Teenage Baby

Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Mommy removed Aaron's pants and left him in the pull-up, much to his displeasure. She adjusted the blazer on him then reached out for a men's perfume and sprayed it around him. Squinting, Aaron turned away, desperately trying to protect his eyes from the fragrant liquid that actually smelled good—oddly, he liked it. He'd always liked the mild musky scent.

"Don't worry, baby. I won't put it in your eyes," Mommy said, chuckling at his reaction.

  She moved away, finally allowing Aaron's eyes to look further beyond. Leo was propped up on Daddy's hip, and he was dressed pretty much like him—black blazer, white dress shirt, and a bowtie. Now every single person present was dressed formally, and the vagueness of the occasion kinda freaked Aaron out. He had no idea what to expect, one thing he considered much more nerve-wrecking than impending, known abuse.

   Lou's frame suddenly came into the view. Aaron unawarely let out a relieved sigh as he watched him approach. He'd had enough of Mommy's creepy love and Daddy's threats; Lou was much less horrible to be around with.

Lou walked closer until he was standing just by his baby, his hands reaching out to ruffle his hair, but retreating before they ever did. "Not gonna mess your hair up. I bet Mommy would kill me," he said as he brought Aaron up to straddle his hip. "Look at my beautiful little business man. I used to think I was handsome, but with you and Leo around, I'm not even close to that."

"Business man?" Aaron repeated flatly, his voice filled with drollness yet purposely quiet. "I have a pull-up on. I'm not sure I can ever call myself a man again."

Lou tutted, then chuckled. "Business baby?"

"That makes me feel better," Aaron said, his lips pulled into a tight smile.

Daddy gestured Lou to follow him out, and it reminded Aaron of the horrible situation again; what was happening? Before Lou could walk out, Aaron caught the edge of his collar nervously and leant towards his ear, shaky breaths tickling the side of his neck as he asked, "Where are we going?"

"Don't worry, baby. Nothing to be scared about. You'll see."

Oh, okay, Aaron thought. Thanks for the relevant answer.

Everybody headed towards the living room, and there, both Lou and Daddy stopped and shared questioning glances, but they looked more confused than unaware, Aaron realized as he watched them accuse each other through uncertain eye-contact and puzzled frowns.

"Lou, where's the... weren't you supposed to get it?"

"No, I thought you were."

"Great. Just let me go grab it then," Daddy decided, placing Leo down on the couch where Mommy had decided to rest as well.

Aaron watched as Daddy disappeared through the door. He turned to Lou. "What's he gonna get?"

   "Trust me, baby. There's nothing to be scared of." Lou smiled, but yet again skipped around the question. Aaron surrendered, chest deflating as he sighed nervously and focused on the window behind Lou's shoulder. Lou followed the movement of his eyes, his heart sinking when he noticed how his baby was staring out longingly. He hummed then focused on him again with an amused smile. "How about we go out to the pool when the weather gets a little warmer? Do you want that?"

  Pool? Aaron thought. He hadn't seen one when he was out. Probably on the other side, then. Somewhere he hadn't been to yet.

Lou noticed the uncertainty creasing Aaron's brows. He smiled. "Backyard, baby. You haven't been there yet. But I promise I'll take you when it gets warmer."