but if Sean tried to ferret a newspaper downstairs and Carl spotted it, none of them would have been left unscathed.
Clarissa gave the girls a couple of pieces of paper and a pencil. “I’d like the two of you to answer whatever you can. It doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong. I am only trying to ascertain what your knowledge is of the subjects.”
Sam and Tara started to do as she instructed while Clarissa handed Vicky another piece of paper and another pencil. She knelt next to Vicky with a smile. “Hi, sweetie. I know you don’t speak right now, but do you know how to add numbers together?”
Vicky nodded slowly, her face showing her wariness of Clarissa. Sean’s heart ached for her. “Why don’t you do the ones you can, okay? It doesn’t matter if they’re right or wrong. Just add the ones you think you can answer. I’ll check back with you in a few minutes.”
Sean watched Vicky while Clarissa went to her desk and grabbed a small box. She sat in front of Sean. “Today we’re going to start with the basics of recognizing letters, ok?”
He nodded, nervous and slightly ashamed at just how little he knew about anything. But Clarissa put him at ease quickly with minimal effort and they made it through half of the cards she had with characters on them before she stopped. “Why don’t you take the ones we’ve done so far and practice saying the letters on your own? I’m going to check in with the girls.”
The rest of the day pretty much followed the same pattern. Sean’s head throbbed a bit by the time they were ready to go home and he didn’t join them in the dining room for lunch. Instead he headed upstairs to the room he shared with Declan where he collapsed across the bed, pulling a pillow over his eyes.
He heard the door open a couple minutes later then the bed dipped near him. A warm hand came to rest on his chest. “You okay, sexy?”
Declan’s voice flowed over him and Sean sighed at how just hearing Declan’s tenor caused a calmness to fill him. He rolled closer to Declan, dislodging the pillow, and squinted up at his mate. “My head hurts a little bit.”
Before he knew Declan’s intention, he’d moved both of them to where Sean’s head rested in his lap and he started gently massaging Sean’s temples. “Lot to learn?”
Sean closed his eyes and hummed, his body relaxing at Declan’s touch. Declan didn’t speak again for several long moments and Sean found himself starting to drift. But Declan’s next words roused him from the beginnings of sleep. “I have some good news for you, Sean.”
“Hmm?” he managed to push out.
“The Biancas are arriving tomorrow.”
Sean opened his eyes and he sat up, dislodging Declan’s hands. “Really?”
Declan smiled and nodded. “Their flight lands around midday and they will be back on streak lands by the afternoon.”
Excitement and anxiety battled their way through Sean. “Do you think they’ll know me?” Sean asked. “What if they don’t remember me? Or they don’t want me?”
“They couldn’t possibly forget you or not want you,” Declan replied, taking Sean’s hand in his. “I promise you, baby, they will love you.”
The knowledge that he would possibly be meeting his family for the first time tomorrow had him restless the remainder of the day. He could barely sit still or eat at dinnertime and more than once the others had to call his name to get his attention. After dinner Sam and Tara demanded to know what was wrong with him. Of course, they were happy for him, but there was still that one tiny seed of doubt in his heart. What if they really weren’t his family? What if they had moved on and didn’t want him disrupting their life? He hadn’t been in it since he was a baby so maybe they had moved on and didn’t want him upsetting the balance they had.
By bedtime, his bottom lip had been practically chewed raw and he couldn’t lie still. He sat with his back against the headboard while Declan was in the bathroom brushing his teeth and preparing for bed. Would their son, his brother, even want to be his brother? What if they were disgusted by what his father had made him do? He started biting at his lip again and pulled both knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.
He barely registered Declan walking out of the bathroom