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The main floor of the mansion glowed with candlelight as William followed Elizabeth. She skipped over towards the circle of adults in the dinning room, all of them holding silver goblets in their hands with wine in them. All of them smiled as Elizabeth approached them. Even William’s father’s mouth curved into a delighted smile as she stepped into their circle.

"Hello mother!" Elizabeth giggled as she wrapped her arms around Joyce’s swelled stomach before kissing it. "Hello little sister!"

Jenny shook her head as she watched Elizabeth smile at her mother’s rounded middle before seeing her son standing nervously off to the side, who watched the scene with interest.

"William, come here." She beckoned softly as her hand reached out towards her son’s and took it softly. "Come meet Mr. and Mrs. Summers."

William nodded meekly as his mother pushed him towards the older couple. He first looked up at Joyce. He almost blushed as she sent him a warm smile. Her golden hair, like her daughter’s, was left down and framed her face like an angel while the candlelight seemed to form a halo over her head.

"Hello William." Mrs. Summers greeted with that warm smile still on her face as she moved away from her daughter and towards the small boy. Carefully, she bent over towards him and took his hand in hers. "I am Mrs. Summers, but you can call me Joyce because I am sure we will be seeing a lot of one another."

"Okay." William replied with a small whisper as Joyce tugged him gently over towards her husband.

Joyce looked over towards Jenny. "He’s beautiful Jennifer." She noted as her eyes darted between the small boy and the other woman. "Looks just like you."

"Why, thank you Joyce," Jenny blushed with slight embarrassment in her voice. "But, he looks more like Ethan than I."

"Nonsense." Joyce giggled as she placed her other hand on William’s shoulder and directed him over towards a tall man that was talking to his father. "William…" Joyce whispered gently in William’s ear. "This is my husband, Rupert Summers."

William’s eyes darted over towards Ethan who gave him a very sharp and threatening look. The small boy flinched as the look seemed to burn through him. Wishing to escaped Ethan’s gaze, William directed his attention over towards the other man. He was fairly tall, almost as tall as his own father was. His hair was a deep, dark brown but had some gray peeking out amongst his nicely groomed locks. Rupert’s eyes were a bright blue and were set behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses. William’s eyes finally settled on the older man’s mouth as it curved into a grin.

"You must be William." He greeted with smooth tone in his voice as he squatted down next to the boy so that he could be eye to eye with him. "Your mother Jennifer has told me that you enjoy horses. That right?"

"Yes, sir." William laughed as he ducked his head and let his curly hair fall in front of bright eyes. "Very much so."

"Well, I must take you out to the stable during your visit. We have beautiful horses there." Rupert smiled as tilted his head to the side and observed the shy young boy. "I shall have to take you riding."

William’s head snapped up, as his eyes grew wide with anticipation and excitement. A huge grin appeared on his face as he tried to contain his thrill. "Really, sir? Do you mean it? I would love to! I would love to, sir!"

"Yes, I do mean it William." Rupert chuckled as he reached out and ruffled the boy’s dark curly hair before standing up. "I shall even take you out tomorrow and show you the stables."

"I cannot wait, sir." William giggled as he watched Mr. Summers wink at him then lead everyone else into the dinning room and began to follow them when he felt a tight hand grasp onto his shoulder. William looked up to see his father sending him a cold stare. Slowly, the older man bent down until his mouth was next to his son’s ear.

"You and I will talk later." Ethan hissed in William’s ear before brushing past him and sat down next to his wife at the dinning room table.

A deep shudder went through the boy as he crawled up into the chair and looked down at the full plate before him. He wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t hungry at all. He felt more sick than starving. Looking over to the side of him, William saw his father sitting high and mighty as he discussed business with Mr. Summers. Across from him sat that Elizabeth girl who looked extremely bored at the moment until she looked over at him and an annoyed look covered over her face. William scrunched up his nose as he looked at her with anger, challenging her to look away, and she did.

Dinner passed by quickly. It was filled with laughter and talk of the future. Rupert and Ethan talked enthusiastically about their partnership and their firm. William had only sat there quietly, catching his father’s hard gazes every so often that made him want to crawl into a corner and cry.

Now William was in his bedroom, sitting on the strange bed that was meant to be his. His mother had long ago kissed him goodnight and had retired herself. His arms now hugged his legs and let his chin rest gently on his knees as he stared out the open window. The full moonlight was now shining off of his face and the unformed tears in his eyes.

William jumped up with alert when his bedroom door opened and in slipped his father.

"Hell-hello, Ethan sir." William stuttered as he quickly scrambled off of his bed and ran over towards his father. "Did I do something wrong, Ethan?" The boy asked nervously as he caught the look on his father’s face.

"Who are you trying to fool?" His father hissed as he took a step towards the young boy.

"What do you mean sir?"

"I saw the way you looked at him!" The older man growled taking another step towards the young boy, a defiant swagger in his step that made William back away. "The way your eyes sparked up! That spark!"

"What? I do not understand Ethan!" William let out a short cry as he backed away until his back hit the wall.

"Of course you do, you little bastard!" Ethan growled as he pounced on William and held him tightly by the shoulders, shaking him slightly. "You want ‘im to be your new father! I saw the way you looked at him with that spark! You want ‘im to take care of you! To take you out riding! To teach you how to be a man!"

"I do not understand!" William yelled as tears began to rain down his face and he started struggle out of Ethan’s grasp, fear consuming him as his father’s face leaned towards him.

"Do you think he will take care of you as I do? Do you think he would love you?" Ethan hissed shaking his son harder as the tears continued to run down William’s face. "Do you think he would want you to be his son? You are a disgrace to me and you would be a disgrace to him! I will not be made a fool of William! Never!" Ethan ceased his shaking as he leaned closer to the boy so that his face was merely centimeters from his son’s. "Don’t put false hopes into your head boy!"

With that Ethan pushed his son to the floor and flew out of the room with angry steps that seemed to echo off of the walls and through William’s ears.

Small sniffles escaped the boy’s mouth as tears spilt down his cheeks. Pale blue eyes searched the room. Everything seemed bigger than it had before. The room seemed emptier and had seemed to grow in size.

The boys cries grew louder as he felt the area of his arms where his father had grabbed him begin to throb with pain. The pain wracked over his body and William just wished for it to end.

Why does Ethan hate me? What have I done? Why doesn’t he love me? His inner voice begged as William buried his face against his knees and continued to sob, rocking back and forth as he sat there.

"William?" A small voice called out as the door to his bedroom opened with a creak. William’s head snapped up and saw Elizabeth standing in his room, a small blanket wrapped around her body. She then noticed the tear tracks that were shining on his face. "Why are you crying?" She asked quietly as she sat down beside him, looking at him with concern.

William moved his eyes over towards the small girl that sat beside him who had concern and worry for him shining through her eyes. William sniffled as he shook his head silently. "I don’t want to talk about it."

Elizabeth nodded understandingly as she took his hand in hers. "Do not be sad William. It will all be okay." She mumbled tugging his hand as they both stood up and climbed onto his bed. Without a word Elizabeth forced the boy to lay down before lying down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you." William whispered quietly as he felt the tears on his cheeks begin to dry and his eyelids beginning to become heavy.

"You are welcome." She replied as she pulled her blanket around the both of them before drifting off to sleep.

To be continued…





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