Mommy's Boy

18. I'm a Big Kid Now

Once I got back home, Aria was laying on the couch, facing the door. But she was asleep. She must've fallen asleep while she was waiting for me to come back home. Was it possible to fall in love with someone multiple times in a matter of seconds? It had to be. That's the only way I could think to explain the rapid beating of my heart in my chest.

I didn't mean to, but I started to think of Lesley. Not missing her or anything. Just comparing her to Aria. I remember one specific time when I had gotten back from spending a weekend with my mom and Keren.

"Mommy! I'm back!" I called out excitedly as I ran inside, throwing my bag down next to the door. I had missed Lesley something terrible, especially since I had a nightmare and didn't have her to comfort me the night before. I just really needed to feel her arms around me and hear her telling me everything was going to be alright.

"Mommy!" I yelled again, starting to poke my head into different rooms until I found her laying in bed with her hand on her head. 

"Ryan! Why are you yelling? You know you're supposed to use your inside voice when we're inside. You're only making my headache worse." She huffed as she got up, rubbing her head.

I immediately looked down. I didn't want her upset with me. I had just gotten back home. She was supposed to ask me how my weekend was, wasn't she? But she did have a headache. 

"I'm sorry mommy.." I mumbled before going to her and sitting next to her, laying my head in her lap. I couldn't help the tears welling up in my eyes. 

Lesley sighed before rubbing my head, her fingers combing through my hair. "Just use your inside voice Ryan." she said before leaning down and kissing my head. 

She never even asked how my weekend was.

I shook the memory from my head. None of that mattered now. I went to grab a blanket from the closet and carefully covered Aria up with it before taking the bags into the kitchen. I set all the groceries on the counter, trying to figure out what to cook and when. I should probably cook everything that needed the stove or oven first, just in case I slipped into headspace. 

I did my best to be quiet as I navigated the kitchen. At every sound I made, I would flinch and look over at Aria to see if the noise had disturbed her at all. I didn't want to give her a headache. I didn't want her upset with me. 

But, she didn't wake up. She didn't even budge. She must've been tired.

I finished putting everything on the plate. I had made French toast with fresh fruit and some powdered sugar on top, putting the bottle of syrup in the middle of the table. On another plate, I had bacon with scrambled eggs. It was small but I hoped it was enough. It was good that I finished cooking too because I could feel myself slipping into headspace. 

I walked over to Aria and sat on the floor in front of her. I gently poked her arm. "Mama.." I mumbled timidly. 

When she didn't move, I lightly shook her. Her eyes started to flutter open.

Aria's POV

I woke up to see Ryan's big eyes in front of my face. I glance at the door and groan a little bit. I was supposed to be awake when he got here. 

"I'm sorry I woke you up." He said as his eyes turned down to look at the floor. "But, I finished breakfast and..." His sentence trailed off and I could tell he didn't know what else to say. It was obvious he was back in headspace. He just had this sureness about himself when he was big and now it was gone again. There was no problem with that. It's just an observation I had made.

I sat up, feeling a blanket fall off of my body. I didn't put that on. Did Ryan?

I smiled, kissing his head gently. "Thank you sweet boy. What did you make for breakfast? Can you show me?"

He started to grin a bit as he grabbed onto my hand, lightly tugging me over to the table. I'll be honest. I was not expecting the spread that was in front of me. I was expecting hot pockets or something which would've been fine. But this was amazing. 

"You made this all by yourself?" I asked as I looked at Ryan whose smile was radiating like the sun. 

Think I just felt my heart burst.

"Well look at you being a big boy." I said as I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a gentle squeeze. 

I could feel his smile against my shoulder as he nodded his head. "Your big boy mommy." he corrected before lightly pushing me to sit down. He was about to sit down too but suddenly his eyes got wide. "I forgot the juice!" He said as he hurried to the fridge, pulling out a big jug of orange juice. 

"Ah, let me get that for you hun." I got up and took the jug from him, being sure to give him another kiss on his forehead. I sent him back to the table as I grabbed some cups from the cabinet and started to fill them with juice. 

"How was your trip to the store?" I asked as I poured the juice into the first cup.

He took a long moment before responding. "What did you say mommy?" He asked. I could hear the confusion in his voice. 

"I asked how the trip to the store was silly." I said as I filled the second cup. I closed the jug of orange juice and turned around to look at Ryan who had fat tears falling down his face.

He just smiled wide as the tears continued to fall. "The store was great mommy!"

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Ah, this chapter just gives me fuzzies in the best way! 

I finally decided on an uploading schedule and I will do my best to stick with it. I will now be posting every OTHER weekend. If for some reason, I know I'll miss the weekend, I'll either double up on the next upload weekend, or I'll just tell you guys in advance if I don't really have the time to double up. If that's the case, I'll send out an announcement on my conversation board.

If you wouldn't mind, please check out my conversation board. I sometimes post updates with my life if they have an effect on the story and its progression as well as questions about what you guys wanna see in the next chapter.

Question for this chapter is: What has been your favorite memory of 2020 so far?

Mine was towards the beginning of the year. Before quarantine became as serious as it is now, me and my friends had a bonfire together. It was only like 6 or 7 of us but, it was the most fun I had had in a long time. We played games, watched a movie, set of fireworks, almost burned down the woods next to my house, and joked around. I think one of my friends even caught his shoelace on fire at one point. I would go back to that day in a heartbeat if I could. I didn't have a single care in the world on that day.

See you in the next chapter! Stay safe! Be smart!

XOXO