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My relatives kept talkingall through dinner about our Clan’s server farms, networks, and operating systems that connected our assets, businesses, and connections in different places around the world. Riley sat listening to the whole conversation, but she didn’t get involved.
She only picked at her food. I needed to change that. She’d been living on the edge for way too long. She needed to feel safe enough here to actually take care of herself.
After dinner, some of my relatives stood around talking some more. Riley lingered on the edge of their group taking in every word and I didn’t hurry her away. She needed this. She needed to find her place here. She was too smart not to see my family bending over backward to give her a way in.
Connor ran off with the other kids, and pretty soon, even the few groups still in the dining room broke up. Lacey, Willow, and Barrett all said goodbye to Riley and told her they’d see her down the main hall bright and early tomorrow morning.
Willow and Lacey gave her huge smiles before they walked off, but she only blinked after them in a daze. “Come upstairs,” I told her. “You’re tired. It’s going to take you a while to catch up on all the stress and lost sleep you’ve been living with.”
She barely heard me. She didn’t respond at all when I took her hand. She might as well be asleep on her feet with her eyes open.
We climbed upstairs, but when we reached the third floor, a bunch of kids came running out of the same playroom.
They all stopped dead when they saw me. “Come upstairs,” I told Connor. “It’s bedtime. You can play with the kids tomorrow.”
He waved over his shoulder at Wilcox and Ximena. “I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow.”
“See you later, Connor,” Wilcox replied.
“Meet back here after class tomorrow,” Ximena told him. “We’ll pick up the game where we left off.”
They both left, but he stayed where he was watching them out of sight. “What does she mean—after class tomorrow?”
“All the kids have classes in the mornings. Barker teaches the younger kids, so you need to finish your class before you get to go play. Don’t worry. You get plenty of breaks and meals in between. It isn’t all hard work, especially not for the younger ones like you.”
He cocked his head and peered up at me. “Do you mean I’ll take lessons, too?”
“Of course. You’ve been out of school all this time, so now you need to go. You’ll be fine. I’m sure your mom taught you well on her own. You’re probably ahead of the other kids, but you need to continue your education. Everyone in the Clan gets a full education. You need it so you’re ready to start your career when you get older.”
He studied me way too closely. Those brilliant green eyes made me fidget. People had been responding to me that way all my life. They got uncomfortable when I stared at them too closely—all except Riley. Looking at her like that only made her want me.
Now I understood how they felt. Connor searched my face for something I couldn’t define. What was he thinking?
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You said you wanted to go to school.”
“I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I’m only five.”
“None of the kids know what they want to be when they grow up. That’s why they have to go to school—so they learn. They learn what they’re good at. They learn what they enjoy. Some are good at computers like your mom. Some are good at writing. Others are good at business. That’s why you learn—so you find out what you want to do. No one expects you to know now.”
“What were you good at in school?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I was basically good at all of it, so that’s why I’m good at being in charge. I know enough to tell everyone else what to do. I’m good at making decisions and deciding what everyone else should do.”
He nodded and turned away. “I thought so.”
He walked off and Riley glanced at me at the same instant. Did Connor somehow sense that he would be in charge someday?
He accepted my answer so easily—almost as if he already knew he would be good at decision-making, too.
We followed him up to my apartment and found him already in the small bedroom I set up for him. He accepted that, too. He didn’t hesitate to walk right in like he owned the place. This was his home. He might be just a little kid, but he understood so many things instinctively without being told.
Riley split off and went into the room after him. “Let’s get you into your…..” she began and broke off. She looked around the room in confused terror again.
I stepped into the room behind her. “There are clothes for Connor in the dresser and the closet. I set up the room with everything he needs.” I pulled open one of the dresser drawers. “There are clean pajamas in here.”
Riley got busy helping him change into his pajamas. She folded his clothes on top of the dresser and tucked him in.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, petted his cheek, and kissed him. “I’m proud of you, sweetie. You made some good friends today. Did you have fun playing with the other kids?”
