A Missed Opportunity

13

"I think so." I insist confidently. I throw another shirt in the keep pile. "We're getting more comfortable with each other too which helps." I add with a little smile. He's changed a little from the guy I remember back at the bar, but that's not really surprising. For one, he was drunk. Also, it was late, and I was drunk too. It's not so unbelievable that I remember him a little different.

Even still, there are some things that fit my idea of the guy in the bar. He's just as playful as I remember, mostly just likes to laugh. His jokes are still pretty juvenile, but funny too. He still seems pretty spontaneous as well. Unlike the guy I thought he was, he can take things seriously when he really needs to. And there's not really a good way to say this, but he cares a lot more than I thought he might. Not just about Cameron, but about me too. About his work and his family. Just by the way he talks sometimes, I can tell he takes his past seriously. Specifically, his past mistakes. He hasn't told me all about them yet, but to be fair I haven't told him all about my past mistakes either. At least the ones that don't directly affect him.

It'll take time for that all to come out though. And honestly, it might never happen in the first place. Neither of us have any kind of obligation to share our past with each other. It might help us grow more comfortable with each other, but we're also doing just fine on our own without spilling every secret about ourselves to each other.

"Mommy!" Cameron calls for me in the other room. I look over at the hallway when I hear his little marching footsteps heading down the hall. "Mommy, Taffy got hurt." He frowns as he holds Taffy out to me.

I frown too as I drop another pair of pants into the keep pile before I step closer to him. "Got hurt? How? What happened to her?" I ask as I reach for Taffy. He hands her over with a guilty frown on his face.

"She, um...got scratched."

I stare at the new hole cut into Taffy's back. Then narrow my eyes at Cameron suspiciously. "Scratched." I repeat as I look back down. I can see her stuffing. "Cam, we know better than to lie." I murmur my warning.

His shoulders shamefully sink. "I wanted to see what she had underneath her fur."

Well, that's not creepy.

I grimace a little bit as I look to my mom for help. She stares at him before looking to me. "If only there was someone to help us wonder why." She sarcastically sighs.

I ignore her and look back to Cameron. "Okay, well, we know it's not okay to hurt our friends." I point out firmly. "And now that Taffy is hurt, she's going to need to rest so she can recover." I hold Taffy closer to me. Cameron's frown deepens and his lip starts to wobble. "But now we know what's...underneath." I mumble as I awkwardly look down at Taffy's stuffing beginning to flow out.

She's old though. It's kind of a good thing so I can replace her stuffing and make her soft again. So, at least there's that.

"Okay. Go play. Taffy needs to sleep." I wave Cameron off. He sniffles a little bit but ultimately turns to walk away. I'm quick to look over at my mom with wide eyes once he's gone. "What was underneath!" I whisper yell as I hold poor Taffy up.

She shakes her head simply at me, unwilling to help me here. I huff and walk over to set Taffy down on the coffee table for now. Beside her sits my phone, so I pick that up instead. "Let me see it." Mom holds her hand out for Taffy. I pick her back up and hand her over to my mom before I look down at my phone. She starts inspecting the hole to see if she can sew her back up.

I sigh deeply as I pull Noah's contact up. There's still a message I haven't responded to yet waiting for me. He simply tells me Aaliyah has been sending him on meaningless errands all across the city. He thinks it's so she can get back at him in her own way.

I text him back, confirming that she's definitely getting back at him like that. In fact, she admitted to me she was sending him across town to pick something up for her only to text him once he gets there that she got the address wrong and it's actually all the way back by her place. The thing is though, he knows she's just sending him around for no reason. He still drives all the way though—He's doing it to himself by now.

Along with that text, I let Noah in on what just happened. 'Your son is freakin me out.' I tell him. I can't help but hesitate before I send it. Through our texts, I've said your son a number of times, but it always feels so weird to say. It feels weird to have this little thing between us that other parents have.

The whole he's your son when he does something weird and he's mine when he's accomplishing something. It's a harmless joke that I've never had someone to share with, and now that I do, I really don't know how to handle it. It still feels so weird to use, and I'm sure he feels the same. He has to.

He replies pretty quick. 'Freaking you out how?'

I glance at my mom who frowns a little as she watches some stuffing spill out of Taffy. It's kind of mortifying. 'He cut some of Taffy's fabric to see what was underneath.' Another thing I like to have now is sharing the horror stories that come with parenting a little boy with another parent, not just my mom or a friend.

'WTF??'

I snort. Mom glances up from poor Taffy. 'My mom's trying to see if she can save her.'

'Please tell me she can be saved.' He pleads. 'My son will not be like my fish.'

I cock my head back at that. Read the last text back over again. 'Your fish?' I finally ask.

'Long story.'

I laugh and read that one back a couple of times too before I start typing back. "What're you doing?" Mom finally asks me.

My eyes don't leave my phone. "Telling him." I vaguely answer. She knows who the him is.

"Well stop giggling like a little girl."

"Oh, please." I roll my eyes. "Like you weren't giggling at that one nurse at the doctor's office last week." I dismiss. I smile a little at Noah's next prideful message about Cameron's curiosity coming from him. And—hell—I think it does. I know for a fact I was never that curious as a kid.

I like the fact that there's now someone I can gossip about my son with other than my mother. She's not the best gossiping buddy. Also, she—weirdly—doesn't have as much attitude as Noah does. He's more fun to gossip with.

And yeah, maybe we shouldn't gossip about our son, but who cares? It's not like he'll ever find out. Probably.