Page 34 of Tethered

It feels like a thin victory, but Dominik didn’t win this round.

Fever Dream

I sleep for so long that even Vee gets up before me. To be fair, it might have been my apnoea, and that’s a regular occurrence. I roll over and nearly cant right off the edge of the bed. The only thing that stops me from ending up on the plush rug is Vee himself.

“Eurgh, Mum!”

It’s through bleary, grain-filled eyes that I see him sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back against the bed. His arms are raised over his head, forming a human bedside railing. It takes me a moment to realise it’s his hands digging into my side before I lurch backwards so I don’t dislocate hislittle wrists. I groan at all the aches and pains that light up throughout my body.

Last night I couldn’t bear to sleep in a strange cabin. I’d snuggled up with Vee instead, something he was a little annoyed and very vocal about. At some point, the bonnet I’d fashioned out of a spare t-shirt had slipped off my head, abandoning my hair to the manipulations of sleep. I’d simply been too tired to braid it, and Vee reaches up now to tug on a loose curl.

“Kalo jut,” he trills.Good morning.Well, that catches my attention, and I drag myself to the edge and pop my head over it. His grin is contagious.

“Where did you learn that?”

“I’m notdense,” he scowls.

“I didn’t say that! You just didn’t show any interest when I started learning Surya-Vaani.”

“Dunno. When Dad was building his compound, it seemed like it might be fun to learn,” Vee shrugs. “Do you like my accent? Captain Sekmith says it’sreallygood for a beginner.”

My heart twists, and I’m suddenly very awake. Pulling myself upright, I swipe a glass of water and down it. Some of it sloshes over the rim as my hand quakes. Then I fold myself up next to him, pulling the duvet along with me and wrapping us both in it.

“Did your dad tell you where you’d be going?”

“Sure. This is only a holiday, right?”

I don’t even know what to say. Purposefully, I don’t think about that flight suit in his wardrobe. I do think about how much school he’ll be missing instead. I’ll have to check if he’s still enrolled with his school, if Dominik bothered to give them an excuse.

“I wasn’t prepared.” I say, forcing a laugh.

Vee frowns, scrunching up his little face. “But you got time off work?”

Fuck. Me.Work. It’s Monday afternoon at home, which means I likely have several missed calls on my slate and quite a few emails. If I don’t end up fired by the end of this trip, it’ll be a miracle. TGE is one of the best paying companies in the city, vacancies don’t stay unfulfilled for long, and management has a trigger finger on that recruit button.

“Can you remind me to ask the captain for my slate? Please?” I drag out the last word.

My son, the cheeky bugger, snorts and follows it up with a crooked grin. “You’re always calling me messy, but you’resodisorganised.”

It’s true, but I’m not about to let my 10-year-old get one over on me. I squint at him and purse my lips. “Did Dominik say that about me?”

“Yeah...”

“I have an excuse.” I gesture at the heap of clothes in the corner. “You’re just messy and I’m terrified for your teen years. What else has he been saying to you?”

He makes a non-committal noise, and I knock my shoulder against his. “Hey. What is it?”

A beat passes. Then, in the quietest voice, “Are you getting back together?”

I nearly give myself whiplash, I rear back so fast. “What?” It comes out a squawk.

Vee hasn’t lived in a world where his father and I were a couple, has never seen us be anything more than polite—and that’s stretching the term—towards each other. He’s never shown interest.

“Why would you think that?”

Those wide, green eyes of his shift to meet mine. “Dad said something weird, is all.”

My heart sinks. “What did he say?”