A Missed Opportunity

14

❃𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚊❃

"Mommy!"

"Shh!" I hush him desperately, holding his hand a little tighter as I lean down. "Cameron, people live here." I whisper, gesturing to the doors we pass. "Inside voice."

"I'm knocking!" He wiggles his hand out of my grasp and runs the rest of the way. I sigh sharply but can't help but smile a little at the fact that he knows the right door to knock on already. I think it's a good thing that they're getting to know each other—not just their personalities but also their lifestyles too. He knows where he lives like he knows where we live.

The door opens pretty quickly. "Ooh! I could hear you from a mile away, you nutcase." Noah laughs as he immediately leans down to scoop Cameron up. Cameron's absolutely elated to be scooped up like it's nothing, and I can't blame him. I'd love it too.

"Yeah, sorry." I grimace as I come up on the door, just barely catching up with them. "I tried to get him to quiet down." I look down the hall at his neighbors' doors.

"Oh, it's fine." Noah shakes his head as he backs away from the door to let me in too. "They know the walls are thin—Most of them are cool." He shrugs. I watch him skeptically but can't argue. I don't know his neighbors.

"Noah, look!" Cameron shoves Taffy into Noah's face. I cringe a bit, shutting the door behind me slowly.

"Oh. Wow. Very breathable—Yeah."

"Get her out of his face, Cameron." I chuckle. Cameron pulls Taffy out of Noah's face some to show him Taffy properly.

"Look, Mommy fixed her." Cameron shows him the new stitch across her back.

"Hey, look at that." Noah smiles at Taffy. "Did you say the thing to her?" He whispers his reminder. I perk up.

Cameron thinks about what thing for a moment before he smiles and looks at me. "Thank you, Mommy." He hums, ever so sweetly.

I smile. "You're welcome."

"We're not curious about morbid things anymore, right?" Noah smiles. Cameron quickly shakes his head. "I get that curiosity." He nods and turns to continue through his apartment. I follow closely behind. "I was always curious about what my toys were made of too. But sometimes, we don't need to scratch that itch."

I clear my throat as I follow him to the living room. "So, Aaliyah's bringing Elaina too?" I ask as I come over to sit on the couch.

Noah hugs Cameron to his chest while he lowers himself down to sit crisscross on the floor. He lets Cameron go once they're down, but Cameron doesn't really go far. "Yeah." He nods. "She's probably going to be here soon."

I laugh a little. "And you're going to be okay with the two of them alone?"

He nods. "Oh, yeah. We'll be fine." He assures. "My cousin's about his age and I've watched her and Elaina at the same time." He adds, mostly adding to his experience. He smiles. "You sure you're okay?" He asks again with a short look at Cameron. Cameron tunes us out though, I think.

"Yeah." I quickly answer. "I was just worried about overwhelming you." I admit with a small shrug. He nods in understanding. "But by all means," I wave in his direction. "Have fun."

Cameron perks up at that. "Can we get ice cream?" He looks between us for an answer. "Please?"

I smile back at Noah when he looks at me like it's my choice. "You're in charge." I remind on a hum. He smiles at that.

"We'll see, Nut." He looks back at Cameron. "We need to see what Elaina's mom says." He reasons. It's definitely not the answer I thought he might give, but it's the one I half hoped for. Mostly a responsible answer.