Never Say Never

Chapter 12

 A fish? Really? Aly shook her head as Steve demonstrated how to feed the fish. Eli was watching with rapt attention, following his every move, eager to take care of his new pet correctly. Now she just needed to make sure the damn thing stayed alive so her son wasn't shattered. He was so soft hearted, especially when it came to animals. He'd be devastated if anything happened to Flash.

Steve had shown up with all the supplies they would need thirty minutes ago. The boys had eagerly helped place the tiny rock buildings into the bottom of the tank. They declared it Central City, the hometown of the superhero himself. She tried to convince them to name him Aquaman since the guy lived underwater but they were having none of it, looking at her as if she'd lost her mind. As if Aquaman wasn't far more logical. So, Flash it was. Eli even made a lightning bolt out of yellow construction paper that they taped to the front of the bowl.

And now she was the proud owner of a goldfish, one of the easiest pets to fail with. She barely had the brain capacity to remember everything Eli needed but at least he could tell her. Now she had a fish that she had to remember to feed and clean the bowl. Eli swore that he would do everything but he was seven. There was no way he would remember. She'd have to stay on top of it if the fish stood a chance in hell at making it longer than a few days.

Quietly, she slipped out of the room, making her way down the stairs, leaving the boys to all admire the fish as they dropped him into his new home. She'd already pulled out the extra pillows and blankets for Jeremiah and placed the George of the Jungle VHS next to Eli's VCR. It had been his movie request for the night since Jeremiah had never seen it before. It was one of their favorites, though she was pretty sure her reason for enjoying it so much differed from her son's.

The dryer buzzed just as she reached the bottom step so she headed in to get the load folded before she forgot. She was notorious for that, thinking she'd get it in a minute and then forgetting, leaving her running the same load three times before it actually got folded.

Losing herself in the monotony of matching socks and her swirling thoughts, she didn't even hear when Steve made his way downstairs. The sight of him in the doorway of the laundry room caused her to jump.

"Jesus," exclaimed Aly, her hand grasping her chest. "You scared me."

"Sorry." Steve smiled sheepishly, folding his arms, his shoulder leaning against the frame of the door.

"Flash all settled into his new home?"

"Yep. He's all sheltered and fed. Should be good for the night. He only really needs to be fed once a day."

"You make it sound so simple," she laughed.

"It is. Fish are pretty easy."

"Yeah, if you can remember to actually keep them alive. Notice the lack of houseplants around here?" She swung her arm out wide. "That's because they always die. I tried. I wanted to be the kind of person whose house was filled with greenery but I cannot remember to water them to save my life. That fish could be in trouble."

"Nah. I bet you've got it under control. I mean, Eli looks pretty well taken care of to me."

"That's because he can whine at me when he's hungry or tired or cold. The fish can't say, hey lady, you haven't fed me in two days and I'm going to starve."

Steve chuckled, "No. I get that. I mean, even Miles lets me know when he's hungry. He'll bring his bowl right to me if it gets too far past his dinnertime. That dog does not wait for food."

"Well, Flash doesn't have any legs. Also, he kind of needs to stay in the water so there won't be any chance of him coming to me for anything. And then he'll die and Eli will be heartbroken and it will be all my fault."