Thin Bones

29

It was time for the talk. Well, that'd already happened when Gaige and Leon were in the eighth grade. Despite the fact both had already gotten a wild version of the talk from their classmates. 

This new talk, however, was about Gaige's childhood and not about condoms and consent. Neil and Paige had smiles, confused smiles on their faces as they watched their eldest son try to set his little camera up on the tripod Adonis had supplied him. Photo albums and Gaige's 'memory box' sat at the edge of the table -out of frame. 

"And you got this camera from..." Neil was the most apprehensive about this whole ordeal, Paige was the typical mom -beyond willing to ramble about her beloved son. 

"Uh, school, yeah," Gaige narrowed his eyes, and watched through the little screen as the lens focused, "Brad lives in some fancy neighborhood where each class practically has enough laptops for every single kid to use every single minute twenty-four seven," When it focused and Gaige was satisfied, he pressed record and sat back in his seat, "Yeah, they loaned each of us in my class our camera for the break to record this assignment."

Neil nodded skeptically, but Paige smiled like she was proud of her son for getting into a rich man's school, "That's so cool, Gaige. I've always wanted you boys to get to fun things like this."

Gaige gave his mom a stiff smile, "Uh, sure, yeah, it's great there. Anyway, basically, I need y'all to talk about how I was as a kid. From when I began to show personality to -well- now," Gaige glanced back down at his text from Adonis to make sure he gave the instructions right, "Oh, and try to focus more on the camera then me if you can help it, because you'll be talking in the third person like I'm not here. "

Paige smiled at Neil before turning back to Gaige, before remembering the rule and looking at the camera, "Well I guess I get to take this one. Gaige was an easy pregnancy and I praise the lord for that. It was really just Gaige's father and me, since I wasn't on good terms with my parents at the time. They thought I was too young to be having kids with a guy I wasn't even married to. Gaige was a small baby too, which is crazy thinking about how tall he is," His parent's shared a laugh, "He was so small and innocent. And quiet, god he terrified me by being so quiet. I thought something was wrong with my baby, I kept calling for nurses and they kept just telling me that some babies didn't cry as much as others. But it was still scary. 

"He was my best friend the moment I set eyes on his little blonde hairs. Gaige was always there, through all the fights with his dad I always had this little quiet toddler boy to climb into bed and cuddle with. I loved see him giggle on the playsets, or make friends with anyone around him. He slowly grew out of his shell, it made me nervous. Nervous my baby was going to get hurt in the real world. But it also made me proud. Especially when Gaige came up to me and said, 'Mom, I can go outside by myself you know. I'm a man.'," Paige giggles to herself, whipping a few stray tears. Gaige bits his lips. His mom was telling a time he couldn't remember but still favored over the present. 

"I knew I was scared when I met Neil," Paige glances over at her husband, "Most because I wanted Gaige to have the best male figure in his life since his father wasn't really there anymore. I just wanted the best for my son, and I could never be sure I was making the right choice. But it worked out. Gaige was hesitant around Leon, his new brother for only a few minutes before they became thicker than thieves-"

Neil laughed his hearty laugh, talking for the first time, "They sure were. Somehow, Gaige managed to get my little shy son out of his shell and turn him into the loud monster we know today," Even Gaige had to smile at that. Apparently, Leon was a shy quiet kid until he became brothers with Gaige. And they Gaige rubbed off on the shy boy and now Leon could never use an inside voice or anything but sarcasm, "I remember meeting a little Gaige for the first and thinking, 'Wow. This kid is great. He's going to go places' he was so smart, he knew what he was talking about which was crazy for a six-year-old. He was confident and had these manners. The perfect gentleman even held the door open for his mom," Gaige's stomach twisted in a tornado of self-esteem killing emotions, thoughts, and memories. Gaige wrapped his arms tightly around his middle as his parents went on.