the art of being troubled || clouis

6 || the safe haven

"Lee, how do I get a baby?"

Lee halted the journey of his fork, his mouth rigidly agape, and blinked at the child in the seat beside him. His brows dented ever so slightly as he tried to make sense of the question posed to him. It had to be right in the middle of dinner, didn't it?

Didn't it?

"A baby?" Lee echoed. "You want a baby?"

"Yeah, like, where do they come from?" AJ questioned further, waving his hand about before setting his fork down.

He was not having this conversation.

"Uh... n- now, why would you want a baby?" he tried avoiding the exact question, but AJ's brows furrowed.

"Well... with Clem gone, I got no one," he solemnly replied, peering down at his plate as his shoulders sunk. "You have Audrey, Sam's got the poodle from the house down the road, but I haven't got anyone anymore."

Lee inwardly sighed relief when he pieced together the concept AJ was struggling to appropriately convey. Holy hell did this kid keep him on his toes.

"You mean you want another sibling?" he questioned, lowering his fork as he readjusted in his seat.

"Sibling, yeah!" AJ's eyes lit up.

Lee faltered.

"Now, you know—I—I can't, I've told you—" Lee stammered, soon sighing from difficulty. "Audrey and I can't have any children, AJ," he told the young boy.

"I know, but can't you get a baby where you got me?" he questioned, perking up in his chair. "Clem said you got me from the system. Now, I don't know really know where that is, but she said she was from there too! So there's gotta be more babies at the system, right?"

Completely and utterly lost, Lee's eyes drifted over to a focused yet peeved Audrey as she sifted through today's mail. Surely she could get him out of this horrid conversation, right?

"You wanna chime in on this?" he asked her, arm propped upon the chair back as her eyes snapped back at him.

"Hm?" she stare widened, expectant of clarification. Lee gestured his head towards the doe-eyed boy, his soft, curious face peering back up at her for answers. Her gaze stiffened. "Just... finish your food, AJ," she ordered aloofly with the swat of her hand, continuing to go through the bills.

Lee's lips parted to express his dismay, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.

"I don't want it anymore," the boy crossed his arms. "It's dry... and we don't have cheese."

"It's leftovers, it's meant to be dry," Audrey emphasised, dropping her hands in frustration. "I can't be your servant, alright? I ain't got time to cook all the damn day, not with all this paperwork—"

"I think what she meant to say was... not a lot of people are able to have food on their plates," Lee furrowed his brows, placing his hand on the child's shoulder. "It's not fair to waste it when there's other people starving out there. And... you gotta get all your nutrients, you know. How are you supposed to grow up tall and strong if you don't eat?"

"Stronger than you?" he began to grin, his conversational savviness causing Lee to huff. The kid was getting smart, maybe a little too smart. Lee could only wonder, was it nature or nurture? If you asked the boy, he'd probably say Disco Broccoli.

"Maybe," he smiled along with him, nudging his arm. "Don't count on it, though."

"Alright..." AJ reluctantly returned to his stiff spaghetti, planting his head upon his propped-up hand, digging his fork in, and twirling.