Jason paused his fork in mid-air and said, "Mom, why don't I look like Dad?"
Lorna stopped.
They had been having his favorite dinner, tomato soup and grilled cheese. The question cut like glass through the cozy silence.
She tried to smile. "My dear, what do you mean?"
Jason gave a shrug. "I'm not sure. I have different eyes. Additionally, I came across this picture of you as a child. A man was with you. He somewhat resembled me.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"You've been examining old pictures?"
"In Aunt Marjorie's picture album," he uttered naively. "You looked really happy in that one."
Lorna's throat became constricted. That picture. In the bright park, Michael had been kissing her cheek. She was unaware that Marjorie still possessed it.
Jason said, "You had a smile on your face." "With Dad, you don't smile like that."
Lorna touched his hand as she reached across the table. "Jason, adults do have pasts sometimes. those they were concerned about. However, the fact that you are loved and safe is what counts. Alright?
Jason nodded but appeared uncertain.
Later that evening, as soon as Jason went to sleep, Lorna called Marjorie.
She inquired, "Do you still have that picture?"
The line paused for a long moment.
At last, Marjorie remarked, "I didn't think he'd find it." "He's a curious kid. and intelligent. He's beginning to put things together, Lorna."
"I understand," Lorna muttered. "Additionally, I'm not prepared. I'm not prepared to let this get out of hand."
Marjorie remarked softly, "You never really had control." Not with Lucas, in particular. In relation to him... Have you recently looked at his phone?
"What?" Lorna blinked.
"He has been behaving oddly," Marjorie remarked. Additionally, I'm your friend, so stop staring at me that way. I see these things. I also know that he has been sending too many texts for a "friendly coffee" to a person named Hope.
Lorna felt a knot in her stomach.
"I believed that things were getting better."
Lorna didn't sleep that night; instead, she sat by Jason's bed, watching the soft rise and fall of his chest, and contemplating how many more lies she could keep up before everything fell apart.
"I'm not saying he's done anything yet," Marjorie said, "but you need to know what you're really working so hard to save. Because while you're protecting secrets, he may be building new ones."