Chapter 189

Chapter 189: Connor

“Connor”? Caleb called out to the boy standing at the edge of the terrace.

“Hi Dad”, the young boy who looked like he was about to become a pre-teen answered him without bothering to turn around.

“Mr Gibson told me you ran away, again”. Caleb told him.

“He is such a tattletale,” Connor grunted.

“It’s his job to tell me everything related to you”. Caleb reminded Connor.

“I didn’t run away. I just needed to be alone” Connor mumbled.

“I know” Caleb chuckled. “That’s why I am here and not the whole pack”. Connor finally looked at Caleb and shot him a glare before looking away. “What’s going on with you?” Caleb asked him softly crouching down so that Connor appeared taller.

.....

Connor remained quiet for a while and Caleb waited patiently for him to continue. “What is wrong with me?” He asked in a whisper that Caleb almost missed.

“Nothing.” Caleb replied without skipping a beat. “Why do you think something is wrong?”

“I dunno. Everyone else, they are so... different than me” Connor mumbled.

“Listen buddy, being different doesn’t mean being wrong. It’s hard being different in this world, but never ever feel that something is wrong with you. You are perfectly normal” Caleb assured.

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“It’s not just people,” Connor said. “I feel it too. I have these urges no one gets. It scares me when I feel I won’t be able to control them. I don’t know how to explain myself to my friends because they don’t get it either. Even if they are not the ones running away from me, it still makes me feel...” He paused. “Lonely”.

Caleb turned him around to make Connor look at himself, “I am sorry that you feel this way. But you got me” Caleb offered him a tiny smile.

“You’re hardly around. It’s always Mr. Gibson this, Mr. Gibson that. And even he would stop hanging around once you stop paying him” Connor huffed.

Caleb blinked as he realised that in a way his son was right. When Caleb was young he himself resented his own father for never being around and now he was doing the same thing to his son. He shouldn’t neglect his son just because he misses his mate so much, because that isn’t fair to Connor.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled but Connor didn’t reply to him. “Tell you what, I’ll fire Mr Gibson and I’ll take care of you”.

“I am not a baby, I can take care of myself” Connor huffed. Caleb ended up chuckling at his son. Caleb had to admit that Connor’s stubborn passive aggressive ways kind of reminded him of Ashton. Their uncanny resemblance despite never having met each other baffled him from time to time. “Besides, Mr Gibson shouldn’t lose his job because of me”.

“Alright then” Caleb smiled. “But I promise, I will try to be around more” He declared.

They fell into comfortable silence and after a whole minute Connor spoke, “Don’t you need to prepare for tomorrow?”

“I do” Caleb nodded.

“Then... maybe you should get going,” He added.

“I have taken care of almost everything. I just need to check things once more before I go to sleep and I will be fine. For now... Let’s stay here” He smiled.

“It’s peaceful here” Connor mumbled after a minute.

“Mn?”

“Thanks for showing me this place”. Connor mumbled.

“I liked to come here too, when I felt lonely,” Caleb admitted.

“But... you have so many friends,” Connor pointed out.

“Trust me... even with so many friends it’s possible to feel lonely” Caleb patted the shoulder of his son.

“That sucks” Connor grunted.

“Language”! Caleb raised his voice shutting his son’s mouth. “My point is, don’t be so hard on yourself. Friends or no friends, you’re awesome” Caleb assured his son.

“Yeah right” Connor mumbled a little bit sarcastically. For a kid he was definitely hard to convince most of the time.

“Let’s do something, just you and me,” Caleb offered.

“Like what?” Connor narrowed his brows.

“Well... ” Caleb struggled to think of something. “How about laser tag? You love that”.

“Aren’t you a little too old for it” Connor narrowed his brows.

“Hey young man, do not be snarky. And also, I look far younger than I am” Caleb boasted.

“Still. I don’t wanna play laser tag with you” Connor pouted.

“So...” Caleb sighed. “What do you wanna do”?

“Wanna play fortnite?” Connor asked.

“Done”! Caleb declared even though he had no idea what he got himself into. He assumed it would be some simple game but boy was he wrong.

Caleb drove him back to the pack house and asked him to set up. They played for a long time almost making Caleb’s fingers hurt in the process. When Caleb saw that the clock was about to cross the 12 mark he decided that they had it enough for the day. “Okay... let’s go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day”

“What is the point?” Connor pouted. “You are making me go to school anyways”.

“Alright young man, do not get carried away. I am never letting you cut school” Caleb scolded.

After putting his son to bed he headed off to the hall to ensure the preparations were up to the mark only to be greeted by Melanie’s scowl. “That was quick,” Melanie remarked sarcastically as soon as she saw him.

“I am sorry, it was Connor,” Caleb said with a not so apologetic face.

“So now you are going to blame it on your seven year old? What a jerk”! She remarked playfully.

“Okay, you have done enough. You should go back” he pushed her towards the exit.

“Of course I should. I missed my date because of this” She huffed before disappearing. Caleb chuckled softly at her before taking a final look at the place. When he was about to leave he spotted his brother headed off to somewhere. Feeling a bit suspicious, Caleb followed his brother to the office where he was simply sitting in the chair and drinking, “Can I come in”? Caleb knocked on the open door.