Wife, Mother, Reluctant Hero: Part Two

Samara watched her son as he trained in the backyard. The moon was full and bright, making the dull metal training sword he used gleam in the night as he struck the wooden dummy he had built with his father long ago. His stances and strikes mirrored those he saw in books describing the Heroes of long ago.

“He’s trying so hard…” Samara whispered to herself.

His mood had rolled in at dinner. Each gathering at the table of the Willingham house was a chaotic mass of noise and eating. Alec told of his day at the magitech plant, his skillful hands flying over keypads as he prevented one of the mana crystals from transmuting into a critical state.

“Are you saying we nearly blew up?” Hunter asked.

“He is not saying we nearly blew up,” Samara countered.

“Not blow up, son. The mana crystal would have at most released a transformative gas which would have mutated the nearby population. We’d probably have gained some extra arms or wings or…”

Alec winced as his wife gently but firmly crushed his foot with hers under the table.

“But we’re fine! Everything is fine! Standard procedure at the plant!” Alec said through a wincing grin.

“Yes, your father is a hero of magitech nerd science,” Samara said with her patient smile.

“I was a hero myself,” Rose said as she popped a perfectly fried root vegetable into her mouth. “Under my leadership we now officially have enough wins to go to playoffs again.”

“Was it ever in doubt? Did we need to wait for the official rankings? Your strike ball team is third seed,” Hunter said.

“Feels good to see it, though,” Rose said with a smirk.

“I got to ride a horse!” Daisy shouted.

“Got to?” Samara asked, eyebrow raised.

“Okay. I jumped on it without permission. But he let me ride him! His name is Peanut Butter and the teacher said nobody gets Peanut Butter to calm down but I got Peanut Butter to calm down and…”

A potato flew through the air and into Daisy’s mouth.

“Good shot,” Hunter said, giving Violet a high five.

“A princess must know how to deal with her most troublesome subjects,” Violet said with an air of quiet dignity.

“No weaponizing your dinner,” Samara said, her glare doing most of the threatening. “Lily, how did the painting you were working on do?”

“It did fine,” the quietest Willingham said, staring into her roast chicken. Hunter leaned over and stole her fork.

“We’ve been working on this, Spooky. Eye contact and confidence,” he said, locking eyes with her.

“My teacher…she said it reflected my quiet creative genius. She wants to put it in the fall art show.” Lily’s face was growing redder as she spoke, but she maintained eye contact with Hunter.

“You may now consume chicken,” Hunter said, handing back her fork.

“Alright! Another art show! My little geniuses hard at work!” Alec said, pumping his fist in the air.

“Yes, our talented little family,” Samara said, looking across the table, fully aware of who had not shared yet. “Hunter? Anything interesting happen to you lately?”

“No, nothing,” Hunter said quickly, clearly trying to avoid the spotlight.

“You haven’t heard back from the young knight training whatever?” Rose asked.

“Nope.”

A single, simple word. No bitterness, no shadiness.

Samara did not believe it for a second.

“I saw you get a letter,” Lily said.

Hunter went still.

“Hunter, you know your father and I like hearing about all of your lives,” Samara said gently.

“Yeah buddy. How bad could it be? You trained your butt off for this thing,” Alec said.

“It’s okay if you didn’t get into the A tier program! Even C tier gets to visit the castle in Centralia at the end! You said so yourself!” Daisy cheered.

“Yeah…yeah, they do,” Hunter said.

“They?” Samara asked.

“It was a rejection letter. I didn’t…I bombed my tryout.”

For a moment, the only sound was the slight drip of the faucet in the kitchen.

“How? You’re training at the dummy whenever you can! You consume ever damn book about the Heroes! I’d bet you could do all seven of their signature moves in your sleep!” Rose exclaimed.

“I guess I wasn’t on my A game on tryout day. All it is. Can we drop it?” Hunter said, sinking into his seat.

“Wasn’t your tryout the same week as Rose’s strike ball tryouts?” Samara asked. “She hurt her ankle the previous week, if I recall. You spent time helping her get over…”

“I know what I did, mom,” Hunter said, standing up with a suddenness which surprised everyone at the table. “I made my choice. Rose needed help, I helped. I’ve got one more year of school before I go to university. I can try again next year. So drop it.”

Hunter headed for the door to the backyard. They all knew he was going to train and blow off steam. The back door slammed with a final, creaky bang.

“He always does this. I didn’t ask him to help me,” Rose said quietly.

“It’s what knights do, Rose. They help others. Even when it holds them back,” Samara said. She exchanged a hesitant look with Alec. They both knew they were thinking the same thing.

A table full of loud geniuses. The only boy among the shining girls.

The only one not to find his place.

So Samara found herself watching her son from the back door late into the night. Rose and Lily were asleep in their shared room, and Daisy and Violet had passed out in their attic sanctuary ages ago. Alec had sat up with her as they listened to Hunter train.

“I could help him learn more magitech,” Alec said, staring at the ceiling, hands behind his head. “He’s so smart. His brain would tear apart my code in a second if he put it to it.”

“I know he would,” Samara agreed. “And you know he would hate it. It would feel…ordinary.”

“Ordinary…” Alec sighed. “We were happy with ordinary lives. How did we have five kids who seem destined for greatness?”

Destined for greatness. Those words from her husband echoed through her brain as she approached Hunter. The boy made a quick strike at the dummy, causing it to swing.

“Would you like some pie?”

“I don’t need two day old pie, mom. Thanks, though. You should go to bed.”

The wind swept across the backyard, blowing the trees and grass and fanning Samara’s hair to the side. Hunter seemed immune to feeling the chill.

“The only reason the girls exist is because of you, Hunter.”

“What do you mean?”

He finally turned to look at her, if only slightly.

“Before you were born, I was terrified. I had always wanted children. I dreamed of being a mom. But seeing you, feeling you inside me…I thought for sure I would ruin your life.”

She let out a short laugh, shaking her head.

“But then you were you. My knight. Helpful and sweet and…Rose came out loud. Lily quiet. All four of them so different, but you were always there to help me. You made me brave, Hunter.”

“I feel like…like I only exist to help other people. Like I can’t ever hold something for myself. It doesn’t make me a dick, though…right?”

“Of course not, because…”

It was then the woods behind their house exploded into a silent, furious light, engulfing them and beginning their destinies.