The Future is Ours

Nineteen

Holly sat in the bay window of Ernesto's childhood home, smiling happily and nodding along as Althea chatted away.

"And I would highly recommend using lettuce leaves if you want to dry up your milk supply." She suggested as she held Alfonso over her shoulder, burping him.

"Muummm." Ernesto groaned from his spot on the floor with Kimmy, clearly not wanting to hear about breastfeeding tips from his mum.

Althea laughed. "My love, you're a dad now yourself. It's hardly like this is a foreign topic for you."

"I'm grateful to have you, it's nice to be able to talk to someone going through the same thing." Holly admitted. As much as she loved spending time with her tribe, none of them knew what she was going through as a new mum. Althea did, plus Kimmy got to spend time with someone her size. "And it's lovely to see where Ern grew up."

She looked around the room at the childhood photos of Ernesto plastered on the walls. A mop of unruly brown hair lay atop his head in most, and a cheeky grin which went from ear to ear. He was a cute kid, that was for sure. Even if the few where he tried to look 'serious' in his school's military uniform.

"When's dad going to be back?" Ernesto asked, trying to change the subject. "He's been gone for a month. He said he'd be back today. He shouldn't be leaving you to look after the baby all by yourself either, mum." He looked pointedly to the woman who had raised him.

Althea tried to laugh it off, though she obviously knew there was some truth in his words. "He'll be back soon, there's probably traffic. And you know what the army is like, he's most likely tying up some loose ends. I'm fine with Alfonso by myself, I done it with you and you turned out absolutely perfect!" She reached down to playfully pinch his cheek.

Ernesto shook his head; he couldn't begin to imagine leaving Holly and Kimmy for even a day, let alone a month. His brother was hardly 8 weeks old.

"HONEY, I'M HOME!" A loud, booming voice echoed as the front door slammed.

The peace and quiet of the house had been broken, and the loud interruption clearly did not sit right with the babies. Within a moment, both Kimmy and Alfonso were screaming at the top of their lungs, startled by Rat's entrance.

"Dear!" Althea was quick to her feet, desperately trying to sooth her baby whilst running to meet her husband. "Dear, remember what we said about indoor voices with the baby?"

Ernesto hushed Kimmy, bouncing her gently whilst whispering in a voice just loud enough for his dad to hear. "Don't worry, my baby. It's just a big scary ogre. Daddy won't let him hurt you."

"Ern!" Holly scolded, giving him a soft kick to try and get him to stop.

"Why are you doing here, anyways, son? Aren't you meant to be in London, or did you mistake Wales for the big city? Never were good at directions, no wonder you were so poor in school." Rat glared at Ernesto before stomping off to his arm chair, collapsing into it with a loud thud.

"Rat, we need your help." Holly began, looking to her father-in-law with pleading eyes. "We need a plan to prevent the government from having a full take over of our lives. They're trying to wipe out all the good us children done, not giving us a voice. It's not right."

Althea came in, handing Rat a mug of tea. He grunted his thanks as he took a long sip, pondering Holly's question for a while. "Well, they're giving you all roles, aren't they?"

"Yes but they're not real roles. They're just to try and keep us more under their control. They want to use us as their puppets! We can't let it happen." She tried to explain.

Rat turned to face his elder son, seeming to disregard Holly's comments. "What's wrong with you, Ernesto? Letting your missus do all the talking whilst you're sitting their with the baby like some docile housewife." Ernesto remained silent, glaring at his dad. "Well? Hmm? Nothing to say? What happened to the outspoken 'revolutionary' I've heard so much about on the news?" He got up, crouching down to Ernesto's level and staring him in the eyes. "Where's the boy who led a rebellion at his school? The boy who went against the mainstream because he thought it would better the world? The boy who fought in a war?" He spat on the floor in disgust. "Because that boy is not sitting in front of me, that's not who I'm staring at, that's for sure."

Ernesto's face was red by this point in anger at his father's outburst. "How dare you. You don't know the half of what we've been through, what any of us kids had to go through. You might try and drag me down, disregard me, see me as nothing more as a boy. But I have the heart of a revolutionary. Always have, always will. And I will continue to fight for what is right! And right now, that's giving the children of the Disappearance a voice! We came here looking for help, because during the teen war I fought alongside you. And you may not remember that, but I do. I remember the passion in your eyes, your ability to lead people into the face of danger yet make them feel completely fearless. I looked up to you, then." He gave a sarcastic laugh. "Clearly, you've changed. Come on, darling," he turned to Holly, "it was a waste of time coming here."

Rat put a hand on Ernesto's chest before he could get up to leave. "Don't you see, son. You don't need me. You have it in you to lead this war."

Ernesto's face turned from an expression of anger to one of confusion. "Bu-....what?"

"You just showed me that you'll be the perfect leader in this battle. Who cares what the government says? You need to fight for what you believe in. And you have it in you to do just that. I believe in you, Ernesto."

"You've never said that to me before." He replied, before a small smile came to his face. "Thanks, dad."