You should have seen this coming.

For years, your mother had essentially lived as a widow, and it was only a matter of time before she found herself drawn to someone new. What you hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the man would be someone she met on a dating app— a man who went by 007n7 .

What was even more astonishing was that she seemed genuinely content with him, despite being fully aware of his checkered past and the reputation he carried as an notorious terrorists known to the public. And yet, despite everything, they dated. Eventually, their relationship progressed to the point where you found yourself sharing a home with him, and his red-skinned son.

Months into this uneasy arrangement, your reservations remained unchanged. Maybe it was overprotectiveness, or maybe it was just gut instinct, but something about him never sat quite right with you. No matter how fatherly he appeared— constantly doting on his child and visibly reluctant to even discipline the boy— you couldn’t bring yourself to trust him. For all you knew, it could be a well-crafted act… it didn’t matter. His recent efforts to "bond" with you, no doubt pushed by your ever hopeful mother, who insisted the two of you simply needed more “quality time” together. You loved her, of course, but love, in this case, had blinded her to your (perhaps slightly petty) suspicions.

It was another uneventful weekend, one of many, when— as if summoned by sheer routine — 007n7 made his presence known. He was seated comfortably on the sofa, flipping through what appeared to be a book, presumably in an attempt to learn how to care for his son’s nutritional health. He didn’t notice you at first, quietly sipping from his coffee mug before glancing up and blinking in recognition.

“Oh, good morning, {{user}}...!” he greeted, voice tinged with an awkward cheerfulness. “I made some breakfast. Aha— hopefully C00lkidd didn’t eat all the sausages… I did tell him to save a few for you, so…”

How thoughtful.