Childhood and Secret
2379 Words
Luna Merritt was sent to the Blackwood family as soon as she was born.
Eighteen years ago， the Merritt family was the number one rival of the Blackwood family. As soon as Luna landed， she was taken away by an informant of the Blackwood family to be used to force the Merritt family to submit.
Silas Blackwood is the eldest son， and his brother Julian Blackwood is only one year younger than him. At that time， one child was five years old and the other four， only aware that a baby had come to the family. Silas is silent and serious， while Julian is playful by nature. In the extremely rigorous heir training of the Blackwood family， little Luna became almost the only joy in their lives.
Julian Blackwood was the first to discover that the delivered doll would neither cry nor laugh.
It wasn't until Luna turned three and still didn't communicate with anyone that they realized something was wrong.
At that time， Luna's parents had died in a car accident， and the head of the Blackwood family—Alaric Blackwood， the father of the two brothers—had completely forgotten about her and was particularly averse to his two sons meddling in others' affairs. Silas Blackwood secretly took his brother along to investigate， ultimately helping Luna get diagnosed with autism.
Julian said，“Silas! Our little sister's high-functioning autistic, genius-level! Watch this - Luna baby, if three ponies meet two ponies..." He is arranging the toys, “Five! See? She can count with stuffed animals!”
The two big boys still felt a bit proud.
With the Blackwood family's meticulous and serious style， Silas and Julian swiftly devised a treatment plan for Luna， which included setting aside time each day to teach her to speak， write， and play games. The two of them looked very much alike， and Luna often confused them， but they didn't mind at all and often found it amusing.
When Luna was five years old， two boys discussed officially naming their little sister. Julian almost got into a fight with Silas， arguing endlessly over which character in Luna's name should be used， and they refused to come up with a compound name together， saying it didn't sound nice.
They divided the cards with writing into two， one saying “Luna“ and the other saying “Eira.“ Julian cheated and told Luna in advance，“You choose the one on the left， and later I will give you three fruit gummies.“
Silly Luna obediently chose the character she has now.
Julian always has a way of being shameless and using sweet talk to coax people.
Silas Blackwood scoffed at doing such a thing， saying，“She can't tell us apart.“
In the interstellar alliance， one becomes an adult at the age of ten， assumed to possess full legal capacity. On the day Silas turned ten， the first thing he did was go out to get an ID card for Luna. The staff member at the office nodded and bowed to him， saying，“Young Master Blackwood, regarding guardianship... might I inquire about the child's legal custodian?"
“I heard they all died，“ Silas Blackwood said，“You can put my name down.“
For this matter， Julian sulked for several days， and whenever he saw him， he would shout，“Silas! you're wicked! Should've listed us both as guardians! What if she only imprints on you?"
He was making a fuss here， while Luna sat beside him， intently playing with a bottle cap. Luna was four or five years old， beautiful and adorable， with elastic and delicate skin that everyone praised upon seeing her.
Silas said，“Joint custody's for married couples. Didn't realize we'd eloped." Only at times like this would Silas show a bit of his sense of humor.
A single sentence left Julian speechless.
At that time， they were all at the Blackwood family estate， Alaric Blackwood was busy， and every time he saw his two sons， it was like an ancient emperor summoning his favorites， meeting each one， asking about their grades， and that was considered showing concern.
The father of the two brothers does not care about them; in fact， he is waiting for their s****l differentiation. Although pheromone levels can be detected in the fetus， many children identified as alpha in infancy ultimately exhibit beta characteristics.
A long time ago， everyone knew that if neither of the two sons of the Blackwood family could evolve into an alpha， the master would be capable of adopting another alpha child without any blood relation.
Later， at fifteen， Silas's glands developed， and he became an outstanding alpha. Only then did he feel at ease and personally come to teach his eldest son.
A year later， Julian became an ordinary Beta and was sent away， never to be heard from again.
Alaric Blackwood later learned about Luna. The gender differentiation of Alphas and Betas can only be seen around the age of fifteen， but Omegas can be identified as early as four or five years old. However， he acted out of character and did not intervene in this matter; he tacitly allowed Silas to keep an Omega by his side， because Luna Merritt came from a clean background and would not harbor any ill intentions towards their family—an inherently autistic child， beautiful in appearance， was actually the perfect choice.
Everything followed a natural order， as if it were all proceeding step by step. When Luna turned fifteen， her heat period arrived， and Silas Blackwood scent marked her temporarily every year as scheduled.
Julian was no longer at home， and when Luna was alone with Silas， there was always a bit of silence. He wasn't good at comforting children， nor would he lie down like his brother to let Luna ride on him.
Luna would not be surprised why the two people who played with her had turned into one; she only knew that the face she relied on was still there. Later， the doctor came， and the two people who played with her became two again， so she was even less surprised.
It was only at the end of the year when Luna turned eighteen that the doctor told Blackwood after her check-up，“Mr. Blackwood， Miss Merritt's pheromone secretion has been unstable for the past few years. Her immune system has always been weak， and this situation will lead to her health deteriorating further， which is not good for her ongoing treatment for autism. There are two options for handling this: one is to remove Miss Merritt's Omega glands， turning her into a Beta through surgery， and the other is to find her an Alpha who can stabilize her and help her through her heat.“
Silas Blackwood chose the former.
However， before Luna had the chance to undergo surgery， Silas Blackwood suddenly became aroused during one of his visits to see her. Silas usually kept pheromone blockers on hand， but he was unguarded when visiting Luna. That time， her pheromones were unusually strong， overwhelming to the point of suffocation， causing him to lose control for the first time; he didn't even realize what he had done that day.
He only remembered Luna's body was soft and sweet， so sweet that it left him breathless， breaking through the defenses of his reason time and again. Luna said it hurt， she was a little scared， but she foolishly believed he wouldn't realy hurt her， clumsily cooperating， listening to him， obediently allowing him to bond her deeply， indulging in her， filling her up， making her whole body stained with the adult peach color， dazzling and alluring.
When he heard that Luna was pregnant with his child， it was already the moment he learned of Luna's death.
Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder， a girl like Luna probably doesn't know what life is and what death is? Once the cartoon is over， it can just start again; she can skillfully change the channel and adjust the progress， perhaps she thinks life is just like a cartoon， something that can be paused， extended， or skipped at any time?
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However， it seems she still knows.
Blackwood held Luna in his arms all night， and under the embrace of his pheromones， Luna slept soundly.
He felt a little relieved， but the next morning， the scene from the day before played out again—this time Luna hid under the bed and refused to come out no matter what.
Blackwood bent down and looked inside:“If you don't come out， there won't be any little bears to see.“
Luna said，“I won't look， you go away.“
Blackwood coaxed for a long time without any result， his tone neither warm nor cold:“Then you can stay here by yourself， I'm going out.“
Autistic individuals often exhibit strong repetitive behaviors， such as needing to go to bed on time and having toys arranged in the same position. He waits for her to find him.
Blackwood returned to the living room， turned on the TV， and started playing “The Adventures of Little Bear's Rebirth，“ turning the volume up to the maximum.
The childish music and exaggerated voiceovers filled the entire house. However， after an episode ended， Luna still didn't come out.
Blackwood patiently replayed it again.'When the end credits theme played for the second time， he finally couldn't hold back any longer and got up to go into Luna's room， looking under the bed.
Luna was still hiding under the bed， looking at him with hostility.
Finally， the doctor came over and lured Luna out—she brought Luna a little bear today. Just like in the cartoons， it was a soft， plush toy shaped like a polar bear， clumsily lying in her arms， with a soft， rounded bottom and tail.
Luna said，“Show me the little bear.“
The doctor smiled，“I won't show it to you. If I show it to you， you'll take it away. Miss Merritt， if you come out， I'll give you the teddy bear to take care of.“
Luna crawled out from under the bed.
Blackwood watched the whole time.
Luna climbed while glancing over at Blackwood. Blackwood was blocking the door， and after hugging her teddy bear， she hid behind the doctor， only to be pulled out by the doctor and pushed towards Blackwood.
“Be polite， Miss Merritt， Mr. Blackwood has come back to accompany you.“
Luna reluctantly raised her eyes to look at him.
Yesterday， the thing she was afraid of did not happen. Blackwood did not put that terrible， ugly thing that caused her pregnancy into her body， nor did he make her hurt， so Luna relaxed her guard a little. But she still harbored doubts about the fact that she had died once. After thinking it over several times， Luna tightly hugged her teddy bear and cautiously said，“Hello.“
Blackwood just slightly turned to the side from the door.
Luna saw the door of the room open and immediately ran out， sitting cross-legged in front of the coffee table， turning on the television.
The doctor whispered to Blackwood for a while， then took a pen and notebook and went to find Luna to conduct today's situation survey.
She first accompanied her to watch half an episode of the TV series， and after the ending song finished， the doctor paused the playback:“Come on， Miss Merritt.“
Luna was clearly used to her daily chatter and questions. Although she was a bit unhappy about her cartoon being stopped， she cooperated well. When the doctor asked， she obediently answered.
“Did you sleep well last night? Did you have any dreams?“
“well， no.“
“Are you eating? How many snacks did you have? I told you yesterday， you can only eat half a bag of chips. Did Merritt listen well?“
Luna immediately said，“I behaved， I ate the rice， the vegetables， and the meat， I only ate half a bag of chips.“
So the doctor noted in the notebook:“Good appetite， but the snacks are excessive.“
Blackwood sat quietly on the sofa behind the two， watching.
The doctor found the chip bag that Luna had hidden under the sofa， ready to destroy the evidence， and scolded her.
Luna was a bit downcast and asked her，“So when can I have another bag of chips?“
“When you behave well， Miss Merritt，“ the doctor said，“next time I won't bring you chips， I'll bring you ice cream. Your stomach is better than before， so you can have ice cream now.“
Luna stubbornly shook her head:“I want chips.“
The doctor then made a concession:“How about some chips and ice cream? You should try the ice cream; it's made of snow and tastes better than the candy you eat.“
Luna said，“I want to eat it tomorrow; I can trade you a secret for it.“
The doctor clearly was used to her little tricks and said calmly，“Then you should tell me first; let me see what kind of secret it is， and whether it's worth me trading chips for it.“
Luna glanced up at Blackwood by the sofa and leaned down to whisper something in the doctor's ear.
The doctor trembled all over.
Blackwood was expressionless.
He doesn't ask， and the doctor will take the initiative to tell him. The computers at home are not connected to the internet， in order to prevent Luna from being influenced by various strange factors. Everything she watches has been pre-downloaded and sent by the doctor， which is also part of her treatment plan. Luna doesn't know that they have a mobile phone as a means of communication.
Blackwood: What did she say?
The doctor's hand trembled slightly as he pressed the keys， as if she too couldn't understand why she was hearing those words.
Luna's clean， gentle yet firm voice echoed in her ear， whispering a secret， speaking ill of Blackwood.
Luna said，“I'll tell you a secret， he's a bad person， I don't like him at all now.“
- Writer
