Rivalries Chapter Twenty-One, Part Two

 Notes: New Rivalries, yaaaaay! Ari and his mom are here, which means soon...things will get serious.

Title: Rivalries Chapter Twenty-One, Part Two

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Chapter Twenty-One, Part Two

 

Ari had gotten a lot taller than their video chats had suggested. He nearly knocked Charlie off his feet when they found each other at the airport the next evening, Ari running and jumping up against Charlie’s chest like he used to when he was just eight.

“Whoa—oof!” It was a lot harder to hold the kid up with just one arm, but Charlie did his best until Ari finally slid back down onto his feet, still holding Charlie around the waist with a death grip.

“I missed you,” Ari said, muffled, into Charlie’s chest.

“I missed you too.”

“I’m so happy to be with you again.”

Charlie sighed and closed his eyes, hugging Ari even tighter. “Me too, kiddo.” He could feel the compulsion pushing Ari to spend time with him, feel it in the steel-like tendons in the boy’s arms, the way his breaths sped up the second there was a bit more space between them. This child, this poor child, felt like he was seconds away from having an anxiety attack, or worse—a heart attack.

Holy shit, life was unkind.

Huda arrived in a rush, pulling two carry-on suitcases with her. She looked as stern as ever, black hair streaked with grey at the temples, her pantsuit perfectly pressed despite the flight. “Sergeant,” she said, sounding friendly enough. There was a smile on her face that made Charlie wonder whether she thought her son’s current state was an improvement, and if so…if so, damn, how bad was he really these days? “It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” Keeping his arm around Ari, he pivoted the boy a little so his legs were free to walk. “My car is this way.” Actually, it was still John’s car—he hadn’t even really started looking for his own ride—but they didn’t need to know that.

Huda held out a hand. “Give me the keys. I’ll drive. You sit in the back with him.”

“Yes ma’am.”

To her credit, she didn’t say a word about the car, just put the suitcases in the trunk and opened the back door for them. Ari had finally relaxed enough to allow space for seatbelts, although he leaned in against Charlie’s chest again as soon as they were buckled, chatting about Pokemon and school and a dozen other things in rapid succession. Charlie paid close attention, and didn’t comment on the fact that Huda knew exactly how to get to his apartment despite having never been there before. He’d be more surprised if she didn’t have his movements tracked down to the foot.

Ari was excited to get to see his apartment, and as soon as they walked inside he asked where “Mr. John” was.

“He’s got some work to finish up, so he’ll be home late,” Charlie explained, and he knew he wasn’t imagining it when Huda’s shoulders relaxed. “Guess you’ll have to put up with me and your mom for now.”

Ari actually pouted, and Charlie was relieved to see it. If he can still stomach sharing time, then it hasn’t gone too far. Right? “When can I meet him?”

“Soon,” Charlie assured him. “Tomorrow for sure. You’re coming to school with your mom, right? You can hang out with me while she’s in meetings, as long as you can be quiet in my classroom. John will be there too.”

“Great!”

Huda ordered dinner from a Chinese restaurant, and they sat together at the table for another three hours, mostly listening to Ari chatter about everything that came into his mind before exhaustion finally got the best of him. He fell asleep with his head on Charlie’s shoulder. Charlie glanced at Huda, who sighed.

“He hasn’t been sleeping well at home,” she confessed. “He’d probably fall asleep on a bed of nails right now as long as you were there.”

“Oh. Um.” Did he need to invite them to spend the night? “Would you care to—”

“No, no,” she said, already divining what he was going to say. “I’ll call for a car, and we’ll go to the hotel tonight. I can still lift him, thank god, and he’s very malleable when he’s sleepy.” She pulled out her phone and typed out a quick message. Charlie waited until she was done to speak.

“He seems like he’s doing okay,” he said, tentatively.

“Does he?” Huda replied. Her words were mild, but her voice was full of sharp edges. “This is the best he’s been in two months.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, ah. One evening with you has done what dozens of hours of therapy and doctors’ visits couldn’t, but I hope you don’t expect me to be grateful for it.”

“I don’t expect your gratitude for anything,” Charlie snapped, “but a little less shit thrown my way would be nice. Do you get that I’m trying here? That I want to help him?”

“I know you do!” Ari stirred, and Huda lowered her voice. “I know that,” she said, and now she just sounded tired. “And I know we can’t keep having the same argument over and over, but I’m so tired of this, Charles, and so afraid, and I’m so, so angry. You’re the nearest target and it makes it easy for me to lash out. I’ll try to stop, though.” She stood up and gestured for Ari. “Give him to me.”

“I could carry him down—”

She made a pfft noise. “You think I didn’t see you straining at the airport? You can’t hold a child this big with just one arm.” She paused. “Is it…still very difficult for you?”

This was the first time she’d directly brought up his injury in weeks. “It’s not as bad as it was,” he said honestly. “The pain is pretty manageable, and I do my PT. I can shield again, too, so that’s nice, even though it’s different than it was before.” That was an understatement, but still, Charlie was inclined to be happy for the things he could do tonight rather than unhappy over things beyond his control.

“Would you like me to look into getting you a prosthetic of some kind? There are several programs I can think of that might be able to help you.” She sounded self-recriminatory. “I should have thought of it earlier, but I’ve been so obsessed lately—”

“It’s fine. I don’t know that I could still make my knack work with a prosthetic, so…” He shrugged his non-pillow shoulder. “Something to think about later.”

“Later,” she agreed with a sad smile. She took her son into her arms, and Charlie got the bags instead. Five minutes later, they were gone. An hour after that, John came home, and found Charlie in the bedroom, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

“Are you…do you want some space, after that?” John asked hesitantly. “I can go home to the duplex if you—”

“Please come here.”

John came, and Charlie didn’t even know how to talk about what he was feeling, so he didn’t. He just leaned into John and wrapped him up in a hug, and was only able to close his eyes again when John hugged back.

“It’s going to be a rough week,” John said quietly, stroking his hair, “but we’ll get through it.”

“I know.”

He had a feeling, though, that it was going to be rougher than either of them knew. He hoped he was wrong.