Strings of Fate

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206- Nice and normal

“Hi, I’m Logan. I’m here visiting my Nana. It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad that Ryann and her friends were able to find you. They were really worried.” He adds the last comment in a half whisper, glancing up at me like it’s some kind of secret. Kiara nods at him but doesn’t give any more reply than that. He persists.

“What’s your name?” he tries again. I’m actually fairly sure that he already knows her name, he would have overheard it at some point. But I don’t comment. I want to see what Kiara does. She stares at him hopelessly for a minute, then up at me, a pleading look in her eyes. Logan follows her gaze up to me and meets my eyes.

“Her name is Kiara. She doesn’t feel like talking much right now. She’s had a hard time and is keeping to herself a little bit.” I explain. I expect him to be confused or to get annoyed and just give up on talking to her for now. Which is why I’m shocked when he gives a slow nod.

“Oh, alright. That’s fair I suppose.” He looks back at Kiara who is watching him curiously.

“You know, I find it scary talking to people sometimes too. Sometimes I make a game out of it. Seeing how long I can stay quiet at school without talking to people. I just nod or point at. things. Sometimes I act things out like in charades. It’s pretty fun.” He chatters away then his eyes light up with excitement.

“Oh I know! We should make up our own secret language. Like sign language but we can. make it ourselves. Then we can have secret conversations.” He grins conspiratorially. Kiara seems intrigued.

She steps out from behind me, and while she doesn’t let go of my hand, her grip does loosen so it’s no longer constricting the blood flow to my fingers.

“Do you wanna make a language with me? I can start. If you want to come play then draw a tick in the air. If you don’t wanna then make a cross with your fingers. Like this.” He demonstrates crossing his fingers, the same way you would if you were making a wish. It wonder if he knows that people do that? Either way, I’m quickly learning that I shouldn’t have underestimated Logan. Because before I can process what’s going on, Kiara draws a tiny little tick in the air with one finger and he’s taken Kiara by the hand and is leading her away towards the kitchen. I watch fascinated as he grabs a plate and starts loading it up with.

treats.

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“I’ll make us a plate. Nana told me that you need to have lots of extra snacks right now because something about magic and that you’re probably extra hungry. That’s good thought because Nana makes the best snacks. Oh, and you should try some of the brownies. I helped make those so they should be extra good. Nana says the best snacks are always the ones we make together.” He keeps chatting away, pausing occasionally to see how Kiara is responding. With a plate loaded high, he leads her to the living area and they settle in on the couch, the large plate balanced on a cushion between them.

Maggie is adding some kind of icing to one of the cakes she’s made so I take the chance to text Bellamy an update.

Ryann- Okay so we might have overreacted.

Bellamy- Oh? I take it you didn’t run into this mystery boy then?

Ryann- Actually we did. But he’s not so much of a mystery after all.

Bellamy- You know him?

Ryann- So do you. It’s Logan. Maggie’s grandson. 🙂

Bellamy- The curious one. He seemed like a good kid. I know you’re fond of him.

Ryann- He is a good kid. Not to mention it took him less than five minutes to convince Kiara to go play with him and to stop clinging to me. He’ll be a good friend for her.

Bellamy- More than a friend sweetheart.

Ryann- Eventually. But they’re kids. For now they’ll be friends. They can work out their actual. feelings towards each other when they get older. Either way, this is the best case scenario. I guess fate decided that Kiara needed someone to confide in.

Bellamy- I’m glad you’re happy, that everything worked out well.

Ryann- Me too. Now I should stop being rude and put my phone away so I can actually catch.

up with Maggie.

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Bellamy- Have fun love. I’ll talk to you later.

I spend the next couple hours at Maggie’s house chatting with her and eating so many baked goods that I start to feel sick. Aaron also indulges to a ridiculous amount. Kiara manages to cat more than any of us and I watch Logan lead her back to the table where Maggie laid everything out at least three times to refill her plate. Maggie says she spent the morning preparing all this but I’m fairly sure that she must have started on this array last night because this is so much food for one person to make alone, even with Logan’s extra set of hands helping out.

“So, how are things going living with your Shifter boy?” Maggie asks conversationally, causing me to choke on the brownie I had just taken a bite of. Something about her tone tells me that her intention is to tease me and I just know I’m going to make it entirely too easy for her. I glance at Aaron with pleading eyes and he pointedly looks away and continues snacking. Traitor. Maggie has clearly purchased his loyalty with baked goods!

“He’s been keeping me safe. Things haven’t exactly been normal lately. Actually, I haven’t

worked out what my new normal even is yet.” I sigh. Maggie pauses and I can tell she’s reconsidering whatever teasing she was about to do. She decides to take pity on me and answers me seriously instead.

“Does it really matter?” She asks.

“Huh?” I say stupidly. Not following.

“Does it matter what our new normal is? You’ll figure that out as you go and if you don’t like it then you’ll change it.” She says pointedly. Right… so she’s telling me to… what is she telling me to do?

My confusion must sho

“Ryann dear, I’m telling you to stop worrying about what might happen and to decide what

you want then MAKE it happen. You have everything you need and all the freedom to choose

the direction of your life. Don’t wait for things to happen to you and just do what you want.

Not a lot of people have that freedom you know.” She clarifies. I think about what she’s said. She isn’t exactly wrong. I do have more freedom now than I ever have before. The only things I can’t change are what fate has decided for me. My strings connecting me to Megan and Bellamy. I didn’t choose them. Why does that even bother me so much? I know I love them. True I wouldn’t have chosen them if I didn’t know about the threads joining us, but I think

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that has more to do with my opinion of myself than of what I think about them.

I chat with Maggie a while longer, but I can’t stop thinking about what she said. About what I want my life to be like. When I finally announce that it is time to leave, I’m surprised and somewhat pleased to see that Kiara looks disappointed. She and Logan have made a great deal of progress in creating their ‘secret language‘ and have been making progress communicating for the last hour now. Kiara nervously removes one of her beaded bracelets that she’s made and offers it to Logan and I want to just squeal because it is so adorable. I need to get them to spend more time together soon, it’s good for her. Good for both of them I suspect. I’m suddenly struck with inspiration. I know what I want my normal to look like and I know how to make it happen.

“Maggie, what are you guys doing tomorrow night?” I ask.