Some of you know by now that we just welcomed our new little superhero into the world–my son and first child was born last week! We’ve been pretty excited to have him around while navigating all the joys and challenges that parenting entails.
It wasn’t intentional, but I mentioned before that my current draft in progress, Fractured Heroes Book 2, has introduced a few new mother-son relationships. The main one is Stephen and Kim–a 7-year-old boy with mental powers, and his single mother, a psychology professor. When I was first outlining this book over 2 years ago and realized that these characters would be major parts of the story, I didn’t know that I would be writing and editing this book at the same time that I was also becoming a dad. Although I don’t have much actual parenting experience to draw from yet, it’s been fun, special, and at times emotional to write some of these scenes with my own son in mind, looking forward to raising a boy myself in the years to come.
Here’s a meaningful scene that I read aloud during a Facebook live broadcast on the last #BandcampFriday (like my page to make sure you don’t miss the next one!). This scene features Robbie (the protagonist largely based on me) giving parenting advice from his own limited experience. Maybe it’s a small nugget of wisdom that I can use in raising my own son.
A bit of context here: Kim had had large gaps in her memories for years, due to mental tampering from Stephen’s father, a hero-turned-villain named Neuron. Just before this scene, Stephen–who inherited his powers from his father–was able to go into Kim’s mind and restore her memories. Kim is now processing difficult memories for the first time in years–and coming to the daunting realization that her son, too, possesses amazing and terrifying powers while still having the mind of a child. I hope you enjoy this scene!
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Kim pursed her lips together and nodded silently. “Excuse me a moment,” she said faintly. She got up and ran off to another room. They could hear a door slam in the distance.
“Mom?” Stephen called after her. “Are you okay?”
Hope reached out and gently restrained him. “She’ll be okay, Stephen. She just needs a minute. This is a hard time for your mom, too. She’s got a lot of stuff to think about right now.”
Stephen turned back to Hope. “Did I make her feel bad?”
Hope shook her head. “No! You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But I brought back her memories.”
“Well…” Hope hesitated. “That was the right thing to do. She needed to know the truth. You both did. But doing the right thing, and knowing the truth, can still be hard sometimes.”
Stephen’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah…I know.”
They could hear Kim crying loudly from the bathroom. Robbie spoke up to fill the gap. “So, Stephen…are you okay? How are you feeling about…everything?”
He looked away from Robbie. “Okay. Well…I dunno. I’m kinda sad. And scared.”
“Scared of what?” Robbie pressed.
“I dunno. I just felt my mom’s feelings when I looked in her brain. And she’s scared too.”
Hope placed a hand on his shoulder. “Can you tell me what you’re feeling sad about?”
He didn’t look at her, either. “A lot of stuff, I guess. But mainly…I wish my dad wasn’t a bad guy.”
“Yeah.” Robbie crouched down to face him. “I wish he wasn’t a bad guy, too. And I’m sorry you had to find out about him like this.”
“So did you guys fight my dad?”
“Uh—yeah. We did, once.”
“Is he in jail now?”
“No.” Robbie briefly shared a nervous glance with Hope. “Actually, he’s—”
Kim stepped back out into the living room, her eyes puffy and her makeup running. “Hi. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Hope said. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now.”
“Thank you.” She walked to her son, leaned in toward him, and spread her arms wide. “Stephen? How you doing?”
“Okay.” He came and hugged her, only coming up to her middle; Kim returned the gesture and held him for a moment. “I’m a little sad.”
“It’s okay to be sad,” Kim told him. “I’m sad too.”
“I know.”
“Did you know that I love you and I’m so very glad I have you?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, buddy. Do you need anything right now?” She ruffled his hair affectionately.
“No. I’m good. Are you okay, Mommy?”
“I—I will be,” Kim managed.
A moment of silence passed. Kim’s eyes were still teary as she embraced her son. Robbie and Hope exchanged a glance of not exactly knowing what to say or do. “Should we…go now?” Robbie whispered.
“Actually…there might be something else we need to think about now,” Hope said at normal volume.
Kim looked up at her. “What’s that?”
“Neuron wasn’t just able to read minds,” Hope explained. “He could control them, too.” She looked at Stephen. “Stephen…do you know if you can control other people’s minds?”
“Uh, no. I don’t think so. But…maybe.”
“It is a possibility,” Kim mused, not sounding excited at the prospect.
“It would be…good to look into, if he’s got all of Neuron’s powers,” Hope added. “He probably doesn’t even know what all he can do.”
Kim nodded at Hope. Then she sighed, whispered something that sounded like “I’m going to regret this,” looked up at the ceiling, and spoke to her son again. “Okay, buddy…we just want to know how this works. Can you try controlling minds, just for a little bit? Pick something silly…just in case.”
“Okay. Um…” He looked around the room and settled on Robbie. “Miracle Man, can you, um…stand on your head?”
Robbie chuckled. “Well, I mean, I can. But…I’m not doing it right now.”
“You got to try harder, Stephen,” Hope urged. “Like when you went inside your mom’s mind.”
“Okay…” He closed his eyes and reached out. “Try standing on your head.”
Instantly and wordlessly, Robbie got up from the couch and performed a headstand on the carpeted floor.
Stephen’s eyes went wide and he squealed with delight. “Wow!”
“Looks like he’s got it,” Hope commented.
Kim breathed heavily. “Oh, dear…okay…”
“Can you pick up the table?” Stephen asked Robbie.
Kim scowled. “Stephen, we know it works now. There’s no need to—oh dear.”
Robbie had righted himself and was now lifting their wide living room table at the base with one arm. The tablecloth slid off as papers, books, and more crashed to the floor.
“Stephen!” shouted Kim.
“Okay, put it down!” Stephen said. Robbie obeyed. “This is just like Simon Says!” Stephen exclaimed. He looked back up at Robbie. “Okay. Now, can you give me a piggyback ride but run around super fast and then—”
“Stephen!”
Stephen let out an exaggerated sigh. “Never mind,” he uttered just as Robbie had begun to lift him up.
Robbie stepped back, shook his head, and blinked. “Hey. What happened? Did it work?”
Kim looked at her son. “So, Stephen.”
He interrupted her. “Can I have ice cream for dinner tonight?”
“Of course!” Kim answered instantly. Then she blinked and scowled. “Wait. Stop that. You can’t do that to me, Stephen. I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay?”
He gave another disappointed huff. “Yeah?”
“All of that was just so we all know what you can do. But now that we do…you can’t use those powers on anyone else, okay? Especially not on me. This is super-duper important.”
“But Mom—”
“Stephen, this is not a discussion. You are not allowed to use your powers.”
“Not any of them?”
Kim hesitated. “Well—definitely not the mind control. Or mind reading.”
“Can I still move stuff with my mind?”
“Um—maybe sometimes. When I say it’s okay. But only in our house. Nobody else can see you doing this, okay?”
“Awwwww.” Stephen sulked.
“At least not right now,” Kim added. “Not until we know more about your powers and you learn how to control them. Do you understand?”
He gave an elongated “Yeah.”
“Because you have these amazing powers! And you can do amazing things! But you cannot just go around messing with other people’s minds—or even reading their thoughts. That’s a very bad thing to do to someone, and it could get us both in a lot of trouble. I really, really need you to understand this.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Because that’s what bad guys do. And you don’t want to be a bad guy, do you?”
“No. I want to be a good guy!”
“And you want to do good things, like respecting other people, and listening to grown-ups. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Good.” She sighed. “Now, you’ve had a long day. Why don’t you go play for a little bit?”
He glanced back over at the two superheroes in his living room and frowned, not wanting to miss all the action. “Awwww. Do I have to?”
“Here’s a challenge for you. Can you build a whole Lego spaceship just by moving the pieces with your mind?”
Stephen’s eyes grew wide. “I bet I can!” He darted away down the hallway and to his room.
Kim walked over and looked at Robbie and Hope with wide eyes and a strained smile. “You see why I’m so worried? Being a single parent is hard enough. But now he can read people’s minds, and control them even! He could do anything he wants to. He doesn’t have to listen to me, or anyone. I can’t make him. How do you teach anyone—much less a child—to control that power and use that power responsibly?”
“I understand where you’re coming from,” Hope offered. “It will definitely be tough to navigate. But you’ll figure it out. I’m sure you will.”
“If I may,” said Robbie. “I’ve never been a parent, but my grandma raised me all on her own. And she taught me good values—right and wrong—from a young age. It looks to me like you’re already doing that with Stephen.”
Kim looked at him. “You do seem to have turned out okay. Looks like you followed what she taught you.”
Robbie scratched his head. “Well—not always. I definitely made mistakes. Big ones, even. I did bad things that I still regret to this day.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Kim shook her head. “What if Stephen makes a mistake? His could be a lot more costly—devastating, even. He could ruin someone’s whole life, or his own. And then that would be on me for how I raise him.”
Robbie spread his hands wide. “Well, I hate to say this—but he will make mistakes. He’s a kid. He’s human. It happens.”
Kim breathed. “I know.”
“But he’s got you to guide him and teach him right from wrong. He’ll learn, and he’ll grow. And when he does mess up, he’ll come back and do his best to set things right. He’s a bright kid with a good heart. And I’m sure he owes a lot of that to you.”
Kim grinned sheepishly. “Thank you. I know I’m the one to teach him these things, and I absolutely still intend to do everything I can to get it right. But—if at all possible—I would still really, really appreciate any help I could get with navigating…this side of things.”
“That’s why we came today,” said Robbie.
“What kind of help are you thinking?” asked Hope.
“I’ve never had powers,” Kim explained. “I’ll never know what that’s like. He’ll need to learn control, focus, restraint, responsibility—whatever qualities it takes for people like you to control your powers—in whole new ways that I’ve never experienced.” She looked up at them. “I’m sorry. I know this is an odd request, and probably a new one to you.”
“Well, we don’t exactly have a school for gifted youngsters,” Robbie muttered.
“I don’t even know what teaching him would look like,” Kim continued. “I mean, I certainly don’t want him going out and fighting crime. Yet. If ever. I just—”
“We’d love to help,” Hope finished.
“I’d be glad to do my part,” Robbie agreed. “But let us bring it to the group. I think Ruby would like to meet you—she’ll want to be aware of what’s going on. We’re in contact with the White Knight, too—I bet even he’d be willing to get involved.”
“Thank you both. So much. This is all—I don’t know what to say.”
“No need to say anything,” said Hope with a smile. “Do you feel better?”
“A little.” Kim tensed. “But I’m still worried for him.”
Robbie nodded. “That’s certainly reasonable.”
“Worried about what, exactly? Hope asked.
Kim moved to the window and looked away from both of them. “Worried that those powers will do to him the same thing that they did to his father.”
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If you’ve read this far and enjoyed this scene, you can find this full chapter and more content in audio format here. Thanks for reading and listening.
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