Chapter 16
LUNA
I still can’t get over last night.
Surly Bastard stopped in the middle of an important trial just so he could say goodnight to Theo, just because he had made a promise.
Something I didn’t even think mattered to someone like him, yet I keep learning things about ‘Oliver Walters’ and, in all honesty, I’m grateful he called because after tending a house full of kids and Theo, by the time we got home, I was exhausted.
I let Theo sleep in a little longer and top up our going-out bag, then work on my dream Diary for a while.
I haven’t made much progress on it, but I have managed to write a few random ideas down.
I put down one idea about a child-friendly building when I hear little feet tapping against the ceiling.
I tuck my diary away on one of the shelves in the living room.
I’ve been keeping it there because it’s a pain to keep bringing it up and down the stairs, and Oliver hasn’t said otherwise, so it’s a new home for now.
Taking two stairs at a time, I reach Theo’s room as he stumbles out, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Morning, sleepy head,” I tease gently as he leans into me, mumbling a response. I bend down to pick him up and carry him to the bathroom, where I sit on the end of the bath, with him resting on my lap.
I give him a few moments to wake up properly as I prepare his toothbrush. He takes his toothbrush from me, but it remains in his hand for a while. I reach up to run my fingers through his curls.
Oh my god, sleepy Theo is so cute, I could just eat him. Is that normal? I think there is a term for it, but I can’t remember. It isn’t until we’re done cleaning his teeth and Theo is halfway through his breakfast that the expression comes to me.
Cute aggression.
That’s the expression where something is so cute you want to bite it, the perfect way to describe what I want to do to Theo and with his cheeks.
As it’s Sunday and Theo had a lie-in, we took our time getting ready and leaving the house. But he’s still sleepy, barely walking right on our way out the door. We had an hour journey ahead of us to Gran’s on public transport.
After locking up the house and slipping my earbuds in, I lift Theo into my arms, and he knocks out again within the five or so minutes it takes for us to get to the bus stop, while listening to my ‘chill playlist’ whilst waiting for the bus.
It’s too difficult to try and check the bus times with Theo in my arms, so I just let my music keep me company until an elderly man joins us at the bus stop, muttering the words.
“Long day already?” nudging towards Theo, sleeping on my shoulder.
“Yes, someone didn’t want to go to bed on time last night,” I reply as if Theo is mine, which sets off the same fluttering feeling in my stomach I got yesterday.
My new bus stop friend laughs as the bus pulls up.
The kind old man helps me beep my oyster when I try to take a seat, resting my bag in between the two seats while the bus moves off. Once I’m seated, the old man kindly asks if the seat next to me is taken, and I make a joke that it’s reserved for friends, but he’s welcome to it.
We didn’t have much conversation after that. I go back to my music, and he picks up the free Metro newspaper located at the front of the bus. We get about halfway to Gran’s when Theo wakes up and squints his eyes, looking at his surroundings.
“You okay, sweetie?” I ask him as Theo lets out a big yawn, nodding his head.
“Well, hello there, young man,” the old man says to him as Theo gives him a sleepy frown.
“Hello,” he mumbles politely, hiding in my chest. I smile, hugging him with one arm and using my other to fetch a bottle of water for him.
“Did you have a nice nap?” the sweet old man asks. Theo only answers with a yes or no, but after he has some water and a little snack, he’s the life of the bus, telling the old man about all his favourite Mario characters and greeting and waving goodbye to all the people coming and going.
“You will be a good boy for your now, won’t you?” The old man asks as we prepare to get off the bus. I don’t have the time to correct him.
“Yes, I will!” Theo shouts, grabbing my hand and jumping off the bus and pulling me in the opposite direction of Gran’s, so I gently redirect him as we wave goodbye to our bus buddy as the bus drives off.
The walk only takes five minutes as we are walking hand in hand, swinging our hands in the wind. Theo says something that catches me off guard.
“Luna, are you the new May?” It makes me stop, letting my hand slip out of his.
“You’ve asked me that before, haven’t you? What does it mean, Theo?” I ask, remembering how Theo asked me the same question on my trial day when I was setting up JustDance for us to play. He stops walking too and comes back over to hold my hand.
“Ollie has friends named after the months. We go out and do fun things together, but I don’t like another May. She makes funny faces, so I want you to be the new May.” Theo reveals, coaxing me to keep walking, but I still can’t understand what he’s talking about.
First off, Oliver has friends? Apart from this Joonie I keep hearing about, I was under the impression he only had the one. Secondly, a different friend is named after the months of the year.
T-that sounds like…?
“Theo? Are these friends girls like me?” I ask him, choosing my words carefully.
“Uh-huh!” he says, swinging our arms again.
What the fuck?
Hold a minute.
Are you telling me the man I’ve been giving the benefit of the doubt has been bringing random women around a child every month, but I had to sign a fat ass contract just for being Theo’s nanny?
“But out of all of them, you are the prettiest, Luna.” Theo snaps me out of my thoughts, beaming up at me.
“‘Aww, thank you, sweetie.” I smile back, looking down at his sweet little face.
“A-and do these friends stay over?” I ask before I can stop myself, trying to make sense of the information I just learned.
“Umm? I don’t know, I don’t see them at bedtime, only during the day.” Theo says as we reach Gran’s flat building. I don’t ask any other questions as he climbs the stairs to the second floor. Theo counts the steps as we go, then asks me what number Gran lives at.
I tell him she lives at number four. Once we reach the floor, he bolts off towards the door and knocks it with his little fist as I take my time catching up, but I can’t stop thinking about Oliver’s newly discovered friends.
When I reach the front door, Gran slowly pulls it open to bend down to Theo.
“Well, well, who is this handsome little man at my door?” she hums, pretending to tap her chin. “You must be Theo,” she gasps as we both watch Theo’s eyes grow wide, and she knows who he is.
“That’s me!” he beams, bouncing in excitement, then leaps onto Gran, hugging her neck. Luckily, she has control of her balance, so she doesn’t fall and has strength, and she scoops Theo into her arms and turns to me as I finally reach the door and offer her a smile.
“Hi, Baby,” she greets me, stepping aside as Theo asks her what her name is. I open my mouth to respond to her when a feeling shoots up my spine.
“Oh, shit,” are the words I mumble out loud until I blink to see Gran glare at me for my use of language, and Theo has run off to explore around the flat. I apologise for swearing and reassure Gran that I’m fine as I step into the flat.
Although I’m not sure I am, because the moment I saw Gran, it brought back what she said last week we were together, and how it connected that with what Theo told me.
I really don’t want to believe it, but I think Oliver Walter might very well be a man-whore Gran accused him of being and that the thought of having a sex dungeon in his home is now a higher possibility.
After I take some time to adjust to my new, disturbing realisation, I take on the job of making dinner tonight as Gran is having too much fun playing with Theo.
Those two are really hitting it off. Theo tried to teach Gran how to play Mario Kart after I set up the Switch to the small TV in the living room.
The place was filled with Theo yelling at Gran to press A, and Gran hiding her frustration behind a laugh as she swears she’s pressing A, but her Thumb is stuck on B.
While I’m seasoning the chicken, I try to help Gran from afar, but she only ends up directing her frustration towards me, so I leave her to suffer.
After about fifteen minutes, when she couldn’t get the hang of it, they both gave up and ended up dancing TikToks. I remind Gran that she couldn’t post anything; otherwise I’d lose my job.
“Do you think I was born yesterday?” was her response. I just roll my eyes. I knew she wouldn’t, as she’s made videos before and knows how to add them to her drafts, but I still felt the need to mention it.
I pile the dishes in the sink whilst waiting for the chicken to fry. Stew chicken was on the menu tonight, the same dish I made for Theo during my trial day. A comfort dish that reminds me of my childhood.
Since Gran was the main source of income in our home, she wasn’t home often enough to make it, but I would always clean my plate whenever she did, and one night I cried and went without dinner because I wanted Stew Chicken.
When I remember one night, the door to my bedroom was left open a crack, so I wouldn’t get scared, and I heard Ji-ji and Gran talking in my dream.
****
“Hello, Yeobo.” My grandad calls, standing by the front door as Gran steps in, exhausted from a long day working as a Treasurer for Abbey National Bank. Gran smiles, pulling her husband into a tight hug.
“How were they tonight?” she asks as they pull away, share a kiss before closing the door.
“They were angels as usual.” Ji-ji lies as he and Gran make their way to the sofa.
“Okay, now how were they really?” Gran, with a stern tone, taps her husband’s hand resting on her knee. Ji-ji takes a deep breath.