Choni One Shots pt: 2

312: The One At A Pumkin Festival

TONI POV:

I look at my son Milo as he drinks the lemonade. His face pucker up. "Sour?" He nods. "I don't like it." He says handing it to me. "I'm sorry mommy." I take it and start drinking it. "It's ok bud. I'm happy you tried something new." I smile. "Do you want to go get something you'd like?" He nods. "Ok." I say quietly. I pick him up. "What do you want?" I ask as we walk around looking at all the options. "Want a slushy?" He nods. We walk up to the truck. "What size?" I ask quietly. "You can pick between these two." I say pointing to the kids small and regular small. Whatever he doesn't finish me or Cheryl will. "This one!" He says pointing to the kids small. "Ok." I nod. I grab the cup. "What flavor?" I ask quietly. "Blue!" He says smiling. I nod. "Ok. Want to hold the cup while I pour?" I ask quietly. "Yeah!" He smiles. I nod. "Here you go." He puts the cup up to the nozzle. I pull down the lever and fill it. "What color straw?" I ask quietly. "Pink!" He says reaching for one. I nod.  I grab a top and let him drink it. I pay for the slushy and we go back to where we were sitting. I put Milo on the bench and sit down next to him. Luckily Veronica is here with us so we didn't lose our spot. "Where's Cheryl?" Milo ask quietly. "She went potty." I tell him. He nods. "When is mommy gonna be back?" He ask quietly. "In a minute kiddo." Veronica says quietly. He nods again. "What if I need to go potty?" He ask concerned. "Well, do you?" I ask quietly. "I don't know." I nod. "Do you want to go try?" I ask him. "No." He says quietly. "Ok, but if you need to go, tell us." He nods. I kiss the side of his head. A few minutes later Cheryl comes back to the table. "Ok! Where to next?" She ask smiling. "Milo here wants to look at the pumpkins and see what else was there." I say quietly. "Ok." She smiles. I get Milo back in his stroller and we go to the pumpkin patch. "Maybe there's a hay bale maze!" I say pushing the stroller. "What's that?" He ask looking up at me. "You'll have to wait and find out."

I look at Cheryl and Milo running around in the small maze. "Can I ask you something?" Veronica ask quietly. I nod. "Why did you name him Milo?" I smile. "It was his father's name." I say quietly. "It's a family name on his father's side." She nods. "You were married before you were with Cheryl?" She ask. I nod. "Yeah! We got together during college! Found out I was pregnant with Milo and we got married. We realized it wasn't good for us to stay together so we divorced, but we're still friends! We co parent pretty well. Just sad I don't get to see Milo every week." I explain. "We have joint custody over him and we split it so he has him one week than we switch off every other. It works and if one of us needs him longer, like for a wedding or birthday party or something then both are pretty good about it and not making a big deal about it. Like today! I planned this thinking I had him this week but didn't so I just kept him for an extra night.
No big deal." Milo comes running over. "Mommy! Mommy I did it! I went through!" I smile. "Good job bud!" I pick him up and kiss his cheek. "I'm so proud of you buddy." He smiles. "Cheryl only had to help me a little bit but that's because she could see over the whole thing." He tells me. "Shh! Mommy wasn't supposed to know about that bud." Cheryl says walking over. "It's ok! I'm still proud of you."

I tuck Milo into bed. "I can't wait to tell daddy about today!" He says smiling. "Yeah?" He nods. "That's good." I smile. "What was your favorite part of today?" I ask quietly. "Going on the hay bale ride!" He says happily. "I liked seeing the farm animals!" He tells me. "Which was your favorite?" I ask him. "I liked the sheep!" He says quietly. "Yeah? What do you like about them?" I ask quietly. "I liked that they had all that fur on them. Do they ever get hot?" He asks me. I nod. "Yeah in the summer they do." I tell him. "How do they stay cool then?" He ask quietly. "Well, once their fur starts to get long, someone comes by and shaves it all off so they can be cool for the summer." He nods. "What do they do with the fur?" He ask quietly. "Well, they use it to make clothes for us!" I tell him. "Is that stealing?" He ask quietly. I think for a second. "Yeah a little bit." He nods. "But stealing is wrong." I nod. "Yeah! But the sheep need to stay cool and we need clothes so it's a win win situation." He nods. "Ok." He smiles. "Ok, now go to bed, you have a big day tomorrow, you're going to dad's tomorrow for grandma's birthday." I tell him. "Are you gonna be there?" He ask quietly. "No! You're gonna be with daddy for the rest of the week, today was just special. Ok?" He nods. "Why do I have to live in 2 places?" He ask quietly. "Because daddy and I aren't married anymore and we can't live together. Ok? You'll understand when you're older. Now go to bed." I kiss the top of his head. "Night night." I whisper. "Night night. I love you mommy." I smile. "I love you too buddy. Do you want your galaxy light on or the regular night light on?" I ask him. "Galaxy light." I nod and turn it on. I turn off the lamp next to his bed. "Good night bud." I slowly close the door but leave it cracked open. I turn on the hallway light and go into my bedroom. "Is he in bed?" Cheryl ask quietly. "Yeah." I nod. "You ok?" She ask concerned. I sit down on the bed. "I do everything to be the perfect mom. I don't know if it's working." I tell her. "You are! I see the way he looks at you. You can do nothing wrong in that kids eyes." She tells me. I take a deep breath. "Just feel like he likes his dad more." I say lying down. "Have you seen the way he runs to his father when I drop him off?" I ask quietly. "Have you seen the way he does the same with you?"