All The Small Things

187

[Jacob POV]

"Help?" Luca asked, holding up a coloring page up to me. We were at Carter's house, hanging out. Luca was little, and Carter gave him a bunch of coloring pages.
"Help with what?" I asked, honestly confused about what he needed. He huffed instead of answering and grabbed my hand, pouting.
"What's wrong?" Carter asked him, getting a similar reaction.
"I don't know what you need unless you use your words," I said. He sniffled and just sat in my lap as he gave up, putting his head into my chest. I shrugged at Carter to silently tell him I didn't know what was up either.

"He might not know what he wants help with either," Carter commented after he fell asleep on me.
"Really?" I asked.
"Mhm. He's probably wants your attention but hasn't figured that out yet. You know? He just feels like he needs something and can't place it," He explained.
"You sound like you're speaking from personal experience," I said, making him smile.
"Yeah. A lot of the littles I've watched have it happen to them," He replied, standing up and stretching.

"Hey, listen, I know he's been having a really hard time lately cause of everything going on. But, my friend had tickets to an amusement park and gave them to me cause he's sick. They have to be used in a few days, and he won't be able to. And, I don't have anyone better to bring with me. Would you two wanna come with me?" He offered, making me instantly say yes.
"You can meet up here, and I drive the rest of the way. Cause the drives almost two and a half hours, so I figured me just driving us from here would be easier. I thanked him at least four more times over the span of the next hour we were there before I took Luca home.

That next Wendsday, I was off. So we planned it for then. I prepared by getting sunscreen, snacks, sunglasses, and a few brightly colored tank tops for Luca to pick from. There was a bright red, green, or teal. He chose teal to wear with his black shorts.
"You wanna wear good socks. We're gonna be walking a lot," I advised him as I double-checked that I packed everything. There were some water rides, so I also was bringing towels along with a change of socks and boxers.

On the drive to Carter's, Luca was giggly and excited, clearly on the verge of his regression. I pulled into the driveway, and Luca jumped out of the truck, sprinting to the front door and knocking. I slowly walked after him up to the door.
"Carter!" He exclaimed as soon as the door opened, hugging the older man.
"Hi, hun! You excited?" Carter asked, making him nod and stim before grabbing my hand and pulling me over to Carter's car. He wanted to sit by himself in the backseat even after I told him I'd be more than happy to sit with him. It only took twenty minutes for him to fall asleep in his seat, holding Leo to his chest.

"I hope he doesn't get overwhelmed or anything. I brought earplugs for the noise, and I'm hoping that's enough," I commented, looking at him through the rear view mirror.
"I'm sure he'll have a good time. He'll definitely slip, though. At least after we start going on rides," He said.
"Oh yeah. He's practically four years old right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if he were closer to two when we first go in," I agreed, taking my phone from my back pocket when I felt it stabbing me and setting it in my lap. "And I really don't mind. I'm just not looking forward to carrying him while we're walking around,"
"I don't mind carrying him. I really don't have any shame anymore. There's been plenty of times I had to pick a little up in the middle of a crowded ass place cause that was the only way they'd keep from having a tantrum," He offered.
"Yeah. I'm not worried about judgment, really. I'm more worried about how bad my arms will hurt," I clarified, making him smile.
"I'll carry him half the time, then. How 'bout that?" He offered, making me agree.

Luca woke up when we paid for parking because of the unfamiliar noises. He whined and rubbed his eyes, reaching up to the front seat and grabbing my hand. I didn't mind, so I let him silently play with my fingers while pointing out a relatively good parking spot. It was a Wednesday, so it was breabley busy. There were obviously a lot of people, but you could walk around with a reasonable amount of personal space at all times. I got out of Carter's car, opened Luca's door, and made sure he had his shoes on before grabbing earplugs from the backpack next to him. There's been a few times he accidentally kicked off one or both of his shoes while napping in the car, so I just had to make sure.

He quickly twisted them, waiting to put them in his ears.
"C'mon, lovely," I mumbled as Carter locked the car.
"Leo?" He asked, stepping out and grabbing my hand.
"He's gonna keep sleeping in the car. The rides are too big for him, and he can get hurt," I answered, softly shaking my head.
"Yeah... He's too little," He agreed, rubbing his eyes before putting the earplugs in and following me and Carter up to the entrance.

We went through, handed the tickets over to the workers, got wristbands, and walked into the park.
"What do you wanna go on first?" I asked Carter. "He can't hear a damn word I'm saying, so I'll just ask you,"
"We can go on that one," He suggested, briefly pointing down the walkway and to the left. "I doubt he'd wanna go on a really big one," I walked with Carter over to a rollercoaster that just went up and down. I didn't wanna scare Luca with the rides that go upside down or that spin, so this ride was good. The line wasn't too long, but Luca still spent the whole time we were waiting, leaning on me.

We were at the park for almost three hours before Luca stopped having fun. He was sleepy and hungry, so we decided to go get something to eat. I picked him up and carried him to the car this time because Carter had been carrying him between rides for the past while.
"Go?" He asked when I sat him in his seat, taking his earplugs out.
"Just for a little bit," I answered before helping him buckle himself in.

"I think it's supposed to rain soon, but not for long," Carter mentioned as he started driving to find somewhere to get food.
"I want it to rain!" Luca quickly interjected before I could respond, "Cause then it gets all wet. And, I actually like it. Cause then I see a rainbow. And I can play in the puddles,"
"Do you like it when it snows?" Carter asked him.
"Um... just a little. Cause is gets really really cold, so I only like it for, like, a couple days," He answered, kicking his feet.

I don't know if he just had to get 'warmed up' to the idea of talking, but after that, he was so verbal. All he did was talk, and it was so cute. Because it'd be about the most random shit. He told me he needs a pet butterfly, that no-show socks were stupid, that the only color he didn't like was neon green, that his favorite number was 3, and many other things that I don't wanna list out. We went back to the park for another few hours, where we went on all the water rides. Luca's shirt was totally wet, but he didn't really care until we were in the car and part way down the road.
"Feel like a fishy," He said out of the blue.
"What kinda fishy?" Carter asked.
"Pufferfish!" He exclaimed instantly, "Dady, I need a pufferfish. They're so cute,"

"But what about Pepper? Kitties and fish don't get along," I said, making him momentarily pause and think.
"... Yeah, but Pepper's different. She wouldn't hurt a fishy," He said before starting to shift in his seat and whine. I instantly clocked that his shirt was clinging to him cause it was wet.
"Change shirts, Bug. I know it feels icky," I said, making him instantly strip his shirt off and relax before starting to look for a new one in my backpack. He grabbed the red one and slipped it on before asking what to do with the wet shirt.
"Put it in the backpack. But not the big pocket. Kay? A little one," I said, hearing a zipper before he gasped.
"Dady, can I have a snack?" He asked, making me smile.
"Yeah. You can have whichever you want," I agreed, glancing over at Carter who was occasionally checking on Luca in the reirview mirror.