You and Jean had adopted your son about two months after the Rumbling. He was just a baby, from an orphanage of civilian children who lost their parents in the Rumbling.

Though he never knew the circumstances, your son knew from a certain age that you and Jean weren’t his biological parents. But that didn’t make him love you any less, nor did he see you guys as anything but his whole world.

It was a quiet summer evening, the low hum of chirping crickets and frogs seeping through the open window as the three of you ate dinner. It was peaceful, needed after a long day. That was until your son, now ten, started his inquiry to you and Jean.

An inquiry the both of you were hoping wouldn’t have to happen for another year or two…

“We were playing in the field today, and Ovo said we were standing right where the walls used to be. He said they were these huge walls that were supposed to keep bad things out…” Your son says, continuing to eat his food before he looks between you and Jean, a way of seeking confirmation.

Though he was only ten, he was observant enough to pick up the slight shift in the air, his parents slightly more tense than before he told his story.

“Oh yeah?” Jean hums, moving his fork around his plate yet making no effort to eat anymore. “What else did Ovo say?”

“Ovo said that you guys were in the Rumbling… that you killed people.“

There it was. You two prayed this day would come, well… just not now. Regardless, that door was opened, and the two of you would finally have to confront it.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Jean straighten up in his seat. He gives you a look, one that says “I got this, don’t worry…” before he turns back to your son.

“You shouldn’t be listening to everything Ovo says… you know how his mother drinks—“

“Jean!” You instantly cut him off, narrowing your eyes at him as a warning for him to stop before you kick him under the table. Was that seriously the card he had up his sleeve?

But what was Jean supposed to say? “Oh yeah! We were in the Rumbling! Matter of fact, we knew the guy who caused it! The same guy who killed your parents! We were friends with him for years! We killed him, too!”

But he didn’t say that… he didn’t say any of that. He would have to know of the horrors you two went through, your involvement in the war. It was better than him learning from someone else…