VIOLET SKY, takigawa chris yuu

━ chapter thirty-nine

He looks back down, avoiding her eyes.

Amara looks at Chris, giving him a little shake of her head. He has a barely concealed smile on his face. There's a quiet laugh from Mylène, too, and Amara tosses a discreet eyeroll over her shoulder at her before turning back to Ricky.

"You won't believe me if I try it, but what about Chris?"

Ricky looks at the menudo, then at Chris, then back at the menudo.

"Have you ever had it?" He asks him.

Chris shakes his head. "Nope. It's my first time, too. If I try some, will you?"

Ricky scrunches his mouth to the side, then sighs and nods, as though they're asking the world of him. Amara suppresses a chuckle and passes the bowl to Chris, along with one of the spoons.

He scoops up some of the hominy and juice. He doesn't make a show of it, nodding his assent after he's swallowed the spoonful.

"It's good. Promise."

"Okay," Ricky mutters. Amara passes Chris the other spoon so he can feed some to him.

Ricky chews thoughtfully, then nods approvingly, copying Chris exactly. "It's good!"

"Yeah, just like pozole, right?" She asks, ruffling his hair.

He giggles, shying away from her.

"Dinner will be ready in a few," she says, taking the bowl from Chris. "Put your toys back in your backpack and go to the dining room with Chris, okay?"

"Okay!"

She brushes her fingers through Chris' hair as she passes, whispering, "Thanks."

He catches her hand briefly to squeeze it then lets her go. She would blame the ensuing flush of heat in her face from the temperature of the house but honestly, who is she even kidding at this point?

"Wow," Belen says as soon as she comes back into the kitchen. "He's good."

When Amara looks at Rena, Eiko, Luisa, and Lucas, they all have expectant looks on their faces.

She glances over her shoulder, the door to the kitchen — diagonal to the doorway to the living room — still swinging shut. She can almost make out Ricky picking up his toys while Chris holds his backpack.

She turns back. Feliz Navidad plays from the speaker.

"And here I thought I wasn't going to hear anything about it. I'll say thanks for not asking about it immediately, but you guys still suck."

Lucas spreads his arms. "We haven't even said anything!"

She wags a finger at him. "But I know. I know."

Luisa raises an eyebrow. "What do you know?"

She leans her hip on the counter. "Chris is great with Ricky, which means something. Obviously, I have feelings for him or am developing feelings for him and those feelings are likely returned because here he is, wasting time on us, and it's inevitable that we'll get together. Right? That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it," Lucas admits.

"Well?" Luisa asks, eyebrow raised.

"It's all correct," Amara says simply, shrugging. No use in lying to them or herself. It's only natural she gives this a fair bit of thought. Maybe inevitable that she and Chris end up developing feelings for each other, too. Like that's how it will always be.

Eiko gasps, dropping the plastic spoon she was holding. "What? Who is this?" She gestures at Amara.

"Oh, please."