Ollie squirmed under Nevin's gaze, biting his lip and averting his eyes as he thought over what the man was proposing. His sense of right and wrong having regressed into a more simplistic understanding, the boy struggled to reconcile his teachings of honesty über alles with the idea that it might be the best thing for Melissa if he were to keep Nevin's secret. What if he wasn't just going out at night? What if, while he looked like a twenty-one-year-old, he was spending time with other girls and even...Ollie swallowed as a tinge came to his cheeks...kissing them? His little head felt as though it was going to explode, but he managed to delay the detonation long enough to reach a decision. The boy took a deep breath, looked up at his uncle, and...
"Hey!" Justin pointed to an open box that sat right next to the safe. "What's that stuff?"
"Don't - !" Nevin reached for the boy but Justin was too fast, already past the man's grasp before he could even finish voicing his objection. He groaned and ran his hands through his hair as Justin started digging through the box. Though Ollie stayed at his perch, he couldn't help but peer curiously after his best friend, interest only heightened when Justin started plucking out articles of clothing that were every bit as small as they were adorable.
"What do you have this for?" Justin scrunched up his face at a tiny Scooby-Doo t-shirt before tossing it aside, following the same routine for other garments he found too babyish for his seven-year-old sensibilities. "It's for babies...and so is this...and this...and definitely this..."
Oliver furrowed his brow in puzzlement as he looked upon the pile of childish clothing that grew at Justin's side. Then - struck by inspiration - he practically gasped as he raised his eyes to Nevin, who was doing his best to hide his.
"You use the ring to be a kid!" Ollie exclaimed. "Just like I did!"
"Not just a kid."
Ollie turned back to Justin. Nevin - who could guess by his smirking tone what the boy had found - merely blushed deeper and covered his face with his hand."
"Sometimes he's a baaaaayyy-beeeee." Justin looked positively triumphant as he held up a half-empty pack of Pampers. "Ew, I bet he even uses them!"
Nevin suffered under Justin's laughter and Ollie's awestruck stare for a moment before he stormed over to the boy that had discovered his secret and snatched its most humiliating element out of his hands.
"That's enough!" He shouted. The man faltered for a moment, partly because Justin flinched beneath him and partly because he feared he might've just woken up the house.
"Now look," Nevin hissed. "What I do with my free time is none of your business. Yes, maybe I like to spend some time as a kid when I have the house to myself...and maybe I even got some of my old stuff from my mom so I could be me and not some other kid..."
Nevin shot a glare at Justin, who was giggling throughout the entirety of his explanation.
"...but that does not mean I have to explain or justify myself to either of you. I want you guys to go back upstairs right now and - "
"No way."
Nevin stared agog at Justin as the boy crossed his arms and smirked up at him. Even Ollie was taken aback by how brazen his best friend was being.
"You're gonna have to do something for us if you want us to keep your secret," Justin taunted. "Not only that you go out at night but that you like bein' a widdle bitty bay-beee."
The last three words were like three daggers to Nevin's heart. He staggered - trying to regain his composure before Justin could notice, but knowing from the look on the boy's face that he no longer had any power over the child. Gritting his teeth, he turned to Ollie, who blinked before looking up at his adoptive father.
"Ollie?" He started, channeling all his self-control into keeping his tone even. "Do you feel the same way as your friend here? Are you really going to...make me do something before you promise to keep all this a secret?"
Ollie's gaze moved between Nevin's flustered grimace and Justin's giddy grin. The tiniest of smiles crept across his lips.
"Maybe...maybe just onething..."