Theodore woke up to the two teenagers reviewing more of the old plays from Eastedge. They definitely seemed to be bonding even more. Theodore couldn’t help smiling as he watched them immersed within a friendly debate over how tasty a witch’s candy house actually was. They still hadn’t even noticed him standing there in his light blue plaid pajamas.

On closer inspection Theodore even noticed Vivian’s eyes were softened and seemed to portray a smile. His step-son was actually happy after so long. After everything that had happened Theodore knew that there was a possibility that Vivian might never fully recover mentally and emotionally, but he had always had hope that Vivian would start to heal eventually.

His ex-wife had gone slightly insane after the incident three years back, and Theodore had blamed the stress of her job at the beginning. He knew that her job was everything to her and had wanted to portray a perfect family. Why else would she marry Theodore without any love involved?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It had been almost four years since Theodore had been disowned by his parents and a little over two since he had moved to Eastedge. He was still nervous about the new environment, but had agreed to go to a Christmas banquet at the opening of the newest art gallery with his roommate. The roommate had long run off with his girlfriend to mingle, leaving Theodore standing awkwardly by an abstract painting that Theodore couldn’t quite understand.

Without Theodore noticing he was joined by a quiet toddler who just stood next to him staring at the painting as well. The toddler tugged on Theodore’s pant leg after a bit and pointed at the painting. “Wuv.”

Theodore was startled, but then realized that the painting could be understood with the thought of love in mind. “You’re a smart child aren’t you?” He patted the child’s head. “Where are your parents little one?”

“Mum ish woking. Ay wook at da pictoors.” The toddler looked innocently at Theodore.

What mother ignores their toddler at a large social gathering just to work? She had told him to look at the art before just wandering off with no concern in the world? Theodore couldn’t help the feeling of anger that passed through his whole body before he forced himself to calm down.

“Do you want to hangout with Big Brother until she is finished?” Theodore had just turned nineteen a week before and refused to have the child refer to him as Uncle, so he introduced himself as a big brother instead. After the child nodded Theodore sat down on a bench and introduced himself as “Theo”.

The child pointed at himself as he did his own introduction, slightly struggling to say his first name properly due to the consonants. “Ay-jah-th. Buu Deo ill call meh Viv. Ay em twoo an tree qurters” The toddler smiled brightly, showing all his teeth.

Theodore’s heart skipped a beat. The toddler named Ajax (or Viv as they wanted to be referred to as) was almost the same age as… Theodore shook his head, not wanting to remember the past anymore. Aside from that, he thought he remembered the name Ajax from somewhere…

As the two sat and chatted they started to bond instantly. The name Viv had initially told Theodore lingered in the back of his mind though as he tried to place it. Suddenly the sound of a pair clacking heels somehow stuck out from the rest of the merriment and bustle. Looking up from the toddler Theodore realized where he had heard the name before.

The stern woman making a beeline towards the two was Mayor Thorpe, who everyone knew had happened to have a son named Ajax V. Thorpe. The woman wore a dark green pinstripe suit and black close-toed heels. Her dark black hair was in a tight bun that let no hair escape, and her dark, royal blue eyes gave off the aura of power.

“Ajax, you are not bothering this young man with tall tales are you?” The mayor was a strict woman on herself and all of her peers, but she was even more strict with her only son.

She was widowed shortly after her son was born and just as her political career was starting up. She was a busy woman who didn’t have time for mourning or taking care of her newborn. At the same time she didn’t want to ruin her image or reputation. She hired a full time caretaker for the child, and would only bring the child with her to social events to gain favor with the civilians. The caretaker had a family emergency and couldn’t watch Ajax during the banquet, so she had instructed Ajax to stay out of the way and admire the art while she worked. Forgetting at times that he was still just a toddler.

Theodore quickly spoke up. “Missus Mayor, your son was just telling me the interpretation of this art piece. He is quite smart and well behaved for a toddler.”

She nodded politely, showing only through her eyes that she was proud of her son for making her look good. “I’m surprised he started talking to you. He never speaks at home, let alone to strangers.”

I wonder why… Theodore sarcastically wondered. He could tell that the mayor was rarely home, leaving her son to his own devices with whoever took care of him. He did his best not to judge her though, since she was a single mother on top of the mayor of a large town.

Before Theodore could say anything out loud though, Ajax himself spoke up. “Ay wike Deo. Can ay tak em ome?”

The two adults looked surprised at Ajax’s request for different reasons. His mother was the first to speak up though. “Ajax, don’t be selfish. This man has his own home to go home to. I didn’t raise you to be the type to ask impossible requests.” She raised her voice and gave Ajax a stern look, being careful not to draw attention to them though since she had a reputation to uphold. Ajax immediately slinked back behind Theodore to retreat from her anger.

Theodore did his best not to glare or reprimand the woman for scaring the poor child. It was her child after all and he had no say in how she raised him. It still pierced his heart as he felt Viv latch onto his shirt with a tiny trembling hand. He couldn’t stand being near her and her attitude anymore and decided he should leave, wanting to take Viv with him, but knowing he couldn’t.

Doing his best to stay acting polite, he smiled at the woman standing before him. “I don’t mind hanging out with the child occasionally. I just started helping out with the community drama team you have in the area, and I’ve been put in charge of the younger members. He is free to join anytime he is too childish for you to deal with.” Theodore couldn’t help injecting a little venom in his words towards the end to show how much he disapproved of her attitude towards such a young toddler. He was very sincere on the other hand when he turned to hand the toddler behind him a handmade business card with his cell number. “Here this is for you Viv. Feel free to use it if you want to chat more about art or anything.” Theodore smiled and patted the child’s head as he got up to leave. Throwing another small glare at the mother as he passed her.

A week later Theodore got a call not from the son, but from the mother. It contained a slightly reluctant proposal for a full time caretaker and father position for a two and three quarters toddler named Ajax Vivian Thorpe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Theodore took his wife’s last name and watched Vivian grow up to a preteen, doing his best to care for him as if he was actually his son. He saw the sudden marriage of convenience as a way to hide his past and maybe eventually move on with his life. It wasn’t like he was capable of love anymore anyways. The only requirements he had now was to raise Vivian and occasionally appear in public with his wife to portray the perfect family. The advantages Vivian’s mother got out of it all revolved around the only thing in the world she cared about, her job.

Theodore learned to understand her thought process over the years, even if he didn’t agree with it. That’s why he couldn’t blame her initial reaction to the fateful drama club meeting that changed their lives. When things hidden deep each of them within came to light. When her picture perfect family was broken and revealed as flawed. When what was supposed to be one of their happiest and proudest days started a nightmare.

Theodore could however blame her for her next actions, even if he wouldn’t let her son, the main victim, do the same. He insisted Vivian forgive his mother, and let Theodore hold onto the resentment in his place. All the anger for the lies, deceit, cover-ups, pointing fingers, rumors, bullying, paranoid activities, various types of mental abuse, clothing, supplements, arguments, broken glass and the trauma with apples. Everything that had been caused directly or indirectly by his mother, Theodore tried to protect and shield his step-son from remembering or dwelling on now.

Theodore even went as far as insisting the new school use Vivian’s middle name when he registered him. Where a first name was needed, most documents just had an abbreviated “A.” typed out, only using the full “Ajax” when it was necessary. The only person that had ever called him by “Ajax” being the mother that betrayed him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Theodore quietly walked by the two teens on the couch, on his way to the coffee pot in the kitchen that still had some cold coffee left from the night before. They were still totally immersed in themselves and their conversation. Filling up a new mug he almost spilled the coffee when he heard Vivian calling Phillip “Charming”. His step-son was actually using a pet name!

When Philip responded by calling Vivian “Snow”, Theodore immediately knew what it was actually short for. Philip probably didn’t even know how close to the original first edition of the Grimm Brother’s "Snow White" Vivian's story actually was. Not many people remembered the actual original story, so Vivian might not even realize some of the relations to his own life. Being childhood friends with the fairytale obsessed Ann, Theodore had heard various facts about it. He was just glad that it seemed that “Snow” had found himself in the part of the story where he meets “Charming” finally.