of tattoos,” Sammy enthused. “Lots of different pictures all over him. I bet he’d get one of your comic heroes on his back. He’s got space there.”

Her eyes sparkled with delight. “That would be cool.”

“Aunty Belinda’s married to Beast,” Sammy said eagerly. “She acts in movies. She could be Jade Justice!”

“That’s a thought,” Annabelle said.

“He’s not just being a dumb kid,” Jacob said. “She’s famous. So’s her brother. We only met him once, but he was a superheroin a movie.” He stopped talking, frowning. “I can’t remember which one, but Dad knows. You should go meet them.”

“She can’t.” Sammy elbowed his brother. “She has a condiment.”

Annabelle laughed. “A condition,” she corrected.

“You know,” Sammy said, “you could go outside if you went with my dad. When I was scared of London, he held my hand, and I kept close to him. It really helped.” He glanced at Jacob out of the corner of his eye before sitting up straight. “I was a little kid. It’s okay for little kids to hold their dad’s hands.”

Noah placed his palm over his heart. It ached from missing his boys. Suddenly, they seemed too far away for comfort.

Jacob elbowed Sammy. “She can’t hold his hand. Grown-ups don’t do that unless…” He turned beetroot and couldn’t look into the camera. “You know.”

“Know what?” Sammy asked innocently.

“Like if they’re dating and stuff,” Jacob mumbled.

“Oh.” Sammy looked at Annabelle. “You need to date our dad so you can hold his hand and go outside. That way, we can all go to Comic-Corn and meet Spiderman.”

“It’s Comic-CON,” Jacob said with long-suffering. “Not corn. And she can’t just date Dad. That isn’t how it works. You can’t just tell people to date. They have to like each other first.”

“Do you like our dad?” Sammy asked, determined not to be derailed.

“Yes, I do.” Annabelle smiled. “I like him a lot.”

Noah felt a warm sensation in his chest, in the spot where his hand rested.

“Then just hold his hand, and you’ll be okay.” As far as Sammy was concerned, the matter had been resolved. He returned his attention to his drawing.

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t have a clue. But seriously, Dad’s almost as good at fighting as UncleBeast. They all used to fight together, all the uncles. I’m sure he could protect you if you went outside. And maybe you could, like, only look at things close to you or something. When I was scared in London, Aunt Julia, who’s scared ofloadsof stuff and really likes whiteboards, told me that she has a trick for not feeling scared. She doesn’t look at everything. She just concentrates on the small things near her. Then the world isn’t so big. Maybe you could try doing that.”

“Thanks.” Annabelle seemed genuinely touched. “Now, let’s get this drawing finished before your grandparents fetch you for dinner.”

“They eat too early,” Jacob said.

“Old people,” Sammy said wisely, making Noah chuckle.