3 Years

46 - New York

Oh fuck. You have to be kidding. Noah didn't stick around to hear what his parents had to say anymore. Nia and Ricky tried to stop him, but he just went into his room and locked the door, staying in there for the remainder of the day.

Noah just sat on his bed and read through a book of the handful that had been stacked on the floor. He didn't expect this to happen; he thought that this wouldn't end in disaster either.

He could hear his father's footsteps pacing around in the living room through the thin walls, and his mother was in just as much distress. He felt like his life was crumbling around him... all over again.

His parents had hushed voices outside, obviously trying to not make a bunch of noise. He had one wish and one wish only: to be back in New York.

Meanwhile, Ricky and Nia were panicking. "Oh my god. Oh my god, what are we gonna do?" Ricky asked while pacing.

"I don't know. Wh- When my parents split, I was too young to truly understand what was happening, so I don't know how to help him."

"For me, I just poured all my energy into something else, so I didn't think about it for too long. I avoided being at home just because I couldn't be around my parents."

"Should we talk to him now or give him a minute?"

"Let's wait a while. If we try now, I think he'll just be more likely to ignore us."

"Ok. 45 minutes to an hour?"

"Yeah. He's only eight, so it's not like he'll need tons of time, but he's been through enough before already." I told myself I wouldn't ever put any of my children through something like this. That's just something else to add to my list of failures.

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Nini frowned a little. It's been about an hour since she texted Ricky about the twins and no response.

She had asked her children about meeting Ricky and his... Well, she didn't exactly know what to call them when she had asked Lauren and Jayden, so instead, she labeled them as people he was simply very close with. She didn't want to make the mistake of telling them he technically had a whole family before Ricky had the chance to.

They were of course hesitant but ultimately agreed. Deep down, they knew that this was going to be scarier than their semi-formal introduction to their father in the first place. There was no real evidence, but it was more of a gut feeling.

Jayden calls Lauren on FaceTime, not feeling like getting out of bed. "Hey," he mumbles through his blankets that were pulled around him, covering everything but his eyes.

"Hey?" Lauren answered, confused. "Why are you calling? And are you a burrito?"

"First off, yes because it's comfortable. Sec-"

"You're answering the questions backward."

"Not the point. Anyway, as I was saying, do you have any idea what to expect?"

She instantly knew what he was talking about. "No, of course not. Are there any expectations that we can even have? Jayden, our dad came back. I'm just winging it at this point."

"Yeah, I guess I am too."

"Who do you think the people are?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking it's like... military people or something."

"That makes sense... I guess."

"Do you think Mom knows?"

"Probably. She said that person's name before."

Meanwhile, Nini was freaking out. She had so many questions about... everything. She was scared, almost more scared than when the twins met Ricky... if that was even possible.

Across town, nerves continued to rise. By now, it's been almost an hour since Noah accidentally overheard (43 minutes and 37 seconds according to Nia), and he still hasn't left his room once. Not to eat, use the bathroom, nothing.

"I think we should try now," Nia said.

Ricky looked at his phone for the time. "I guess."

The two slowly approach the door. Ricky knocks and asks if they're welcome. Noah faintly answers and opens the door. "Hey, buddy," Nia starts with.

He gives them a weak, "Hey."

Ricky and Nia slowly sat down on his bed. "I know that that wasn't what you were expecting to hear," he begins slowly, not wanting to scare him any more than they already have, "but I'm sorry."

Noah doesn't even spare them a glance. "How are you feeling, bud?" Nia tries.

"Why did we come here?" he asks, not looking up.

The parents scrunch their eyebrows. "What do you mean?" Ricky asks.

"Why did we have to leave New York?"

"Sweetie," Nia says gently, "you know why. Dad and I have family here, and we missed them dearly."

"But why did we have to move permanently?" He was clearly growing more frustrated, but they remained neutral; there was no reason to be scared of an eight-year-old when they've dealt with far worse before.

"New York just wasn't a good fit for us anymore," Ricky explains, knowing in the back of his mind that that answer wasn't enough.

"But we were fine!" Noah counters. Ricky and Nia don't say anything and just let him breathe. "I want to go back," he whispers more to himself.

"Wh- What?" Nia stutters.

"I don't like it here," he says slightly louder.

"Bubba, we can't do that. Maybe one day as a trip... but not now."

"B- But you said n- nothing was gonna ch- change. That we'd still all be together when we came here." He was tearing up now, and his voice was cracking. He still refused to look at his parents though.

"And that's still true," Nia insists. "We will always, and I mean it when I say that, always still be here for you. Just because we," she says, pointing between herself and Ricky, "are technically not together anymore, absolutely does not mean we're still not a family."

"We still and always will love you, bubba."

Noah felt better after this little talk but still not great. He could feel that his parents were keeping secrets from him, but he didn't want to talk about it. Well, didn't want to; he kind of needed to.

"Do... Do you want to hear a story?" Nia asks him.

Ricky looks at her, and they have a short staring contest before they nod at each other. "A story about what?" Noah asks.

"This is... This is the story, um... This is how we met each other. I think you can handle it now," Ricky says, smiling a little at Nia. She smiles back, and they take quiet, deep breaths. Noah prepares himself, eagerly waiting for them to begin.

"Once upon a time, fifteen years to be technical, there was a plane," Nia began. "But not just any plane. It was a plane that would change the lives of dozens of people forever..."

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If you didn't see it, I posted a little reaction thing of Olivia's VMA performance.