18. Chapter 18

Even though Lincoln had claimed it, Lyra was still surprised when she walked into the kitchen the next morning and found him sleeping on the floor. "He only got back a few hours ago." Loan told her. The girl had been up all night on her laptop.

"Mhm." Lyra acknowledged, trying not to think about the implications associated with that.

"Not sure why." Loan went on. "Aunt Ronnie went home 6 hours before he came back." She smirked to herself. "I think they had an argument." Lyra frowned and resolved to step lightly around the kitchen till he got up. "It's weird, don't you think? They're brother and sister-in-law."

"Not really." She shook her head. Try as she did not to, Lyra's mind did wander back to what Loan had said yesterday about him being single. She wondered why. Hopefully not because he decided to give up his own life to help his sisters.

"You know, I kind of like it here." Loan said, changing the subject yet again. She did that-steer conversations where ever she wanted. "It's quiet and I can totally relax for once. I don't have to listen to mom stomping around the house yelling into her phone all day." Lori did that, although Loan insisted it was constantly when Lyra had only ever witnessed it once or twice over a two week stay. "Everywhere else in my family is so noisy."

"He lets his other nieces stay over all the time." Lyra informed her.

"Yeah, no." Loan shot it down. "Don't know the guy. Don't want to know the guy. This is just a one-time thing."

"He's a nice man." Lyra defended.

"Look, if you guys like it, good for you." Loan looked over and tipped her head. "I can see why you'd like it, considering who your mom is. And if it's good for all my cousins, good for them. But me? I already have everything I want. I'm fine with my life." She turned back to her laptop.

Lyra's expression tightened at what she perceived as an insult, a perception that rested solely on the fact her mother had been mentioned. She was about to tell Loan off for it, but the blond wasn't done talking.

"Maybe you'll stop staring all the time now."

"Excuse me?" Lyra asked. "I don't understand what you're talking about." She could see Loan rolling her eyes.

"I've seen you staring at my dad. You never really hid it. Now that you have someone like that, good for you." She repeated. "You can stop staring now."

"I…what?" Lyra's face flushed, confusion and embarrassment filling her mind. "You're talking nonsense." Stare? Lyra never stared; she just liked to observe things. And 'someone like that'? Their uncle? To who? Bobby? They were both nice men.

Or did she mean like a dad?

And what was that? By the Bible, it was someone who showed compassion to their children, disciplined them, and brought them up in all the proper ways. By the example Loan's dad set, the first point was similar, but the rest went out of the window (but he was still a very good man). All Lyra had observed from her uncle was that first point, and maybe the third for Lemy. So they were similar…

"You're implying I'm jealous of you." Lyra realized. "I'm not."

"If you say so." Her cousin clearly didn't believe her. Lyra huffed and stood up.

"I'm going to go lay back down for a little while." Loan only nodded in response, and the older teen left without a word. She tried her best to put down her irritation as she went back to the bedroom.

Was Loan making fun of her for not having a father? Her whole home life? That new possibility made it harder to stamp out her anger. What did it matter? Lyra never had a father, she never would have one, and she was perfectly content with that. She'd gone 15 years of her life like that and she'd go the rest of her years like that without complaint.

Her uncle wanted to fill a role like that; he'd admitted it in the conversation they'd had after Lacy's first visit. She was grateful for his selflessness, but she had no intention of burdening him with it when he was already doing it for four people.

Lemy was still asleep. He'd already pulled the parts of the blanket his sister had given up over him. Lyra slowly eased her way to laying on her side in the space behind him and just watched. His chest rose and fell gracefully and peacefully.

Lyra still had her mom. However much that woman got on her nerves; however many mistakes she made; however many things Lyra wished she could've done better or done at all. That was still her mom. The woman who'd reared her as a single parent for so many years. The parent who'd helped her grow up smoothly. The mother who'd been nothing but accepting of all the things her ungrateful daughter had thrown back at her…

And Lemy had mom, and he had Lyra too. Both of them. They were equally important to him.

Lyra knew the truth deep down, what Loan didn't understand. The life she lived-the life all three of them lived on the road-was something she'd never change. All she curiosities she'd wondered about weren't things she'd throw everything away for no matter how much she wanted to know. Her mom, Lemy, and her, they'd all turn out just fine. Lyra was certain of it.

Her and Loan would never discuss such a matter again.

Midday

Lemy was playing video games and Lyra was looking at something on their uncle's computer when the man in question woke up and emerged just before noon from the kitchen, grumbling and stretching. "Good morning." He yawned at all of them.

"It's noon." Loan told him.

"Right, right." He nodded, hurrying on his way. He was at his desk five minutes later with two books underarm. Lemy thought they were the picture albums he'd shown him and Lyra when they first visited.

"So…what do you do for work?" Loan asked their uncle, surprising him with a question. He turned around to look at her even though she was still on her phone.

"Me? I draw. Comics mostly, although I do commissions for people."

"NSFW stuff?" Loan asked. Lemy had no idea what that meant. And when he looked at Lyra, she looked just as confused.

"Nothing like that." Lincoln mumbled, looking embarrassed.

"Hey, it's money from suckers." Loan shrugged. "They're just going to use it for weird stuff anyway."

"Yeah, well…" Lincoln trailed off. "You got any hobbies? Going to follow your mother into business?"

"Ugh, no. My daddy buys me anything I want."

"…Okay." Their uncle responded, losing his will to carry on the conversation. He was about to turn back to his work when Loan asked him something else.

"So how do you know Aunt Ronnie?"

"Well," He spun back around in his chair, head tipped back like he was daydreaming. "Ronnie Anne and me were in the same class in elementary. It just happened to be a coincidence our older siblings were dating. Anyway, she was my bully." Loan snorted in amusement. Lyra was listening in intently and even Lemy paused his game to hear, even though he wasn't sure why he was curious.

"She was." Lincoln insisted. "She'd pants me in the hall and pull all other types of pranks. I never tried to prank her back though."

"So how'd you guys become friends?" Loan asked.

"I kissed her." Their uncle revealed.

"Eww." Loan cringed, and Lemy did a little too.

"All my sisters found out I was being bullied." He explained it. "They were out for blood till I told them it was a girl. Then they insisted that it meant she liked me."

"That's a poor way to show it." Lyra cut in.

"It's just how some girls are." Lincoln didn't think it was a problem. "Anyway, they told me the best thing to do next time she bullied me was to kiss her. So I did…and she gave me a black eye." As he said it, he reached up to touch his face even though there was nothing there. Loan burst out laughing.

"Sounds like you deserved it."

"Well, she gave me a cold steak to help." He said fondly. "And then there was the time we made Lori and Bobby break up-"

"Mom and dad broke up?" Loan suddenly sat up, phone forgotten, and looked at her uncle incredulously.

"Yeah. It's a long story." Lincoln warned, but he clearly had Loan's full attention. "The thing is, we were 11," Lemy noticed his sister frown in the background. "and that's the age in school people tease you for getting crushes. So I might've insisted to a few of my friends that I didn't like Ronnie Anne without realizing she was listening. She got really upset and Bobby found out, so he broke up with Lori because he thought it was unfair to Ronnie Anne." Loan's mouth was wide open, but she was definitely entranced by the story. "Lori tried to kill me. I'm not even joking there. I had no idea Bobby was her older brother." Lincoln swore.

"Oh my God. I can't believe it. Mom has him wrapped around her finger so much."

"Well, this was when they'd only recently got together. Three-month anniversary. Or was it one month? I forget, but they hadn't been together long. But Lori was determined to fix it, and Bobby would only get back with her if I was nice to Ronnie Anne. So…" He got a smirk on his face and stopped to compose himself. "So, Lori's bright idea was to arrange a double date to prove to Bobby I would be nice. I don't want to say too much about what happened there."

"Come on!" Loan whined, looking disappointed. Lincoln shook his head.

"You can ask Ronnie Anne yourself if you want to know. Just make sure it isn't while she's in town or she might come over to wail on me." He shuddered. "But at the end of it we were kind of not-really-boyfriend-and-girlfriend-but-still-really-good-friends, so Bobby and Lori got back together. It was complicated." He said after that mouthful.

"That's so crazy." Loan shook her head. "My dad always said mom's side of the family was like that."

"Oh, we were." Their uncle said proudly. "But that's what made it so fun."

"I like solitary quiet myself." Loan returned to her previous position and to her phone. "I've got to ask her next time I see her."

"She'll probably deny it." Lincoln warned. "Ronnie Anne never did girly."

"That's what you think." Loan said smugly. With the conversation between those two over, Lyra stepped in.

"You guys stopped being friends?" Lyra asked.

"No, we never stopped." Lincoln shook his head. "Ronnie Anne moved away to live with her family in Chicago, so we were a little disconnected. It's hard to keep any kind of relationship up at a distance."

"Then you went to California to study art?" Lyra guessed, and Lemy decided to jump into the conversation.

"What part of California did you live in?" He asked. They were always moving with mom, but if they spent the most time anywhere, it was California. Their uncle scratched the side of his head.

"The school was somewhere around L.A."

"We usually stay at a beach hotel in Santa Monica." Lemy told him. "It's really cool there but kind of weird. A lot of people don't speak English, they don't have separate bathrooms for boys and girls, and mom never let us leave the hotel."

"The art schools were just one county over." Lyra didn't like that place as much as Lemy and mom did, but she knew it just as well. "It would've been only a few minutes away from where we were. What years were you there?"

"Uhhh… I don't remember." Their uncle said. "But it was a long time ago." He left it at that. Lyra was still frowning. Lincoln looked up, saw her frowning again, and quickly looked back to his work.

Weird.

Loan's phone started ringing with some stupid pop song, and Lemy was grateful when it shut off, only to become annoyed again when he heard his cousin speak. "Hi Daddy!" She said cheerfully. Lemy rolled his eyes and tried to focus on the audio from his game. She was doing that again. Whenever Loan talked to her dad, she made this really high-pitched sappy voice that was like nails on a chalkboard.

He wasn't the only one who found it annoying. Lyra had turned back to the computer with a similar amount of focus. And their uncle had gone so far as lay his head sideways on the desk and press his arm against his other ear.

"Fine." Loan went on in that horrible voice. "Thanks for having Aunt Ronnie bring my stuff over." Another merciful silence. "Yeah, he's okay." Was she talking about their uncle? "Where?" She asked, her tone changing. Lemy kept ignoring her till she made a small squeal of excitement. Turning around, Lemy saw she'd pulled a small wad of money out of one of the smaller pouches on the bag. And then he had to endure listening to her saying 'thank you' repeatedly. Man, that was so annoying.

"Is your last name Loud or Santiago?" Lincoln asked when the torture was finally over.

"Santiago?" Loan responded, confused. "Why?"

"Nothing." Lincoln waved his hand. "We just always kind of guessed Lori would make Bobby take her last name."

"I wouldn't be surprised. It's like mom has complete control over him. If he tried to break up with her today, I think she'd end up in prison."

"Sounds like you're just as good at getting Bobby wrapped around your finger as Lori." Lincoln joked, with bad results.

"Do NOT compare me to that woman." Loan growled, and Lincoln recoiled.

"Sorry." He apologized quickly, holding his hands up. He waited, and when it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything else he spoke again. "You don't like your mother very much?" He asked.

"She's a bitch." Lemy snickered and Lyra flinched. "She's always trying to control my life and she's always finding something to complain about. Dad's a lot better at the whole parenting thing."

"Okay…wow…" Lincoln slumped back in his chair. Then he leaned forward. "She was worse when we were kids, believe me."

"I doubt it."

"At least you can go around her." Lincoln told her. "When we were kids, she was the oldest. If mom and dad gave her control, she had absolute control. And even when she didn't, she was on our case." Loan didn't seem to be interested still. "Lori was the only one who could drive for the longest time. She used to make us slave away doing her laundry or chores if we wanted a ride anywhere."

"I didn't do the dishes once, so mom stacked them in my bathtub and got mad when I didn't notice after three days." Loan said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"She had this old military jacket she wore whenever mom and dad left her in charge. Had a riding crop and everything." Lincoln shivered. "She was scary." Loan sat up again.

"She was yelling at me so hard once she farted right in the middle of it." Lemy had to laugh at that, and their uncle was trying his hardest not too. He managed to put it down.

"Yeah…" He had to stop again to keep from laughing. "Lori always did let her emotions take over." He said.

"I think she's literally bi-polar." Lemy had no idea what that meant. "Or maybe she hit menopause early." Lemy had no idea what that meant either, but he could see Lyra shifting in her seat like she was about to get up. "I don't know how dad stands her."

"They both love each other. They were so sappy and overdramatic back then that they'd make us gag."

"Oh, they still are." Loan assured him, sounding disgusted. "I hear them humping through the walls a lot of nights." Lyra's face scrunched up and she opened her mouth to say something, but their uncle spoke first and cut her off.

"You're a really blunt person." He observed.

"Yeah, and mom gets on my case over that too. She puts me in an elite academy with a bunch of high-class rich kids and thinks I'll be innocent? Please. You have no idea how hellish a place like that is. Half of them are in therapy, at least a few are inbred, and I'll bet a quarter of the girls have had abortions already." And just like that, Lemy's gaming session ended. Lyra had grabbed him up and pulled him out of the living room and to the bedroom in the span of a few seconds.

"Hey!" He protested after she let him go and closed the bedroom door.

"We're staying in here for a little while." She declared.

"I was playing a game!" Lemy retorted angrily.

"They're talking about adult stuff you shouldn't be hearing. Practice with your guitar for a little while." Lyra told him. "I'll be here with you." She sat down on the bed. Still frustrated, Lemy did get out his guitar and sat down on the opposite side. He made sure to strike a few bad notes first on the chance they'd annoy her. She didn't have a reaction, and Lemy cooled shortly.

"Loan was complaining a lot." He said, strumming a few notes.

"Yes." Lyra sighed. "She was."

"Is Aunt Lori bad?" He asked. That had left him confused.

"She's a good woman. Loan and her just don't get along." His sister answered. "She likes her dad more."

"So, she's like you?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Lyra didn't get what he meant.

"She loves her mom but gets annoyed by her." Lemy clarified.

"I'm sure." Lyra nodded. Did she look weirded out by the comparison?

"What's so bad about our mom?" He still just couldn't understand that. His sister sighed.

"I told you, Lemy. You're too young to understand." Ugh. That again.

"I don't have to hate mom when I get older too, do I?" He asked. He knew you learned new stuff as you got older. Was he going to learn something that made him not like her? What could do that?

"Don't say 'hate'." Lyra shook her head. "You should never hate her, no matter what." Lemy set his guitar down and moved to the other side of the bed, next to his sister. "And if you can go your whole life thinking she's amazing…that's fine too." She told him.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

"Yes." She put an arm around his shoulder. "I mean it, Lemy. Never hate her. Always appreciate her."

"I will." He nodded. "Nothing can make me hate her."

"Nothing will ever make me hate her either." Lyra swore.

Living Room

Loan was having fun. She only ever got to vent like this with Aunt Ronnie. But unlike her aunt, her uncle could tell her as many tales. She'd found someone who believed just as she did what her mom was really like.

Stuff like sabotaging her sister's driving test. Loan's mom was always so full of herself, but now she knew she was just insecure. She was going to find a way to use this information, she just knew. Even funnier, her uncle had shown her some pictures of her mom when she was her age. A looker she definitely hadn't been. Loan had dodged a genetic bullet. She was reveling in these stories. But they came to an eventual end.

"…but we had some good times too." He started saying. "Lot of good times." He reminisced, then leaned forward. "You've had plenty of good times with her too, right?" Oh, here it came: the concerned authority figure. Loan rolled her eyes. At least he had an original approach.

"Look, I'll tell you the same thing I've told the school councilor and CPS the time they came around our house." Her uncle looked alarmed. That whole thing had been just a misunderstanding from a teacher overhearing her. "My mom and I get along fine most of the time. We sit down and play video games once a week." Her mom wasn't terrible at them, but she was waaaay below her daughter's level. "We just have different styles and don't like how the other does their thing. Mom says we should be able to vent about what bothers us instead of keeping it bottled up."

"And that works?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah." Loan agreed. "Mom and me will yell at each other. I'll call her a bitch. She'll call me lazy. And then after we'll sit on the couch together with dad and watch a movie. We have a system about time and places for arguing." Meal times and family activities were off limits. In front of family was of limits. At work or school was off limits.

"That's uh…a good system." Her uncle started to nod. "Wish we could've had something like that. Would've come in useful a few times I can think of."

"It keeps the peace. Anyway, thanks for all the fun stories. I'll have to bring them up with mom and Aunt Ronnie." She picked up her headphones.

"One last thing!" Her uncle said with a hint of urgency. She granted him a few extra seconds. "Has your mom ever mentioned her time living with the rest of us?" He asked.

"Not really." She answered. The face down family picture came to mind.

"Well… there was a lot of hardship too." He told her. "Lori was a really great person back then, but it might've taken its toll on her. Just don't judge her too harshly, alright?" He implored. Loan looked for something in his eyes beyond earnestness and found nothing.

"Okay. I won't." She put her headphones in. So, something had happened then that made her mother overbearing and gave her a hair-trigger temper? Maybe there was a lot of backstory to that. But Loan honestly didn't care.

Two Days Later

Loan's time with them was at its end. She'd spent three days with them, some of it good and some of it bad, but not a regrettable experience. Part of Lyra was disappointed to see her go, and she could tell her cousin was the same way. But now she'd be spending time at her grandparents until all this trouble with the authorities blew over; her dad had called Lincoln last night to tell him Loan's grandparents were back in town and he could take her to them tomorrow.

And Lyra was going with them, at least for the drive.

Loan had insisted on it, unhesitant to explain she didn't want to be alone in a car with someone she barely knew even though they seemed to have gotten along over the last few days. Such an insinuation had hurt their uncle, and even Lyra found her approach inconsiderate. But Lincoln had agreed, obviously hiding his reaction to the accusation of his character. Lyra felt bad for him, she really did, but at the same time this situation presented an opportunity for her.

Her grandparents.

She hadn't been thinking about them specifically, but they'd been part of it. That disconnect in the family she'd wondered about. They were her family same as her aunts, family who'd held her when she was a baby. She didn't think she'd have a chance to see let alone speak to them. But here one was.

She'd debated on that for some time before deciding she wanted to actually do it. Her mom had promised her an explanation on everything, and that was only two weeks away. Not that she intended to bring the subject up directly, but it could be brought up. They wouldn't hate her, surely? Mom said it was a problem between them that had nothing to do with any of the grandchildren. She still remembered those pictures of them holding her.

She felt a little guilty about it though. It was obvious the night before and in the first half of the day leading up the car ride that Lincoln was very nervous. Lyra had assumed that he was on bad terms with them, but this was more like fear. He didn't want to do this, yet Lyra was looking forward to it.

"What are they like?" She asked her cousin. Loan had changed her outfit for the first time only that morning and tried to stuff everything back in her bags haphazardly.

"They're like the ones you see on tv." Loan answered. "We send each other Christmas cards every year. Mom sends them pictures of me every few months. I always get cards with money for my birthday. They always want to know how I'm doing."

"That sounds nice." Lyra commented, feeling envy in her gut.

"My dad's side of the family is a lot worse, believe me." That was all the information Loan could offer on their shared maternal grandparents.

"You girls ready to go?" Lincoln asked a short time later.

"Sure." Loan pulled herself up from the coach and actually picked up some of her own bags. Lincoln got the rest. Lemy took the spot on the couch Loan had finally left and Lyra sat down next to him.

"We'll be gone a while." She told him. Lincoln said they lived in the city, so they'd probably be on the highway for a while. She'd been ready to insist he come with them, since the only alternative option was leaving him here by himself for at least an hour. But her uncle had tried to insist to her it'd be fine, since he'd just be here in the living room the whole time. The fact that it was true and the fact Lemy had no real interest in seeing grandparents he didn't know convinced Lyra to let it be. "Behave, don't answer the door, and don't mess with anything."

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded. Lyra leaned over and hugged him, and he paused the game for a moment to let her.

"We'll be back." She let go and hurried down to catch up to her uncle and cousin. Loan was already in the front passenger seat and Lincoln was loading her stuff into the backseat directly behind her.

"I told Lemy to behave." She told him as he stood up and closed the door.

"Good. We won't be gone long though." He told them as they walked around to the other side. He climbed into the driver seat and Lyra into the backseat behind him. The car started, and they set off.

The atmosphere in the car was varied, to say the least. Loan was on her phone as always, without a care for her surroundings. Lincoln was tense, his fingers gripping the steering wheel more tightly than was necessary. And Lyra was stuck between a slightly excited curiosity and concern for her uncle.

"I hope you had fun." Lincoln said to Loan. There was a slight tremble in his voice.

"It was fine." Loan assured him.

"It was nice seeing you again after so long." He went on. "I'm kind of sad it's over."

"I'll tell mom to start sending you Christmas cards." There was nothing sincere in her tone, but for some reason the words still rang as truthful.

"I'd like that." He responded earnestly. His fingers tapped the wheel. "Listen, Loan? I have to ask you something serious." Lyra watched her cousin's fingers stop dancing across the surface of her phone for a few seconds before she finally looked up.

"While you're with your grandparents, could you please…not mention me?" He asked, sighing heavily. "I'm not on very good terms with them." Loan raised an eyebrow. In the backseat, Lyra listened closely.

"Why?" She asked. "What did you do?" Lyra wanted to know that herself.

"I can't say." He shook his head. "It's stuff between us. Just don't mention that you've seen me to them? Please?" Some desperation crept into his voice. Loan's curiosity shifted into suspicious, and there was a slight edge in her voice when she spoke again.

"It wasn't anything illegal, was it?"

"No." He answered, but it had come out a little too quickly and a little too uneven. Now there were two 15-year-old girls frowning at Lincoln in his car. The moment was interrupted by Loan's phone ringing. She answered it in an instant, turning her face towards the window.

"Hi mom." Lincoln looked away from the road to his niece when she said that. "Your brother is driving me to Grandma and Grandpa's." Lincoln turned back to the road, although he was obviously still listening. "It was fine. Lyra and Lemy were visiting, so it wasn't too bad." Loan glanced into the backseat as she said it. "Not really…" She answered something her mom said in confusion, glancing over at her uncle.

Despite how many negative things she'd had to say about her, Loan's tone talking to her mother was civil.

"Really?" Loan asked in surprise. "If you say so." She shrugged even though her mother couldn't possibly have seen the gesture. The conversation went on for half a minute longer but was only the blond affirming several things to her mother. "Okay. Yeah. Will do. Yeah, I love you too. Bye." She hung up her phone and turned to her uncle. "Mom just told me not to mention you to them." Their uncle exhaled in relief. "They must really hate you." He flinched but said nothing. Loan said nothing further and just accepted the situation as it was.

But Lyra couldn't suppress her curiosity at the two exchanges she'd just witnessed. There was so much she could've taken from that. By chance, she was distracted by something that passed by the window-a kid on a bike. She glanced out and realized something: rather then getting on the highway and heading into the big city, they were in the suburbs on the outskirt of Royal Woods, only about 15 minutes from the apartment. Why were they here?

The car stopped at a stop sign. A few moments passed, but they didn't move. No car was coming down the other road or even behind them. But still they sat. It wasn't till he felt two pairs of eyes burning into his skull that he finally made a turn. They crawled along at a slow 10 miles per hour or so.

"That's it right there." Loan pointed out. Lyra followed her finger to a two-story house.

"Yeah…that's it." Their uncle admitted. He almost muttered it under his breath. They pulled up to the curb and stopped. Lyra gazed out the window at it. It was a house that was getting on in age. The roof was blue tiled but old. A tree taller than the house took up most of the front yard, which was slightly overgrown. A cracked driveway led to a dirty garage to the right of the house. Were it not for the two cars in the drive way: a van that looked about two decades old and a dinged up two door truck, the house might have looked unoccupied.

"Thanks for the ride." Loan unbuckled herself.

"I'll help you carry your stuff inside." Lyra offered quickly, starting to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"No." Both her uncle and her cousin said it, the former firmly and the latter dismissively.

"Stay in the car, Lyra." He ordered. His voice was a way she'd never heard it in all their visit here-stern.

"Just pass me my stuff." Loan turned around and reached into the backseat to grab her backpack. Surprised but not resisting, Lyra helped shift the duffel bags to the front without a word.

"You have fun." There was no conviction in the words Lincoln said to his departing niece. "Tell your mom I said hi next time you see her."

"Uh huh." Loan was nicer to her cousin. "See you around, Lyra."

"Goodbye." Lyra responded half-heartedly.

Once Loan was only a few steps away from the car with her stuff, the car lurched forward so hard that Lyra got pushed back into her seat. Her uncle had hit the gas and peeled out of there and down the street fast enough for the tires to screech. They rounded a corner much too sharply and finally slowed down after they'd blown through two stop signs. In fact, her uncle saw fit to pull over the side of the moment and stop. He slumped forward over the wheel.

"That was where my grandparents lived?" Lyra interrupted the moment he was taking to compose himself. He raised his head and glanced back.

"Yeah, that was them." He confirmed. He couldn't keep eye contact with her and turned back to look out the windshield.

"I thought you said they moved to the city?" Lyra could've sworn that was what he'd said during their tour near the start of the visit.

"No, they still live here." He sighed heavily. "I lied." He admitted. "I'm sorry."

"You…lied." Lyra repeated, feeling a slight stir in her chest. Indignation.

"Sorry." He said again.

"You're okay." Lyra said it more quietly then she'd intended. It was still turning over in her head: she'd been lied to. Had she ever been lied to like that? There was a difference between lying and just not being told something. The only time her mom lied to her was about little things when she was young, about subjects she shouldn't have known yet. But this wasn't a little lie about where babies came from.

"I wanted to see them again." She let it out. Her uncle shook his head.

"That can't happen. I'm sorry. We don't get along anymore."

"That badly?" Lyra asked. Her uncle nodded.

"I can't tell you why, but I just want you to trust me. It's better like this." He insisted. He sat up and started driving again, taking them back towards the more urban part of Royal Woods. Lyra was silent for most of the return ride, nursing a sense of disappointment.

Her resolve almost broke and she even opened her mouth at one point, about to ask him for the truth then and there. What was that void? What had made it so intense that he was even cowering in fear about it. She almost did it, but in the end held it back.

Two weeks. She'd find out in two weeks.

It'd be a hard two weeks to bear.