The Lost Boy

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Josh glanced down to his dress shoes and chuckled to himself. It wouldn’t take long after a few drinks for him to start crushing Alix’s feet. He kicked off his shoes and pushed the coffee table with his foot out of the way. He pulled her closer and slowly moved her around the room to the music. Bending down he whispered in her ear, “Ti amo.”

Ti amo... It was ten years ago hidden away in a secluded corner of the library when he first said ‘I love you’ to Alix. He spoke those words in Italian, getting lost in her dark green eyes. He didn’t mean anything by those words when he started talking. He was merely teaching her a phrase to impress her Italian boyfriend. But by the time he had spoken those words his heart melted... He had fallen in love. From then on, every time he taught her a romantic Italian phrase for her to say to her boyfriend, he felt his heart slowly get crushed.

Josh squeezed his wife tighter. “Ti amo.” He repeated, wondering if she remembered what that meant from her time studying Italian.

He kissed her cheek, repeating Ti amo between each kiss.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Josh downed the shot at the same time. He grimaced as the liquid slid down his throat. Damn, he must be getting weak. Back in the army he could down half a bottle for breakfast.

"Damn that stuff is stronger than I remember.” Grabbing the bottle he refilled the two glasses.
“As my father would have said. ‘Vodka will put hair on your chest’”
He had always wondered if he could ever have a normal life. If he could go to work Monday to Friday. Home by six everyday. There wouldn’t be a single day he wouldn’t see his family. He could tuck his kids into bed and kiss them good night. He would fall asleep at his wife’s side every night. But could he go into an office for nine hours a day to sit in front of a computer and take orders from an arsehole. He knew exactly what Alix’s boss is like, and quite honestly Josh knew he wouldn’t last.

“Okay lets not talk about anything serious,” he said as he got to his feet and drank the last of his vodka. Grabbing his phone he selected a music playlist from their Cambridge days. As the slow tunes came through the bluetooth speakers, he grabbed his wife’s hands and pulled her up.
“Mrs White”, Joshua said in a posh English accent. “Can I have the pleasure in taking you for a twirl around this grand lounge.”

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

"Did you really just vote in favour of another baby, over a puppy?"

The fact is, his meticulous contingency plans do not factor in animals. He survived in his line of work by planning. Every detail, and conceivable outcome has been thought of and addressed in his mind if his cover is blown and the shit hits the fan. He has a motorhome parked at a storage facility in town. There’s no way they could escape with a dog in tow, and he highly doubt his family would allow him to leave it behind. But a baby? Deep down, after Luca was born, he kinda thought they would end up with a third.

"I say baby gets my vote after all.."

His heart skipped a beat. It looked like they were going to have another kid.

“I need something stronger,” he said as he rose and made his way to the cabinet on the other end of the room. Opening up the liquor cupboard out of reach of the Kids, he selected the strongest Vodka they owned and two shot glasses. Pouring two shots he made his way back to the couch. Old habits die hard. In Russia, when life give you lemons, you drink vodka... lots of vodka.

He passed Alix one of the shot glasses.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

“Woah a puppy? What did the kids slip you at dinner?” Josh grabbed the folded blanket from the corner of the room and lay it over his wife. He flopped next to her. Both Sophie and Luca couldn’t stop talking about puppies. The last time he had any interaction with a canine was being chased by a German Shepherd in the middle of the night across the backyard of a Swiss banker. When he shot the brute, he didn’t feel an ounce of remorse.

“You’ll have to be a lot more persuasive and get me a lot drunker to say yes to allowing a demon, I mean puppy into this home.”

After the talk of puppies, twins didn't sound like a bad idea. He could handle another kid. Maybe hire a housekeeper or cut back on a few contracts at work. As nice as two million quid a year is, they certainly could live off half that.

"I wish you didn't have to go away so much. I miss you when you aren't here."

He closed his eyes. He hated it when she says that. He knew how much it hurts her for him to be away so much. Josh reached out and squeezed her hand.

“I could also be persuaded to cut back on a few new contracts at work. Take a few less trips, come home a little earlier.”

Peircesons and White Consulting is what he called his fake business. To all that knew him personally, he was an interpreter and consultant that advises corporations on international negotiations.

“Maybe we could even hire a some help,” he continued.
“With me around more then having another child could be an option.” He downed the last of the wine in his glass. Still couldn’t believe what he had promised after giving it exactly a five second thought. Afraid to hear her answer, he poured himself another glass of wine.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Alix kissed him on the cheek.

"Luca asked when it was his turn to be a big brother, by the way.. And Sophie's put in an order for twins." She said just as she left the kitchen for the lounge. Josh remained there on the counter top, his tired mind trying to decipher that statement.

Alix wants another one...

Don’t get him wrong, Luca and Sophie were the loves of his life, and he wouldn’t want to trade them for anything else. But the idea of another one or two was definitely at the very very back of his mind. He felt like most of the time the two of them barely kept their head above the water.

When Alix told him eight years ago that she was pregnant, he didn’t handle it too well. He just froze, staring. His body shut down and his mind working in overdrive. At the time of his life he had never even held a baby. He felt like he was the first Hitman in the history of hired killers, to start a family. But as soon as he held Sophie in his arms, all his worry, concern and internal freakout melted away.

But a third... or even a fourth? Does Alix like torturing herself he wondered to himself.

"What do you want to watch?" Alix asked from the adjoining lounge.

“You,” Josh fired back. He had spent most of last night unable to sleep watching trash in his hotel room.

“I’d happily watch you for a bit.” Josh got down from the counter and followed his wife to the lounge.

“But can we just back up a bit,” Josh took a couple of large sips of his glass.

“So Luca and Sophie have put their order in, what’s your order?” Josh said, replying to her out of the blue comment.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Alix sat herself up onto the kitchen counter just as Josh put the last of the dishes away. Grabbing the 100 quid bottle of Rosé and two glasses he jumped up onto the counter beside her.

“Honestly I could eat anything,” he said as he popped the cork off the bottle.”Hell, I could even one of those scones that Sophie baked a few weeks back.” Josh poured two generous glasses and handed one to his wife.

“Even with the whip cream she made with salt instead of sugar,” he said as he chuckled to himself. He took a sip from his glass while trying to steal him a piece of his wife’s chocolate.

“How about Indian?” He asked.

“The past few days were shit, so I feel like torturing myself with spicy food and alcohol.”
He closed his eyes. All he could see was the image of the screaming girl. No longer a faceless girl in the shadows, but now the girl was Sophie screaming as he sees him approach with a gun in his hand.

Lifting his glass in a half hearted toast.

“Lets start off with the good stuff and then move onto something heavier,” he said with his eyes closed. He took another gulp of his wine.

That girl had a Father, and 48 hours earlier he riddled his body with bullets. In a matter of seconds he had turned the girl into an orphan.

Opening his eyes he pulled out his phone and opened up uber-eats and ordered their regular.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Josh laughed at Alix’s playfulness. Even after ten years and two children, the woman before him was the same cutie he fell in love with. He could still remember that feeling sitting side by side in the library hunch over an Italian textbook. Those lessons were the highlight of his week. He was a stranger in a strange land getting use to a way of life he had only ever read about. He had spent his entire teenage years at boarding school followed by six years in the Military. Just sitting next to a pretty girl felt more fairytale than reality. He never meant to stay in Cambridge long, but Alix kept him there. When he first came to the UK lying came easily. The story that he told everyone, that he still tells, is that he was an Australian with rich parents who lived and worked in Poland. He grew up in some of Eastern Europe's most prestigious boarding schools.

Josh turned his attention back to his wife “Okay no tofu. But I can’t say no to a bottle or two of wine,” he said as he kissed his wife on the nose in return. He turned to the wine rack and selected the most expensive bottle they owned. After what he had experienced in the past 48 hours, a bottle of two wouldn’t go a miss.

“Honey, you better start rounding up the Ompa Loompas,” he said. Playfully tugging on on her black t-shirt.
“When I’m done in the kitchen and the kids are down, I’ll give you a hand with the laundry.” Josh flashed Alix a cheeky smile. “Specifically this t-shirt looks like it might need a clean.” He grabbed the waistband of her jeans and pulled her towards him. “These jeans definitely need a wash”, he whispered into her ear.

“You better hurry, this wine won’t drink itself.”

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Joshua made it to the end of the chapter when he heard his wife call out from the kitchen.

“We’re getting a housekeeper.”

Getting up from the couch, he left the two kids to run off, presumably to escape the possibility of chores. Joshua took off his tailored suit jacket, hanging it on the coat rack, and made his way to the kitchen. At 6”1 with an athletic build, blue eyes and dark brown hair kept short, he was neither handsome nor ugly, but what he prided himself on; being forgettable. An essential trait in his line of work, the ability to walk past people without being noticed, and most importantly, not remembering his features in any great detail.

He snuck up behind his wife, and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his lips against the soft skin of her neck.

“Isn’t that what kids are for?” he asked in between kisses as he made his way up the nape of her neck. With the scent of her hair, the warmth of her body and feel of her skin against his lips, his pulse quickened. It was this woman that kept him alive. It didn’t matter how soul draining, physically demanding or emotionally taxing his work is, coming home to Alix made everything else fade away.

“How about I deal with the dishes, and you get the kids off to bed, then we’ll order takeout?” he whispered into her ear. His fingers traced the contours of her neck to her chin. Guiding her head back he pressed his lips softly against hers.

It had been nearly ten years ago when he first met her. He had been in the country under a month. Ever since he was a boy he dreamed of living in England, and the older he got the more he hated Russia. After the death of his parents in a car accident in his mid 20’s, he packed his bags and moved to the UK illegally. After two weeks he was a broke, unemployed migrant worker with his only experience being six years of military service and fluency in a half dozen foreign languages, he ends up at Cambridge tutoring students in French, German and Russian.

One of his students knew Alix was looking for a tutor teach her Italian to impress her boyfriend. After being shown a photo of her, without even thinking he called her. He spent half his week trying to get rich boys to pass their language papers. Getting paid to teach a pretty girl is worth it no matter how little Italian he knew. Every spare moment of his day he spent teaching himself Italian to then teach Alix at the end of the week.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

On a quiet street in a sleepy part of town, the BMW pulled into the garage of the two storey home. As his neighbours stoked their fires, prepped their dinners and rested from a hard days' work, Joshua was wiping the last of the blood from his shoe.

From the outside, the White Family had made it. Their home was a million pound two storey house that backed onto a quiet canal. The children attended the best schools in the region.They were a model of a Family that had worked hard to achieve the middle class dream.
Joshua had done this hundreds of times. He spent two weeks out of the country followed by six weeks working locally from his office in town. He parked the car into the garage and glanced at the rear vision mirror, trying to tidy up his hair. He usually arrived in the same way that he left; his short brown hair styled tidily, his tailored suit crisp and fresh as if straight from the dry-cleaners. This time was different, he looked and felt like he had slept in his suit, and his usually clean-shaven face replaced with 3 days of stubble.
He got out of the car and made his way to the front door. Before he made it inside the door flew open.

“Daddy!” the boy squealed as he tackled his dad’s leg.
“Awww, you’ve caught me,” he replied as he pretended to stumble backwards. Grabbing the giggling boy, he tossed him over his shoulders and marched him inside.
“Look what I’ve caught,” he boomed as he stomped into the lounge with the giggling hostage over his shoulder.
“It’s Daddy!” squealed another voice as the girl tackled him.
The three of them tumbled to the floor of the lounge. It wasn’t long til they had couch cushions and started pelting him mercilessly through fits of giggles.
“Okay okay,” he said raising his hands sheilding his face while lying on the floor. “I surrender. I surrender.”
“Good. You’re now our prisoner. And you have to do we tell you to do,” said Luca standing defiantly over his dad. Sophie dragged her dad to the couch as Luca ran off and returned with a book.
“So I have no choice but to read a book to you two?” Joshua asked.
“Nope”, his daughter replied as she and her brother nestled on either side of him on the couch. Joshua took the book from his son, glanced down at the cover and froze...

It was a Geronimo Stilton book. He shut his eyes trying to shut out that memory. It was less than 48 hours that he heard the story read aloud as he hid on the balcony. He waited outside on the balcony until his target had finished reading the chapter to his daughter and said good night. As soon as the girl was out of sight, he slid the door open with his 9mm with a silencer in his right hand.

Pfft
Pfft

Then immediately she screamed. The girl stood in the hallway, turning back to hug her Father goodnight as she saw the bullets tear into her dad’s body. Leaving his body motionless and his blood to pool onto the sofa.

“Dad,” Sophie shook his arm.
“Dad, are you going to start reading?” His daughter’s question brought him back to reality.
“Luca, is there another book you want Dad to read?” He asked.

“This one is my favourite one Daddy.”

He opened the book reluctantly and turned to the first page. He paused as he could hear his voice in his mind. He could see the little girl, not much older than Sophie, snuggle up to her Dad. He could hear her scream. He could see her hug her dad’s corpse.

Joshua looked across to Luca and Sophie on either side of him waiting for him to start.

With his hands shaking, he started to read the first chapter.