Claude's Infatuation

            Trish was the only person to make it in time for Claude’s birthday. It wasn’t like I was actively avoiding it, I was simply at work. Although, if I didn’t have that excuse, I would have actively avoided it in my lair.

            She said she congratulated the boy and he dreamily asked who she was. “Why’re you acting funny? I’m your mother,” she told me she said.

He came back with, “No, I would have remembered that.” Trish was worried that he knew and would give away our pretend family’s secrets. I didn’t really care one way or the other, but I doubted Claude knew anything. For as much as Finch loved the brat, he was too young to remember anything about his father.

            Grandma laughed and Mom groaned when the first meal Claude had as a child was a snow cone.

            He did eventually eat something with more substance. The butler made grilled cheese sandwiches, and, unfortunately, Claude thought it’d be the perfect moment to bond with me. He went on and on about being excited for school and wishing that everything was a little bit shorter. It was hard for me to listen to him, so I spent most of the meal gazing straight forward at nothing in particular.

“Are you even paying attention?”

“Finch.”

“What? You don’t make any sense!”

As Claude began to throw a tantrum about how his mean dad didn’t listen to him, I walked away with some useful knowledge. If the brat couldn’t remember Finch, then he wasn’t worth my time.

            As much as I wanted to forget his existence, I decided it was best to keep a wary eye on Claude. Something wasn’t right with that kid.

            It wasn’t just his strange clothing choices. That seemed to be a common tendency in my family.

            Despite being able to care for himself, Claude took up just as much of Trish’s time as the ‘triplets’ did.

            And when he wasn’t talking at her, he was watching her.

            I even caught the little pervert stalking her as she slept.

            Because of work and a general apathetic stance most of the time, I couldn’t keep constant tabs on him. I warned Trish to be careful around the cretin. She brushed me off, stating that I was silly and that she was his mother.

            If she kept up the mother charade, then Claude would surely develop some sort of complex from his infatuation.