The Truths That We Hide

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

It was now Saturday so Bree had a free day from work. She would spend the day with her little monkey who was now trying to climb to the chair in the kitchen. Being only four years old wasn't tall enough to get the candies that she had put up there.

Bust like his father, Quentin knew the tricks and wasn't afraid to use them when it was necessary. And apparently, getting candy was absolutely necessary for someone who had threw up everything he had eaten just yesterday.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Bree laughed while getting her son in her arms which caused him to laugh while trying to tell that all he wanted to get candy.

"Sorry, sweetie, but you won't get any candy until I'm sure that you're not sick anymore," she said and then kissed him on the cheek, letting him down but not before catching something under the sofa with her green eyes.

She went to pick it up and realized that it was a phone. She wondered how it could have gotten there when no one else has been there except herself and Quentin but then remembered the man who had spent most of the day there, taking care of her sick child.

She cursed when she realized that he must have forgotten his phone there and wondered how was she supposed to give it back to him. She tried to open it but didn't get past the password so she couldn't find any numbers to call.

"Dammit, Chris," she accidentally cursed out loud him and immediately regretted it when she saw Quentin standing next to her. She was a woman with only a few rules in the house but the one she was determined to follow was not to curse, especially near children.

"Don't say bad things like that, baby," she quickly said, fearing that her son would end up being one of those teenagers who cursed in every sentence.

She decided that the sooner she got the phone back to Chris, the better. She was just happy that there was no reason to talk to or even see the man ever again. And then this happened. For a while, she thought if he forgot it on purpose to annoy her but quickly realized that not even Chris was that stupid.

Bree thought about how to give it back to him and realized that the best way was to find him. She tried to remember if he said anything about where he was staying but came up with nothing. From what she knew, Chris could be everywhere. She wasn't in the mood of spending her Saturday walking around New York and trying to catch a sign of the man.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and she opened it, revealing a man himself. He looked relieved that she was home and gave him a big smile where she returned with one that hopefully didn't look too awkward.

"Good, you're home! I think I left my phone here. I have searched everywhere else. Also, I'm back here so soon so it must be destiny," he joked while looking behind Bree where Quentin was standing and looking at the two adults. Seeing the familiar man talking to his mother, he waved Chris who did the same to him.

"I would say it's what people call bad memory, not destiny. Wait a minute," Bree said and left to get his phone. It was still in the kitchen so it didn't take long to go back but somehow it was enough time for her son to start a conversation with Chris.

He was a young gentleman and said thank you to the man for taking care of him and reading him a bedtime story when his mother couldn't do it. M

Moments like this made her almost cry because of how proud she was to have someone like him as her child. Someone she had raised well enough to know good manners.

"You're welcome, little man. It was nice. I see you're not throwing up all around the house anymore," Chris said and smiled down to the boy. Bree could see that it was genuine, not fake like she thought.

There was an awkward silence where none of them knew what to say. Bree was about to say goodbye if he didn't need anything else when Quentin decides to ask Chris to join their movie day.

Of course, Quentin just had to open his mouth and say that. Why wouldn't he? After all, Chris took care of him yesterday and probably said all kinds of funny things that made him laugh even when he was sick.

"I - I guess I could stay," he said but regretted his decision when he saw Bree's face. "Only if that's okay with your mother."

Bree didn't want him to join the movie night that she had planned only for her and Quentin. She was about to say no but then her son started to beg for her to say yes.

"Please, please, please mommy! Chlistian is nice, he gave me food and read me a book! I'll be good, I plomise!"

Oh god. How could she say no when he looked at her with those puppy eyes? He had to know that she would agree the second she saw them. It had worked before. So yes, she agreed and no, it wasn't one of her proudest moments.

"Thank you, I love you!" With that, he ran back to the living room with his mother and Chris following behind and Bree yelled him not to run.

Ten minutes later, all three were sitting on the sofa, waiting for the Winnie the Pooh to start. During the film, all tension between Bree and Chris were gone and she forgot all about their history. Now, there was just happiness and laughter with Quentin who couldn't stay quiet about his favorite characters.

After the movie ended, Bree decided that it would be time to eat real food. She told them that they could do something else while waiting for her to be ready. Chris had volunteered to help her with cooking but she immediately said no, telling him that he was a guest and she wouldn't let him work.

He should be with Quentin so he wouldn't be alone, especially because she feared that he was still a bit sick and needed someone to look after him. Knowing her son, he would forget all about the resting and start running around the house.

"Come with me, Chlistian. We can play in my room," Quentin said with a big smile, happy that he had a new friend who would play with him. Without waiting for his answer, he took the man's hand and started to walk towards his room where all the toys were.

Bree almost laughed while imagining the grown-up man playing with cars. No one would believe her if the world knew how the infamous author and ladies' man spent his Saturdays.

She had fun while listening to all the yelling and laughter that came from her son's room while they were playing some board game. Apparently, Chris was a bit competitive and didn't have any mercy for Quentin who had gotten angry many times for losing.

It ended up being a short argument between the child and a grown-up man. She rolled her eyes and yelled for the two of them to stop fighting over silly things and that Chris should be the adult there.

"It's not my fault that your son is bad at this game!" he yelled back.

"I'm not bad, you ale bad!" now it was Quentin and just like that, the fight continued but at least they were now laughing. Bree was only happy that she had to cook. She didn't want to get in the middle of that.

Thirty minutes later the food was ready and the three of them were now eating. Bree couldn't believe that she had been afraid that those two wouldn't know how to be around each other when the truth was the total opposite.

Somehow, during the day they became friends and kept joking even in the kitchen while eating, somehow making her the third wheel.

"Sweetie, don't speak with food in your mouth," she reminded again. He answered with a simple 'okay' while having food in his mouth which made her roll her eyes. Chris, being a childish twenty-four years old, laughed at that which he tried to hide with a fake cough.

"Eat first, then speak," he now tried to be oh, so responsible adult. With amazement and annoyance, Bree watched as her son ate his mouth clean so there wasn't any food. Only then he starting to speak again just like she had told him to do not even a minute ago.

"Look who he listens to. I guess I'm his favorite," Chris smirked before starting to talk with Quentin again about some movie. She tried to listen to their conversation but her mind kept going back to his words. They were exactly the same as Xavier's when they were jokingly fighting who was their son's favorite parent.

She frowned, not liking at all what was happening. Chris was Quentin's favorite what? A parent?