A Wall Between

Chapter 45

The kitchen was busy with wedding workers readying food to go out, but Mason ignored them as he microwaved a mug of water. When it was done heating, he got a small bottle filled with milk out of the fridge and put it in the water to sit.

"It has to be warm but not too warm," Mason explained. "He's just a little guy. He needs his milk just right."

"Goldilocks milk," Sasha commented.

"Exactly. You get it."

After a minute, Mason took the bottle out of the mug, tested the temperature of the milk on the inside of his wrist, and nodded his approval. "Come on. Let's take him back outside to feed him. There's a good spot I want to grab before anyone else takes it."

Mason led the way back out into the back garden, past where most of the people were clustered together and over to a picnic table in the back corner that was shaded underneath a tree. They sat side by side as Mason showed him how to hold the bottle and what it looked like when the kitten latched on and was taking the milk.

"Aw," Sasha said. "His little ears wiggle."

"Yeah, he loves his milk. He knows how much growing he's got ahead of him. You're going to be a big boy one day, aren't you?" Mason leant down close to the kitten's head as he suckled on the bottle and nodded. "He said yes."

Sasha laughed. He was feeling okay. He used to think that once he got to the point where he started to feel agitated, it was all over and there was no coming back from it, but things were different now. His baseline state was far less stressed out, he'd improved a lot at monitoring and managing his mental state, and he felt much more secure now that he had so many great friends to fall back on. He didn't spiral nearly as easily as he used to.

He wasn't magically cured of autism, of course. He still felt out of place and overwhelmed, but it was manageable now in a way it never had been before. It guided how he lived his life in many ways, but he'd found a kind of peaceful co-existence with it. His life would never be normal or easy, but he still liked it.

After Mason showed Sasha how to help the kitten poop and they cleaned him up, Mason nodded, satisfied. "I'd say you're qualified in kitten care now."

"Thank you," Sasha said. "If I ever need a job, at least I'll have that to put on my resume."

"Any job that gets you might actually be one worth having."

Sasha scanned the crowd for Cooper and it didn't take long to spot him in his maroon suit. He had attracted a gaggle of children who seemed to be trying to get him to dance with them. Cooper caught Sasha's eye and gave him a wave, then tilted his head to the side in question.

Sasha shook his head as he waved him off. Cooper could stay and have fun with the kids. Sasha was fine. He didn't really know Mason that well, but he had been really nice. At first Sasha had been a little worried because Mason always spoke his mind and people probably didn't always have very kind opinions of Sasha, but since he hadn't said anything bad so far, Sasha felt more confident that he probably wasn't thinking anything bad either.

It was nice just to watch Cooper play with the kids while Mason got his laptop out and got stuck back into his Sims game. Cooper was so good with kids. He launched into dancing and playing with them with full enthusiasm. Kids usually liked Sasha, but he didn't really know how to play with them in the same way Cooper did. He hadn't when he was one, and that hadn't changed.

"I'll go grab some snacks for us," Mason said as he got up. "What do you want?"

"Uh..." Sasha didn't know what was available, and the list of what he would and would not eat was long and complicated. He shrugged.