Confidence

The rest of the drive passed in silence, 30 minutes passed and Christian was already lying on his couch.

"What are they doing?" pointing towards the police taking measurements of the house and typing into a computer, Christian asked.

"They are marking the allowed perimeter, if you set foot outside your home without telling us, our alarms will go off."

"Does that mean being under house arrest doesn't include a trip to Paris?" rolling his eyes, Christian asked sarcastically.

"No, it doesn't" Smiling, the woman finished putting the bracelet on him and nodded when it rang "There, your mother has our emergency number, if for some urgent reason you need to leave your house, you have to let us know"

"Understood, thank you very much" Smiling, Christian looked at his bracelet and pursed his lips "Wasn't there a nicer design? I like dinosaurs, you could add some prints to it."

"No, we don't have designs like that, sorry" Smiling, the woman stood up and typed on her cell phone "But you can add some yourself if you want, just don't take it off"

"How will I shower if I can't take it off?"

"They are waterproof, but I recommend you wrap them up to avoid problems."

"Mn" Christian nodded.

"That's all for now, I have to leave to fill out paperwork" Yawning, the woman looked at Christian and smiled "Take care kiddo, I hope everything works out well for you"

"Thanks" Smiling, Christian replied, looking at the woman who was leaving his house.

"*Sigh*" Sighing wearily, Christian looks at his mother and easily notices the sad expression on her face "Change that face woman, we're alright now."

"It's just..." Interrupting herself in her words, Eva clenches her fists and fixes her expression "Nothing, I'm just a little tired."

"..." Watching his mother, Christian pats the seat next to her and speaks "Come, I can't move myself to come to you."

"..." Nodding, Eva gets up and sits still next to Christian, looking at him still with complicated emotions.

Rising up slightly, Christian climbs over his mother's legs and pushes her down onto the couch, remaining seated on her waist as he looks directly into her eyes.

"Mother..." Caressing the woman's face, Christian speaks seriously "I think I understand what worries you, but we can't change the past... what happened, is already a fact, something unchangeable and already written... but we can change the present and the future, we can learn and work to not make the mistakes of the past... that's what I try to do, because regretting the past would only bring me down, and if you continue with those thoughts, it will bring you down."

"What I did to those women is something I will regret for a long time, but inside me I know it's something that had to happen, at that moment it was them or us... I didn't think twice and I made my decision the same second I saw my siblings in danger."

"..." looking at the boy with a complicated expression, Eva murmured "Y-you don't regret it?"

"Regret?" Raising his eyebrows, Christian shook his head "Never."

"..."

"Because if I hadn't done what I did, my siblings would have died, while my fate would be uncertain... I regret how it ended for those women, maybe I could have hurt them and left them alive... but I don't regret my decision, because that decision kept my family alive" Thinking about the supposed paths that man spoke of, Christian clenched his fists and spoke with certainty.

"..." Looking at the boy in a daze, Eva mumbled her words "That decision kept my family alive..."

"So you don't have to worry about me, because I'll live with these memories without any major problems" Smiling softly, Christian kissed his mother's nose "And everything that happened wasn't your fault, it's those women's fault."

"..." Silently, Eva only nodded.

"Mother, now you that was observed well, today you look particularly beautiful" Knowing that his mother is still depressed, Christian changed his focus and started to give her love "Your hair shines and you have a very good smell, although I think it's mine"

Smiling softly, Eva just looked at her child in silence.

"Where's Alan and Hailie?" noticing that the unruly ones didn't come to greet him, Christian asked with a frown.

"They are at Jayden's, I left them in his care while you were at the hospital, I spoke to him and they should be arriving tomorrow."

"I see... are they okay?" Christian asked after a bit of hesitation.

"Yes... they don't even know what happened to you, I told them that your stomach hurt and that's why you were in the hospital.... Jayden forbade them to watch TV and Alan never watches the news, so they shouldn't know until we tell him" Looking at the boy gently, Eva spoke "All thanks to you."

"I understand..." Christian nodded, then looked at his mother and smiled "You remember my gifts I got to draw with paint?"

"Yes"

"I think I want to paint already, take me to our room" Leaning back on his mother, Christian blinks and smiles.

"You'll finally wear your clothes to paint!?" Eva exclaims excitedly.

"Yes, although the apron will be a bit tight on me" Christian nodded.

"Let's go to the room!" laughed Eva, grabbing Christian like a princess to walk quickly.

"Leslie, can you get my canvases and paints?" looking at the woman following them, Christian asked with a smile.

"Right away" She nodded, instantly separating herself from the boy.

Reaching the bedroom, Eva set Christian down carefully on the bed and smiled "Do you have any idea what you're going to draw?"

"..." Carefully getting up, Christian looks at his bed and the sunset illuminating the place, then looking at his mother and smiling quizzically "I already have the perfect picture, but I need your help."

Squinting suspiciously, Eva asks "What do you need?"

"Get undressed" Christian smiled.

"W-what?" Blinking in a daze for a few seconds, Eva raises her eyebrows and asks.

"Get undressed and lie down on the bed" Smiling, Christian unbuttoned half of his pajamas and left his torso in the air, then turned and looked at Leslie who was already with everything in her hand.

Grabbing his apron, Christian puts it on and picks up his cap, then instructs Leslie to place everything in front of the bed.

Nodding, Leslie doesn't give the boy or the woman another glance and arranges everything, then leaves the room and closes the door.

"Perfect, now we're alone, get undressed" With the brush in hand, Christian looked at his mother with a smile.

"B-but Christian-"

Rolling his eyes, Christian frowns slightly and speaks impatiently "I see you naked every day, we bathe together every day, why so shy now? You even sleep half naked every day, we share a bed and you sleep only in your panties."

"..."

"Quick, quick, I don't have all day, the sun will go down and I'll lose motivation."

Biting her lips, Eva nods, taking off her clothes under Christian's gaze, so that after a few seconds she is totally naked.

"Oh, I see why so shy" Smiling with amusement, looking directly at her mother's considerably dark crotch "You wax that place every two weeks, that must have happened 6 days ago, what happened?"

With an embarrassed expression, Eva spoke "M-many things happened and I didn't have t-time."

Holding his hands to his chin, Christian looked at his mother quizzically "No... something's wrong with you, I've seen you at worse times and you weren't embarrassed."

Biting her lips, Eva spoke "It's just that Christian... I don't think it's n-normal for you to see me naked every day... now you're growing up and-"

"So what?" interrupting his mother, Christian raises his eyebrows and speaks "Since when are we normal? Since when am I normal?"

"..."

"Besides..." Moving closer to his mother, Christian puts the brush down on the bed and gently embraces the woman's naked body, resting his head on her breasts "I'm not interested in other people's normality, I like this bond we have... I know almost everything about you, and you know almost everything about me."

Still hesitantly, Eva nodded.

"Now open the sheets and lie down, I want you to just take the white sheets and cover your crotch with it...let the sheet go all the way down to your stomach" Taking his brush, Christian stood in front of the canvas and spoke.

"Okay..." Nodding, she opens the bed and lies down, then takes the sheet and stretches it between her legs, leaving one leg in the air as her stomach was slightly covered.

"Perfect, now turn your waist a little."

"..."

"Good, now lift your torso a little and rest your head on your hand, looking directly at me."

"..." Feeling a little strange, Eva just followed the steps.

"Now smile at me like you always do."

Pursing her lips for a moment, Eva smiled.

"No... that's too stiff, she's not her usual self" Christian murmured, then looked up from the canvas and spoke "Mother, you're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Thank you~" Eva smiled softly.

Widely opening his eyes, Christian swallowed saliva 'She's..... gorgeous'

Without giving her any more directions, Christian began to draw with that smile in his mind.

Minutes passed, minutes turned into hours and Eva got bored, got dressed and got up, knowing full well from the look on the boy's face that she wouldn't wake up from her stupor for much longer.

After a few minutes, Christian frowned and muttered "How hard it is to draw breasts..."

Picking up the drawing, Christian picks it up and throws it on the ground, then picks up another canvas and starts over.

Hours passed, the moon was at its highest and Christian just stopped painting, looking at his new masterpiece in a daze.

"It's... beautiful" Christian murmured, then looked down at his clothes and sighed "I need a shower."

Picking up the drawing, Christian sets it down on the desk even by the window and opens the door, finding Leslie standing there as usual "Where's Mom?"

"She's playing with her drum set"

"I'll take a shower, I need your help to then get out of the tub, I don't have much strength to get up" Leaving the door open, Christian walks towards the bathroom.

"Understood."

Opening the bathroom door, Christian leaves it open and turns on the hot water in the tub, then takes a jar of powder and pours some into the water, causing quite a bit of foam to appear in the water.

"I brought you your pajamas and towel, do you need anything else?"

"That for now" Tasting the warmth of the water, Christian nods and pulls out the clothes.

"Excuse me" Seeing that the boy was about to undress, Leslie quickly turned and prepared to leave.

"Stay inside, close the door" Naked, Christian turns slightly to speak to Leslie earnestly.

"But-"

"No buts, stay inside and close the door" Without getting into the shower, Christian looks at Leslie "You'll be with me forever, this is nothing, plus I need your help getting dressed"

"Okay" Leslie finally nodded, turning to look at the naked Christian.

"That's better" Smiling, Christian slowly climbed into the tub, then lay back down and sighed "The water is so relaxing"

"..."

"Leslie... I have something to tell you" Looking up at the ceiling calmly, Christian speaks "You will be my right hand, I will trust you with almost all of my secrets and I will start today"

"..."

"Leslie... you've been with me for quite a while, you know almost all my facets... could you tell me what I hate the most?"

"..." Thinking for a moment, Leslie tried to speak "Lies?"

Smiling, Christian nodded "Exactly, but you know why I hate lies?"

Frowning slightly, Leslie spoke "No, I don't."

"It's because every time someone lies to me, my stomach hurts... it makes me nauseous... at first it was torture, everyone lies and I felt everything... many times I was on the verge of vomiting and I used to not eat much because of the lack of hunger... but with time I got used to it and now it's just irritating"

"..." Blinking in a daze, Leslie asked "Sorry, I don't understand."

"I'm trying to explain that every time someone lies, I feel it and it causes me pain in my stomach as a warning...tell me something I don't know and it's either a lie or a truth, your choice"

"..." Frowning slightly, Leslie speaks "I'm wearing red underwear."

"Bullshit."

"It's yellow"

"Bullshit"

"It's black"

"True"

Opening her eyes a little wider, Leslie spoke again "I have hundreds of dollars in my bank account."

"Bullshit"

"I have millions of dollars in my bank account"

"Bullshit"

"I have thousands of dollars in my bank account."

"Bullshit"

"I have no money in my bank account"

"True..." Puzzled, Christian turned to Leslie "You need money? I can give you"

"No... I have all my money saved myself, I don't use banks" Leslie muttered, then looked at the boy seriously "Does anyone else know about this?"

"You see me as a fool?" smiling, Christian spoke "Only you know that... but I prepare myself in case someone finds out, that's why whenever I show I know if someone is lying by their words, I say my eyes see a lot... if someone finds out I can see lies, they will think it's because of my look, but it's not... it sounds stupid that someone thinks I can do that, but it's an added protection."

"Thank you for trusting me" Bowing her head slightly, Leslie spoke sincerely.

"It's the least I can do after you gave me your trust" Christian smiled, then sighed and continued "How do you feel knowing that I can know every time you lie?"

"The truth... I feel strange, like I'm naked."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"A little, but I'll get used to it."

"*Sigh*" Sighing, Christian continued "Other than that I have another ability that I still don't know about..."

"M-more?" Elisa asked with a slight tremor.

"Yes, but this one is different."

Turning his gaze, Christian stares at Leslie "I don't know what activates it, I tried to activate it under will many times, but I never could..."

"..."