Icarus loved seeing Amy modeling her new outfits at home. The family trip had been an absolute success. But when she came to him with a printout about a fashion school in Parisim, he wondered if he‘d made a mistake.
„I’ll only be gone for a short while,“ Amy assured him, „And after two semesters and I‘ll have a diploma and a plethora of real-life applicable skills.“ She was quoting the pamphlet now, but her excitement was genuine.
Icarus was apprehensive to say the least. Not lastly because with Amy away, he‘d not only have to look after the children, but Amy‘s horses too. But since the day they‘d met, he‘d never been able to say no to Amy when she smiled at him like this.
There was no time for any more discussions, as the semester was about to start the following week. Amy kissed her children and husband goodbye and caught the next flight to Parisim.
*
Icarus shared his worries with his aunt Huxley and her „roommate“ Theo.
Hux had never been shy about expressing her opinions. „I mean, I get that Amy needs a break and all that,“ she said, „But just running off and leaving you to wrangle the kids and her horses? That‘s kind of fucked up.“
„She really wants to do this and I‘m trying to be supportive,“ Icarus explained, „I don‘t really mind taking care of things while she’s gone. I can take time off from work. But—and I know this sounds weird—I keep thinking that chasing wild ideas like this can only end badly.“
There was no need to vocalize what made him think that way. All three of them instantly remembered how Icarus’ mother had spent most of her son‘s childhood barricaded in her lab, sciencing.
Theo finally broke the silence. „Look, ultimately she‘s her own person. You did the right thing by supporting her dreams.“
„And if she ends up running off with some douche, she wasn‘t all that anyway,” Huxley added helpfully.
***
Julius never particularly liked the clothes his mom picked out for him, but with her away for school, he had started feeling strangely protective of them. Even the uncomfortable blue sweater vest from the family trip to Parisim.
So after David Lambert had made fun of Julius‘ „nerdy“ vest, Julius had refused to let Frank copy his homework. Having no homework to turn in had earned David a stern scolding from Mrs. Riffin.
Which now, in turn, earned Julius a hard shove in the back from David.
Julius stumbled, but propelled his arms to avoid falling forward onto the hard concrete. For a brief moment he thought he‘d regained his balance, but he’d overcorrected and landed squarely on his butt.
„I didn‘t snitch,“ Julius whined, „You just got caught.“
„Whatever, Drooly-Ass.“ David‘s retort was unimaginative, but nonetheless effective. Julius was sufficiently hurt by his new nickname.
Chad Miller, still laughing, chorused, „Drooly-Ass, Drooly-Ass,“ as the two boys ran off.
Julius scrunched up his face trying to hold in tears. He wished he had snitched on David. He would have deserved it. What a jerk!
„What a jerk!“
He flinched to hear his thought spoken out loud. A red-haired girl sat on a bench a few steps away, a front row seat to the humiliating scene that had just played out. Julius went to sit beside her.
„Are you ok?“ she asked. Her concern seemed genuine.
Julius got up and dusted off the bottom of his pants. „Yeah, I’m ok. It doesn‘t hurt at all.“ It did hurt a little, but he wasn‘t about to admit that.
„David is a huge jerk,“ she reiterated.
„He‘s your brother, right? You’re Mary, one grade below us?”
„Yeah,“ Mary sighed. „But I’m nothing like him! Sorry David knocked you down.“
„He only got me because I wasn‘t prepared.“ Julius puffed out his chest. „If he’d challenged me fair and square, I would‘ve drop-kicked him like BAM-whoosh-POW!“ He punctuated each sound by kicking and punching the air like in the sim-fu movies he‘d watched with his dad. Mary giggled.
***
Icarus had never put much stock in the value of hard work, but he was somewhat proud of himself for how smoothly things were going. He‘d established a good routine. He got up at dawn to feed and clean the horses, then took a quick shower before cooking breakfast for the children and getting them ready for school. Then he‘d drive to work at the bistro and get home just in time to cook another meal for the children. After helping them with their homework and putting them to bed, he had just enough time to care for the horses again before falling into bed, completely exhausted.
It was a strenuous schedule, but he consoled himself with the fact that it was temporary. Soon enough Amy would be back home.
Phone calls were a rare treat due to the time difference and Amy‘s busy schedule at fashion school, but she frequently wrote letters. Icarus would read them to the children over breakfast and then they‘d draft replies together. This time Jodie had asked to include a picture she‘d painted: four figures, two boys and two princesses, framed with a colorful decorative border. The figures were separated by squiggly lines running between then, trapping each of them in their own corner of the canvas. Icarus chose not to read too much into that.
______
I think it was Icarus who painted that picture, actually.
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