“Regular chatterbox,” Linus said faintly. “What’s his name?”
“And that’s how I know this could be the place for him,” Helen said, her smile growing. “Because you didn’t ask me what he was, just who he is. I don’t know that anyone has ever done that for him.” She reached inside a pocket on her overalls and pulled out a photograph. She glanced down at it before handing it over. “His name is David. He’s eleven years old. And he’s a—”
“A yeti,” Linus said in awe. He stared at the photo in Arthur’s hand. In it, there was a smiling boy covered in thick, white hair. But it was his eyes that Linus noticed more than anything.
They were cerulean.
“We’ll take him,” Linus said immediately. “Whenever he’s ready. Can we get him today? Where is he? Does he have much? Oh, we’ll have to figure out where he should sleep. The guest house might work but—wait. Will he be all right here? Won’t he like the cold more than anything? I suppose we can work something out. Anything we can do to make him comfortable—”
He felt Arthur squeeze his hand.
He looked down. “Gone off, have I?”
And Arthur said, “You dear, dear man. How I adore you.”
Linus coughed. “Uh. Yes. You too. The same.”
Helen was grinning at them. “I knew it. I knew I was doing the right thing. And yes, he likes cold, though he’s survived more without having it.”
“He shouldn’t just be surviving,” Linus said irritably. “He should be living.”
“The cellar,” Arthur said, and Linus gaped at him. “We could convert the cellar into a cold room. Just for him.”
“Are you sure?”
Arthur nodded. “Yes. It’s time, I think. To let the past rest. Take something filled with anger and sadness and make it better.”
Linus Baker loved Arthur Parnassus more than he could ever put into words.
“Will it cause problems with your petition for adopting the others?” Helen asked, sounding worried. “I don’t want that to be put into jeopardy.”
Arthur shook his head. “I don’t see why it would. This place is still considered an orphanage, though DICOMY is reviewing their guidelines, or so they say. And he is … unusual, just like the rest of us. If he finds that he likes it here, and wants to stay, we’ll do what we can to go through the proper channels. And if he doesn’t, we’ll find him a place to belong.”
Helen looked relieved. “There’s more, you know. So many more.”
“We know,” Linus said. “And while we may not be able to help them all, we’ll do as much as we can for all those put in our path.”
* * *
She left them a little later with a promise of getting in touch soon. There were plans to be made, and she thought it would be best if Arthur and Linus were to go to David first so as not to overwhelm him with all the others.
They agreed.
Linus watched the truck through the bedroom window. Helen was speaking with Zoe through the open window. They were both smiling. Linus hadn’t seen their relationship blossoming, though he seemed to be the only one. It wasn’t until he’d stumbled upon them kissing that he figured out why Helen seemed to be at the island more and more.
Zoe kissed the back of Helen’s hand before stepping away. The truck turned over, the engine rumbling as she began to drive down the road back toward the dock. Linus startled when arms wrapped around his waist. He turned his head slightly to brush his nose against Arthur’s cheek.
“You can do this,” he whispered. “Bring him here. Make him happy.”
“We can do this,” Arthur corrected gently. “Because he’ll need you just as much as he needs me. He’ll need all of us, I think. And we’ll be ready.”
Linus turned. He kissed the tip of Arthur’s nose. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“This. Everything. All this color.”
Arthur knew what he meant. “It was his eyes, wasn’t it? That’s what you saw first.”
Linus nodded. “They reminded me of the sea. It’s a sign. He belongs here. And we’ll do everything we can to make sure he knows that.”
“Do you think we should tell the children?”
“About David? Of course. They need to—”
He shook his head. “About the petition of adoption. About how your name is on it too.”
Linus hesitated. “Not yet. Not until we’re sure it’ll go through with the both of us on there. I’d hate to say something only to have it need to be amended to just you if DICOMY rejects it because we’re…” He coughed roughly. “You know.” Linus wished he could sink into the floor. He hoped Arthur would ignore him.
Arthur didn’t. “Because we’re unmarried.”
“Yes. That.” And no, Linus absolutely had not been thinking about that at all. Not in the slightest. Why, the very idea was preposterous. Not only was it far too soon, there was—
“We may have to change that, then.”
Linus gaped at him as Arthur stepped away toward the door. “Excuse me?”
Arthur glanced back at him over his shoulder. “Coming, dear Linus?”
“Now, see here! You shouldn’t—you can’t just say something like—what on earth—”
Arthur opened the bedroom door. He held out his hand for Linus.
Linus, still sputtering of course, took what was offered.
* * *
It turned out they needn’t have worried. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, the children and Zoe had gathered in the kitchen, and Lucy was already explaining with ferocious excitement that Linus was going to be their father too, and that Arthur and Linus were to be married. They would have to talk to him again about eavesdropping.
As the children jumped on the both of them, shouting their happiness with no small amount of tears, Linus found he wasn’t upset at all.
Sometimes, he thought to himself in a house in a cerulean sea, you were able to choose the life you wanted.
And if you were of the lucky sort, sometimes that life chose you back.