A Missed Opportunity

36

❃𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚊❃

It's entirely possible that this is a mistake I'll regret. Then again, the risk is one I still have to take. I'll always have to take the risks now. For the sake of myself and my son, I'm just going to have to keep taking the risks that I'm sure will never really stop coming.

Noah grins. "Go ahead." He encourages as he returns a lazy hand to the wheel while we move to the second window.

"You've done this before, haven't you?"

He sighs deeply, grin disappearing in an instant. "Kiara, for the last time, I do not have any other children."

"That you know of." I smugly correct. He rolls his eyes but with a little smile. I know he hopes that's not the case though. I hope it isn't too. "But that's not what I meant." I dismiss with a wave of my hand. "I meant...You were kind of a parent to Aaliyah...weren't you?"

He pauses at that. He takes a few extra seconds to look over at me. "I guess." He weakly answers.

I raise a brow. "You have to actually answer me. Or else you can't ask your question." He seems to debate on letting the whole thing go, but ultimately decides against it. He nods and looks away, into the window while we wait a moment.

"My parents were around, but they didn't really like to do the whole parenting thing. Even when we really needed them, they liked to step back and say it was time we learned to do things on our own. It didn't matter that their six-year-old was about to get herself hurt real bad. To them, they were letting her learn the hard way." He seems to feel like his answer is a little deeper than a yes or no one. For me, his real answer is the one he reluctantly gives. "Sometimes I'd have to be there before she could hurt herself. After a few years of that, she sort of...stopped going to them."

I frown when he stops there, like that's all. "What do you mean stopped going to them?" I push. I have a feeling I know what he probably wants to ask, so I'm pushing my luck like he will.

Noah doesn't answer immediately, pausing when the window slides open. He has time to think about it while we're handed our milkshakes. I let him start up on his own, waiting until even after we've slid back into traffic to circle around back to my place. While I wait for him to go on, I stick our straws in our own cups so he doesn't have to fumble with it while he tries to drive.

"Thanks," He acknowledges me on a mumble. "Uh, well," He begins again on an inhale. "She tried to, um...you know, show them whatever craft she did when she first started school. Like, with the whole noodle necklaces and glittery shit kindergartners do. It didn't even take the entire year for her to realize they weren't paying attention. So, one day she just started bringing the crafts to me because she knew I'd acknowledge them. That sort of grew into her coming to me to show me other things she was doing outside of school. And then she started coming to me about her problems inside and outside of school. At some point, I guess I ended up being the first person she went to for pretty much everything."

I've heard little snippets of what he's talking about from Aaliyah. Sometimes, she talks and she doesn't realize what she's saying until she's already said it. So, naturally, I've heard a little about how in fourth grade, her fifteen year old big brother ripped her teacher a new one for forcing her to 'hug it out' with one of her bullies at the time.

It was something that I thought her parents were supposed to do, but I kept my mouth shut about that. She seemed so casual when describing it, as if it was completely normal for her brother who was only a handful of years older than her to be doing things her parents should've been.

I wasn't sure if I should've asked her or if I should've asked him about it. I probably would've gotten quicker answers from Aaliyah, but I still wanted to see if I could even get them out of Noah. He's a little less casual about it, already aware that it shouldn't have been his job.