Taylor
Taylor fidgetted with his hands as he stood outside Ike's room. The younger kids had gone to bed, and Mouse was in their room.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand to knock, then stopped himself.
With a grunt, he finally knocked.
Isaac
Isaac had been lying on his bed reading when the door knocked.
"Come in," he called, putting a bookmark in place.
Taylor
Taylor sighed and opened the door cautiously.
Peeking his head around it, he caught sight of Isaac on the bed.
"Hey..." he began nervously, "I ah... can I talk to you for a moment?"
Isaac
Isaac sat up and nodded.
"Sure," he replied. "What's up?"
He put the book down on the bedside table.
Taylor
Taylor came in and closed the door behind him.
"It's about Nat, and... why I've been avoiding her," he admitted.
He leant back against the wall near the door and put his hands in his pockets, looking towards the window.
"You remember... when she had the miscarriage, right?"
Isaac
Isaac nodded.
"Yes," he replied. "Never really could decide if that was a bad thing or a good thing. I mean, look what he did to Mouse! Baby could have been anything."
Taylor
Taylor gulped slightly and held the tears back at the way Ike spoke of the baby.
Well, he didn't know.
"I... know what the baby was Ike," he began, his eyes falling to the floor.
"Jane said it was probably a clone," he shook his head, "but I said that to Blakesley and he... It wasn't."
Isaac
Isaac looked at Taylor in concern.
"Tay? What... what is it? Or, what was it?"
He put his hand on his shoulder.
Taylor
Taylor hesitated, feeling a lump in his throat.
"It was my son Ike," he looked into his brothers eyes for a moment.
He held his gaze, then turned away.
"And the worst part," he laughed slightly, "was that I felt so glad when she had the miscarriage. Because I thought it was a clone, and I didn't want another one. But now..."
He bit his lip.
Isaac
Isaac stared.
"Oh man Tay..." he said, "Tay, I'm so sorry."
He embraced his brother.
Taylor
Taylor hugged him back.
"I know Nat hates me," his voice shook, "and I don't know if this has anything to do with it. But I can't... Every time I see her now I just think of it."
He closed his eyes.
"Blakesley said he probably would have had blond hair and blue eyes... everything just makes it worse."
Isaac
Isaac raced for the right thing to say.
"It's horrible," he said at last, "to lose a child. But Tay, don't... don't think about what Blakesley told you. He could have been lying to you just to get this exact result for all you know. I'm... I'm not trying to rationalise your problem away though. Sometimes... these things happen. It's probably not my place to say, but, I don't know if you know, Zac and Faith lost a baby too."
Taylor
Taylor let him go.
"At least he has the others to fall back on," he said finally, "I just... I don't know. I really don't know anymore."
He rubbed his eyes, then looked away.
"Just... don't tell Jane, please?"
Isaac
"Zac might have, but Faith didn't," Isaac replied gravely. "She was so upset she thought Zac would hate her. But he doesn't."
He nodded, however.
"I won't tell Mouse."
Taylor
"At least I know for sure Nat hates me," Taylor shook his head, "and most of the time I don't even know why. I know something happened to her last time - that I can't remember - but I busted her out, didn't I?"
He looked up at Ike for a moment, then down again.
"I don't know. But... thanks. For hearing me out. Again."
Isaac
Isaac smiled.
"It's okay, man," he said. "You're my brother, my friend and my collegue. I'm always going to be there for you."
Taylor
Taylor smiled.
"If only everything was that certain," he said, then chuckled softly.
"And... I don't know if I said it properly, but... thanks for rescuing me. Again, again. It's almost getting to be a habit."
Isaac
"As much as it's nice to have a routine," Isaac joked, "there are some habits worth breaking - like you getting in positions where you need rescuing. And while I appreciate it, you don't need to thank me, Tay. Knowing you're alive and well is thanks enough."
Taylor
Taylor chuckled.
"Yeah well, I kinda freaked out when you got taken by Miette. I don't know what I'd do without you man."
Isaac
Isaac grinned.
"Good to know I'm loved," he said, then shook his head. "I have to say, that was one of the stranger experiences of my life. But from the point of view of my power development, I'm kinda glad it happened."
Taylor
"The 'learning how to use your powers without sight or hearing' thing?" Taylor raised his eyebrows.
"It's... it's interesting. In a way. I never actually thought about it before."
Isaac
"I don't think anyone has," Isaac replied. "Or if they did, they never bothered to tell anyone - or the right people. Not that I blame them, it's kinda fun knowing you have a secret advantage. I totally plan on using it next tournament."
Taylor
Taylor grinned, almost evilly.
"And how much fun would that be?" he raised an eyebrow, "if no one knew..."
He chuckled.
"Just as long as the wrong type of people don't realize and start using it to their advantage too."
Isaac
"True. But it'll be fun to see how long it takes them to figure out what I'm doing," Isaac grinned.
Taylor
"A very good point there," Taylor raised his eyebrows, nudging his brother with his elbow.
"So... what do you say... we go down and jam for a bit?"
Isaac
"Sounds good to me," Isaac agreed.
He gestured for Taylor to leave first, and followed him, switching off the light on the way.