Amara's POV:
I reach for the flour, placing it on the counter before a progressive cry echoes from my spare bedroom. "I'll start the pancakes, you get Dahlia." Mason sighs.
"Alright."
I open the door and take a seat on the bed where Dahlia sits with teary eyes. I open my arms and allow her to climb into my lap, where she rests her head on my chest. "Bad dream, baby?" I ask as I run my fingers through her hair, rocking her back and forth.
"Mhm." she mumbles.
"Those suck," I whisper. "But you're safe, you're with me."
Just be thankful you weren't awake ten minutes ago, Dahlia. I think to myself.
"Guess what?" I ask as I hold her at arms length. "We're having pancakes."
Her eyes light up and she flashes me a wide grin, kicking her legs in excitement. "Come on then." I chuckle, carrying her on my hip into the kitchen.
As I walk inside I see Izzy sitting on the edge of the counter, bowl in hand as she mixes the pancake batter—with Mason standing in front giving her a helping hand. I can't help but smile. How crazy things can be.
I place Dahlia on a seat at the counter, catching the attention of them both. "Mar, your turn!" she calls.
I take Mason's place and furrow my brow at the watery mixture in the bowl. "I think we need a little more flour." I chuckle, knowing Mason's baking skills are probably less advanced than Isabella's. Just as I reach for the bag of flour, Izzy hits the edge of the bowl by accident—sending the runny mixture pouring all over herself and me as she tries to catch it.
"Oh, shit!" I gasp, watching as it trickles down her hair and body, scraping the excess from my face.
"Mara, pee!" Dahlia yells, smacking her hands on the counter.
She's toilet training, and this means we have a very small window to get her there. "Shit!" I repeat at the chaos.
"Mason, Dahlia!" I point, while holding Izzy above the ground and trying to avoid any more batter spilling.
"What?!" he gapes frantically. "What do I do?!"
"Take her to the bathroom! Quick, just hold her over!" I instruct desperately, my arms becoming sore.
"Oh, god!" he groans, scooping her up and running to the bathroom. "Oh, god. Oh, god!"
I hold Izzy against my stomach with one hand and shuffle to the bathroom behind him, watching as he frantically tries to undo her diaper.
"Oh god, oh god!" he mumbles in panic.
"Peel the straps, Mason! Peel the straps!" I yell.
The diaper finally falls and he holds her above the toilet just in time, and then—she does it. We both sigh in relief.
I start to laugh, uncontrollably. I can't help but wish someone had been there to record the utter chaos that just unfolded. Mason snaps his head to me, still holding Dahlia over the toilet seat. "What?!" he groans nervously.
"Look at us," I laugh. "Look at this."
Mason starts laughing too, shaking his head. Isabella looks to us and begins to laugh, licking the pancake batter from her fingers—and even Dahlia begins to giggle, despite not knowing what's so funny.
I get Isabella and myself cleaned up and changed into clean clothes, and high five Dahlia for her progress. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge as the girls play happily in the living room.
Mason and I fall back onto the couch simultaneously, letting out a long sigh. "What a morning," he sighs. "A quickie while the kids are in bed, who would've thought."
I let out a laugh and swat his arm. "Didn't plan on having an audience, though." my eyes move to Izzy.
"Hey, at least we got to finish." he smirks.
"Mason!"
He laughs. "What? I'm just saying. Imagine the frustration."
"I think we're pretty good at this." he says after a moments silence.
"Yeah, its only been a day." I chuckle.
"But a good day." he shrugs. I look to him and nod, resting my head on his shoulder.
The door clicks open and Matt walks in, walking straight through the living room and into my bedroom without a word, throwing himself face first onto the bed starfish style.
"Oh dear." I sigh.
"Hi, Matt!" Izzy yells from the floor.
"Hi babies." he replies, his words muffled by the covers.
I pat a confused looking Mason on the shoulder. "I have to handle this."
I make my way into the room and close the door half way, throwing myself onto the bed beside him. I roll him over to his side so that he's facing me. "What happened, champ?"
"Jackson."
I groan. Not Jackson. For the love of God, not Jackson. "No! I was really rooting for that man."
"He told me that he thinks he loves me." he mumbles and my eyes widen.
"Oh!" I respond in shock.
"It's only been a month and a half, Amara. He can't know that he loves me already, right?"
"Matt," I warn, knowing him all too well. "What did you say back?"
He grunts, trying to flip back over to avoid looking at me. "Matt!" I repeat.
"I said... thank you."
I facepalm. "Thank you?!"
"I panicked!" he whines. "It's too soon. I don't know if I love him yet. I really, really like him—but I'm just not there yet."
"Then tell him that, silly. He'll understand. Anything would've been better than thank you." I say with a soft chuckle.
"I know," he groans. His head tilts as he glances into the living room with a raised brow. "Why is Mason in there with two children?"
I laugh. "He's helping me for the weekend."
"With children?" he repeats.
"Yep," I sigh, watching as he sits with Dahlia on his lap. "He's been great with them."
Matt let's out a long breath. "Wow, talk about development."
"I know," I chuckle. I watch as a small frown almost appears on his face—he hides it. But it was there. I nudge his shoulder. "Hey."
"Hm?"
"Izzy walked in on Mason and I this morning."
He bursts out laughing immediately. "Serves you right, woman! That's what you get for walking in on me."
"Shut up!" I laugh, swatting his arm. "It was traumatising."
He chuckles and flicks me on the nose. "You always manage to cheer me up."
"It's a talent."
The patter of tiny footsteps echoes towards the room as Dahlia potters over to the edge of the bed. I lift her up and sit her between us, where she hands Matt a drawing. "Is this for me?" he asks, admiring it. "Wow, this is outstanding. You are a little Picasso at work, my love."
"I'm going to stop by and see your mom later," he tells me. "I got her a housewarming gift."
"What is it?"
He looks to Dahlia and scrunches up his nose. Oh god. I sigh and cover her ears with my hands.
"I'll give you a hint," he smirks, leaning in to whisper quieter. "She won't need a boyfriend anytime soon."
"Matt!" I scold him, letting out a gasp. "Tell me you did not—for the love of god!"
"What? Momma Woods deserves a bit of lovin' too." he rolls his eyes.
Matt and my mom are so close, they're so open with each other about everything. He isn't the closest with his own mom, after she didn't accept him as who he is. But my mom? She welcomed him with open arms. Although sometimes, they're a little too open.
"God," I furrow my brow. "Just, don't tell me about it."
He laughs before checking his watch. "I have to be at the hospital in 20, I better go."
I nod and give him a hug. As we walk back towards the door, Mason's eyes light up with opportunity. "Matthew, as amazing to see you as ever." he grins.
"Mason," Matt scowls, earning a laugh.
"You better get going, I heard the library shuts soon and they're almost all out of books on how to correctly style your hair."
"You-"
"Ah, ah. Little ears." he smiles tauntingly, motioning to the girls who sit coloring on the floor.
Matt takes a deep breath in. "Goodbye, Mason."
"Bye, buddy." he laughs.
As I close the door behind him, I turn to Mason with crossed arms. "You really can't help yourself, can you?" I shake my head.
"All would be wrong in the world if Matt and I didnt lightly bully each other, Amara. All would be wrong."
—————
8:30pm
Mason's POV:
"Alright, come here then." I say.
Izzy begged and begged until I said I would brush her hair and get her ready for bed. Amara just bathed her, so she's in her favorite pyjamas and ready to go.
I sit on her bed and pat the spot in front of my lap for her to sit. She hands me her hairbrush. Sparkly... nice. I start to brush gently, how do you know if it's hurting? I don't want to hurt her. God, what has happened to me.
I protested for hours about doing this, but deep down I know I like that Isabella likes me so much.
"Mason, can I ask you a question?" she utters quietly.
"You know, when Amara asks me that it usually doesn't end well for me," I joke. "Go ahead—ask."
"Am I pretty?" she asks. It's a question that makes me stop in my tracks a little, I don't know how to approach this.
Before I can respond, she continues on. "A girl in my class told me I'm not pretty, she does that a lot." she admits.
I feel complete shock come over me, and I turn her around to face me. "What?! You don't believe her, do you?"
"I don't know." she shrugs.
For the first time since my little sister, I feel an overwhelming sense of sheer protection for this kid. Ive never felt as much anger towards a six year old child until now.
"What the hell? How long has she been mean to you?" I ask.
"I don't know, a while." she says quietly, her baby blue eyes staring into mine. Punch her in the face, that's what I wanna tell her to do. Put a worm in her lunch, tell everyone she peed her pants at recess. But that's not how I have to do this—fucking maturity.
"Does Amara know?"
"No. I don't want to make her sad." she tells me, it makes my chest heavy.
"What about your dad? Does he know?"
"No." she shakes her head.
"So, just me? You're telling me?" I ask in shock.
She nods. She trusts me with this. She trusts me.
I sigh, looking at her as she sits there with a small pout on her face. "Isabella, you're beautiful," I say. I look at her and I just see Amara, this mini Amara. "You look like Amara, and I think she's beautiful too."
"Amara is pretty," she says with a smile.
"Hey," I say, bringing her to look me in the eye. "Don't you ever let anyone tell you what you are, do you hear me?"
She nods.
"I know we haven't always gotten off on the right foot, since I left," I say tensely. "But I won't do that again."
"I know," she says with a nod.
"Good."
After a brief pause, she wraps her little arms around my neck and squeezes tight. I hug her back—and I didn't even hesitate this time. It feels nice.
"You have to rise above it, little one."
She lets go and nods, climbing into bed. As I begin walk out, a voice interrupts me. "Hey, Mason,"
I turn. "Yeah?"
"...I put dirt in her sandwich." she whispers.
I laugh, shaking my head. "Atta' girl."
As I leave the room, I see Amara curled up on the couch with Dahlia asleep in her arms. She looks exhausted. I make my way into bed and decide to wait for her there—going over and over in my head what to do about Izzy. Do I tell Amara? She'll tell her when she's ready, right? That's the right thing to do? I'm not used to being a fucking role model for kids, someone they confide in. Elio was different, he depended on me but in his own way—in our world. Izzy isn't like that. I should tell her, she's Amara's family after all. Right? No. I decide against it. Izzy can tell her in her own time, she trusted me. I'll check in on her now and again, make sure everything's okay.
What the fuck has happened to me?
Amara pads into the room and climbs into bed, cuddling up to me and instantly soothing my thoughts. "Today was crazy," she chuckles.
"It was."
"I liked it, though. It was fun. We were good." she smiles up at me.
"Yeah, me too."
"You're better with kids than you think, you know." she says.
"Not kids, just those kids." I say, making her smile.
—————
I wake up to the sound of the shower running, she must've let me sleep in. I smirk to myself, silence—quiet. Only the sound of the shower running.
I make my way into the bathroom and pull back the curtain slightly.
"God!" I jump back.
I turn swiftly around and make my way back into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed. Fucking hell. A bit of notice when she's going to be in the shower with Dahlia would be nice. There goes my plans.
Around twenty minutes later she emerges, Dahlia safely back in the other bedroom. She stands there and dries her hair with a towel, the other still wrapped around her body while I huff to myself. Audibly.
She drops her towel and begins to change. I reach out my arms and make a grabbing motion, to which she rolls her eyes. "Stop brooding like a baby."
"Me? A baby? No—there was a baby in our shower this morning when I wanted to join you." I groan.
"Shut up," she laughs, pulling a shirt over her body. "You know how much the girls love you—right?" she asks.
I shrug. "Whatever."
"I mean it," she raises her brow, putting on a pair of shorts and sitting on my lap. Her fingers run through my hair as she smiles at me. "Thank you for being so great with them."
I love this woman so fucking much. I stare into her eyes as she smiles at me, bare faced and wet hair. To think I almost had to go through life without her feels... fake. As though my life without her wasn't really life at all. The period of time where I had lost her; my life was just on pause. I went through my days surviving but I wasn't living—not when I had lost her. I was just on the outside looking in. And now, I feel my life. I feel my emotions and I feel like I have some sort of control again—like when our eyes met again the 'resume' button was pressed and I was thrown into the deep end. It's not that I don't know who I am without her, I do. But the man I am when I don't have her isn't someone I ever want to be again.
"You okay? You zoned out a little there." she chuckles, her fingers still in my hair.
I kiss her in response, forgetting why I was even in my fucking mood to begin with. I don't know what's happened to me, all the soft shit and the feelings towards others'... feelings. But if it means I get to do this, and have this—with her, I say bring it on.
{a/n: Sorry for the delay on this update, life has been crazy.
Thank you for all of the support!}