Shadowed Soul by John Spagnoli Read Free Book Online Page A

for a long minute before returning her attention to feeding.
    “Yep, he is a handsome fellow,” interrupted Pete as brought a tray of coffee. “Though, I reckon I can see some of his old grandpa in there too.”  Pete placed the tray on the table between Beth and me. 
    “Proud as pig, aren’t you, Grandpaw Peter?” said Dorothy advancing with cookies.
    Soft, sarcastic chuckling emerged from my throat.  It was not me, but it was me.  I could hear the Shadowed Soul in the recesses of my mind.
    “Be careful, Pete, that coffee looks hot,” I said churlishly.  Pete looked at me, hiding his surprise at my tone.  After a moment he smiled his usual big friendly smile.
    “Tom, I raised three kids.” Pete spoke cautiously with a veneer of playful old grad dad.  “All of them managed to avoid third degree burns so I think young Jonathan’s going to be okay way over there on the couch in his doting mother’s arms.”  His tone was warm and friendly but that was not enough for me.
    “I know, Pete,” I said sternly.  “It’s just that you’re a little bit older now and accidents can happen.”
    “I’m only fifty-seven, Tom,” said Pete hiding his irritation coolly.  “I’m still as steady as I was when Beth was born.”
    “I’m not saying that you’re not.  I just asked you to be careful, that’s all.”  I had overstepped.  The room crystallized accordingly into a frost heave.  The subtle shift in Pete’s expression revealed a strategic son of a bitch.  Pete’s smile was still there but it was clear he would draw a harder line with me next time around. Whether the baby felt the sudden shift in energy from happy to angry is debatable but Jonathan broke away from Beth’s breast and began to wail.  As the plaintive shrieks of a newborn echoed my nerves were stripped raw. 
    “I sure will, Tom, I will be careful.  You know I’ll never let anything bad happen to this little guy.” Dorothy looked between us politely ignoring the flash-freeze.
    “He’s threatening you, Thomas.  He’s suggesting you’d hurt your own son,” sniggered the Shadowed Soul who now sat curled up right next to my father-in-law.  Regaining my bearings, I looked back at Pete.
    “Okay, I know, Pete, I was just saying,” I cowered, showing respect to the Alpha male in the house. 
    “I’m not a frickin’ idiot, y’know,” Pete’s flinty voice bore amusement.
    “Peter, he’s a new daddy.” Dorothy laughed.  “Do you remember what you were like when Beth was born?  You accused one doctor of leaving the scalpel behind after my Caesarean and the other doctor you accused of being clumsy with Beth and demanded that you be in the room anytime that he examined her.”
    “The guy was a dope,” insisted Pete, laughing it off.  “He had hands like catchers mitts. Beth was in danger!”
    “Dad, let Thomas be as nervous as he wants, that’s his job now,” defended Beth.
    Patting her husband’s shoulder, Dorothy looked at me and smiled.  Pete gave me a steely smirk.
    “Yeah, I guess you have a point there, Tom.  I can be a big, clumsy bastard at times.”
    “Dad, if Jonathan’s first word is a curse I’m going to sue you,” joked Beth. “You’re not with your buddies at the barracks any more.”
    “Shit, did I curse?  I’m going to have to watch out for that.”  The atmosphere in the room brightened to its usual warmth.  As if by magic the baby stopped crying and dropped into sleep.
                  The rest of Jonathan’s first day outside the hospital was a joyous, magical time.  Together as a family we laughed about what Beth and siblings were like growing up.  Both Dorothy and Pete knew that my childhood had not been the happiest.  As such they never once put me on the spot asking questions about it.  I appreciated that they left it to me to initiate if I wanted to share. 
    “Mom, can I get this?” I asked anxiously holding up a carded figure of Donatello, the last of the