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Nov. 7th, 2013 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shufti"Well I don't mind as long as it's a girl." Leah declares, when Shufti breaks the news to her. "And I don't have to share a room."
"No, you don't have to share." Shufti says, stroking the five-year-old's hair gently. Across the room, she looks up at Jack. It doesn't seen nearly ten years since she had him, and she marvels not for the first time at how big he's got. At present, he's wearing something of a sullen expression, clearly less pleased than his sister at the prospect of a new arrival.
"Is it a girl?" Jack asks, slouching against the wall.
"We don't know yet." Shufti says. "Whether the new baby is a boy or a girl, it won't change how me or your Dad feel about either of you."
Leah, satisfied with this answer, skips off to play with something. Jack lingers, clearly bothered, then comes and sits next to her.
"Mom?" He looks, unusually for him, unsure. "Am I... am I like adopted?"
Shufti looks at him. They'd broached this subject before, when he was little, and it hadn't really occurred to her that it required further follow up. Certainly, it wasn't something she would have brought up right now.
"Cos like there's no baby pictures of me, and I don't look like you or Dad..." Jack continues. "I'm like blonde."
For once, Shufti does not take the opportunity to discourage superfluous use of the word 'like' in her son's vocabulary.
"Well, as we told you when you were little, you have a different birth father." she says, after a moment. "But I'm your birth mother, and Carl has always been your Dad, and we both love you very much."
Jack's expression turns angry and he looks away. Shufti frowns.
"Jack? It's never been meant to be a secret, we talked about it before, I thought you knew."
"What's he like? My real dad?" Jack asks. "How come I don't get to see him?"
"Well..." Shufti considers how to put this tactfully. "He was blonde, like you, with blue eyes. Tall, strong. He was a soldier."
"Is he dead?" Jack asks, looking back at her.
"...I don't know." Shufti says, quietly. "The reason you don't see him is because he lives on the Disc. He left us, Jack."
"So if this baby is a boy, it'll be Dad... Carl's real son." Jack says, processing all this.
"Jack." Shufti takes her son's hand. "You are our son, our firstborn son, and you always will be. A family is not about whose blood you share, it's about loving each other. And we love you."
"Am I like him?" Jack asks. "My birth dad?"
"You do look like him, yes." Shufti says. And he has a tendency to grumpiness and getting into fights, though she doesn't add that. "But you take after Carl too. You'd make a good business leader with him one day."
Jack doesn't look convinced. Hearing the keys of CJ in the front door, he just nods, gets up, and goes to his room.
Shufti bites her lip slightly and watches after him, knowing there's probably going to be a lot more questions than that.
"No, you don't have to share." Shufti says, stroking the five-year-old's hair gently. Across the room, she looks up at Jack. It doesn't seen nearly ten years since she had him, and she marvels not for the first time at how big he's got. At present, he's wearing something of a sullen expression, clearly less pleased than his sister at the prospect of a new arrival.
"Is it a girl?" Jack asks, slouching against the wall.
"We don't know yet." Shufti says. "Whether the new baby is a boy or a girl, it won't change how me or your Dad feel about either of you."
Leah, satisfied with this answer, skips off to play with something. Jack lingers, clearly bothered, then comes and sits next to her.
"Mom?" He looks, unusually for him, unsure. "Am I... am I like adopted?"
Shufti looks at him. They'd broached this subject before, when he was little, and it hadn't really occurred to her that it required further follow up. Certainly, it wasn't something she would have brought up right now.
"Cos like there's no baby pictures of me, and I don't look like you or Dad..." Jack continues. "I'm like blonde."
For once, Shufti does not take the opportunity to discourage superfluous use of the word 'like' in her son's vocabulary.
"Well, as we told you when you were little, you have a different birth father." she says, after a moment. "But I'm your birth mother, and Carl has always been your Dad, and we both love you very much."
Jack's expression turns angry and he looks away. Shufti frowns.
"Jack? It's never been meant to be a secret, we talked about it before, I thought you knew."
"What's he like? My real dad?" Jack asks. "How come I don't get to see him?"
"Well..." Shufti considers how to put this tactfully. "He was blonde, like you, with blue eyes. Tall, strong. He was a soldier."
"Is he dead?" Jack asks, looking back at her.
"...I don't know." Shufti says, quietly. "The reason you don't see him is because he lives on the Disc. He left us, Jack."
"So if this baby is a boy, it'll be Dad... Carl's real son." Jack says, processing all this.
"Jack." Shufti takes her son's hand. "You are our son, our firstborn son, and you always will be. A family is not about whose blood you share, it's about loving each other. And we love you."
"Am I like him?" Jack asks. "My birth dad?"
"You do look like him, yes." Shufti says. And he has a tendency to grumpiness and getting into fights, though she doesn't add that. "But you take after Carl too. You'd make a good business leader with him one day."
Jack doesn't look convinced. Hearing the keys of CJ in the front door, he just nods, gets up, and goes to his room.
Shufti bites her lip slightly and watches after him, knowing there's probably going to be a lot more questions than that.
