❃𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚊❃
"I think it's time to let that thing go, dear."
I frown down at my purple dress in my hands. I've had it since college, having gotten it for my graduation dinner. I fell in love with it instantly and have kept it with me for those special occasions.
And now it has big ass splotches of red and yellow paint all across it. It's ruined.
I sigh deeply as I toss it off to the side for now. It is time to let go of it. I can still get it on, but it's definitely a little tight by now. Not to mention the new ugly splotches all across it. I just hate that I now have to get rid of it because I sure as hell won't wear it now.
"I need to go shopping." I grumble dreadfully as I move over to my next box. I've been busy unpacking Cameron's things and the rest of our necessities lately, mostly leaving my things alone for now. The first thing I'm starting with is going through my clothes again to make sure I caught everything that I won't wear and don't fit anymore. "I wonder if Aaliyah would go with me." I mutter to myself.
Noah said he told her and that she hasn't really wanted to speak to him, but she sure as hell has been responding to me every time I text. I guess he's the only one she's annoyed with. But even then, when I apologized to her and asked how she was doing, she said she was mostly just trying to grapple with the fact that she has a nephew from her brother. She told me he had said he might get in a relationship, but kids had always been up in the air with him.
"I don't know if I can watch Cameron for you anytime soon." Mom admits with an apologetic frown. I pause to look at her. "It's been hard to keep up with him." She adds on a sigh.
I frown back at her but nod. "I get it." I assure. "No, actually, Noah offered to take him for me when I go out." I breathe as I reach into the box to pull out a t-shirt.
"Did he?" Mom raises a brow at me. "You haven't told Cameron who he is yet, have you?"
I quickly look over at the doorway before I look back at her. "Mom," I whisper my warning. "No, we haven't told him." I shake my head quickly. "They're still getting used to each other."
"He has a right to know." Mom shrugs me off with her 'last' input on the situation.
I ignore that. "They both always seem excited when they find out they're going to be spending time together." I hum as I hold up the t-shirt to my chest.
"That one needs to go too." Mom decides. I shrug and toss it over to where my dress is. "How do you feel about him? How is he with Cam?" She pushes curiously.
I sigh deeply as I lean down for a pair of jeans this time. "He does surprisingly well with him." I nod. I absently look down as I hold the jeans up around my hips. "Yeah—It feels like he's done it before. Maybe with his sister. She's my age."
"Again with you and older men."
I huff at that. "First of all, it's not like we're together." I point out. "Second, it's only five years. It's not even that bad." I wave her off. "But anyway." I move on quick. "He does well with him, he knows how to handle his safety, and he checks in with me when there's even the smallest question of what I'd like to do." I explain. I shrug at her with a smile as I toss the jeans in my hands into a different pile. "They'll be perfectly fine for a few hours while I hang out with my friend."
Mom shrugs. "As long as you think so." She agrees. She's a little hot and cold about this whole Noah thing. Sometimes, she's upset with me for not taking her advice when I was pregnant with Cameron, other times she's completely wary of Noah the way I had been. She's worried about repeating history too, but she still thinks it was wrong of me to avoid the chance all together.
"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.