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Michael was wandering around the school yard, his arms held out to his sides. His tongue was peeking out of his mouth, and he accidently chomped on it when he heard his name be called.
Physically pushing his injured tongue back into his mouth with a finger, he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him towards his teacher, who was joined by-
“Mama!” He yelled happily, running the rest of the way up to her and hugging her leg. His mother rubbed his head, messing with his hair, and he batted her hands away as he kept his cheek squished to the side of her knee.
Miss Wimmer, his teacher, was talking to Michael’s mama, giving her a quick summary of the day and how Michael acted.
“He was very well-behaved, which is extremely impressive, seeing as how this-”
“-is his first day of school?” Michael’s mama ended, Miss Wimmer smiling and nodding.
“Yes! He’s a very sweet and polite boy, aren’t you, Mike?” She directed the question towards Michael, who had to take his face away from his mama’s leg to answer.
“Michael.” He only said his name, his eyes darting away, now feeling very shy. His mama scratched his scalp softly, making him press his cheek closer to her leg.
“He is very adamant about being called Michael, nothing else.” His mama explained, Miss Wimmer ‘oh’ing before apologizing, the other woman telling her that there was no need to apologize.
Michael fuzzed out, watching the other kids either go to their parents or wander aimlessly around the playground. Suddenly, he remembered some news that he wanted to share, and he started pulling at his mama’s pant leg.
“Mama, I-”
“Just a minute, Michael.”
Michael whined, feeling upset. However, the upset feeling went away as soon as his mama picked him up and carried him to the car, Michael peering over her shoulder, waving and yelling ‘bye!’ to his teacher until he could no longer see her.
Michael’s head turned as soon as he heard the car door open, his mama quickly putting him in his carseat and asking him to put his arms up so that she could put down a bar that went over his lap. He did, saying ‘whee!’ like the one time he went on a roller coaster six months ago, his mama giggling before ducking out of the car and closing the door, reappearing at the drivers side, opening the door, getting in, and starting the car.
After they drove for a while, Michael kicking his legs in boredom, his mama said,
“So sweetie, what happened today?”
Michael smiled, wriggling in a attempt to sit up in his chair with disappointing results.
“Mama, I don’t like my chair.” Michael complained, trying to sit up.
“I know, Michael. It kinda stinks, huh?” His mama asked him. Michael nodded.
“Yeah.” He quit his pitiful attempt at sitting up, resigning to being sat uncomfortably in his seat. He then remembered his news. “Oh! Mama, guess what?”
“What?”
“I made a friend!”
“Oh!” His mama gasped, stopping at a red light. “You did?”
“Yeah! She’s really nice!” He rambled, getting too excited and starting to wriggle in his seat again, his feet kicking. “She has freckles like mommy, only hers are more-” he rubbed his hands over his nose and cheeks, “- and mommy’s are more like-” he poked his cheeks with his fingers.
“That’s so cool, Micah!” His mama said, looking at him through the mirror. “Can you tell me her name?” Michael nodded, then squished his face, trying to remember his new friends name.
"My friends name is-" Michael rubbed his nose, breaking off his own sentence to look outside at the trees seemingly running by the car. Jasmine, his Nanay, snapped her fingers to get his attention back on track.
"What's your friend's name, Mikey?" She asked, making eye contact with her son in the mirror again, seeing him wriggle uncomfortably in his carseat. Michael, without answering, whined,
"Mama, I don't like the seat-"
"I know, sweetheart. Just a few more minutes until we get home, yeah?"
Michael pouted, crossing his arms and sniffing. Luckily for Jasmine and Há, his two mothers, Michael was a very mellow child, not one to scream his emotions. He, truly, was a quiet child, which Jasmine thanked God everyday for.
"What's your friends name, Micah?" Jasmine asked again, Michael sighing and perking up. His tongue darted out through the gap in his teeth, the five year old having lost his two front teeth already.
"It's-" Michael tried out the name quietly, trying to say it correctly. "Th- Tharah-"
“Tharah?” Jasmine giggled, quickly regaining her composure as she scolded herself on giggling. “Hon, are you sure that’s her name?”
“Mm-hmm!” Michael bounced in his seat in emphasis, trying to say the name again. “Tha- Thhharah-”
Jasmine decided to intervene.
“Michael, remember what Doctor Green told us to do?” She asked, turning onto the street before theirs accidently. Meh. Gave the two more time to talk. “Are you trying to say ‘S?’”
Michael nodded, still furtively trying to say his friends name. Jasmine hissed, pressing the tip of her tongue to her teeth, her eyes flickering to see her son.
“Hiss, like a snake, Michael,” she instructed, dragging out each ‘s.’ Michael brought his finger to his mouth and pressed his tongue against it, making a sound that, yes, sounded like an ‘s,’ but also sounded like a balloon leaking out air.
The two made hissing sounds, then Michael, still pressing his finger to his mouth, said,
“Sarah-” his eyes lit up, and his finger dropped to his lap. “I did it, mama!”
Jasmine cheered, pulling into their driveway and parking.
“Good job, sweetheart!” Jasmine got out of the car, swung around to the other side of the car, then opened the door and started to unbuckle Michael from his seat, who was squirming until she started to free him.
After lifting him out and placing him on the ground, Michael went off like a bullet, bouncing around the tree and causing himself to trip on a tree root, falling down and yelling,
“I’m okay!” As he got up, repeating, “I’m okay, mama.” As he went to follow Jasmine to the door.
“Oh, that's good.” Jasmine said, Michael nodding in agreement as they went inside. “Honey, we’re home!” She yelled, Michael echoing,
“We’re home, mommy!”
Hà walked out quickly, cooing and picking Michael up and hoisting him on her hip. She and Jasmine shared a kiss, then Hà turned her head and kissed Michael on the cheek, Michael making a disgruntled noise and rubbing his cheek with a small fist.
“How was my boy’s first day of kindergarten?” Hà asked, putting Michael down when he started to lean his weight down at the floor. Michael, when he regained his balance on the ground, put his hands on his hips and said,
“I made a friend!” In an very important tone.
Hà smiled, going to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a gallon of milk, going about and pouring a cup for Michael.
“Really? What’s his name?” Hà asked, immediately regretting her assumption of gender. Bad Hà. Michael, however, seemingly didn’t mind, only toddling over by kicking his feet out a bit and carefully taking the cup from Hà, her gently reminding him to be careful with the drink. It took a few reminders for Michael, seeing as how he would get excited and then accidently spill his milk all over his overalls and cry over that.
Michael took a sip, then set the plastic cup carefully on the little table by the door and looked at Jasmine, asking for permission to tell his other mother. Jasmine waved her hand towards Hà, and Michael took it as permission granted.
“My friend’s name is-” Michael thought about it, then lifted his finger to serve as a temporary wall for his tongue to press against. “S- Sarah.” The ‘s’ sound was weak, but he still smiled widely as his mothers both congratulated him.
Michael grabbed his cup again, put his mouth on the rim, then made his way into the living room, plopping down on the floor and drinking his milk. His moms followed him in, sitting on the couch and bordering him with their legs. They started to talk about their respective days, leaving Michael to finish his drink.
When he finished, he placed the cup on the carpet, focusing on trying to get it to stand for several minutes and finally succeeding after five.
Michael started to pick at the buttons on his overalls, trying to open one with both hands before making a frustrated noise and grabbing both of his mother’s attention. He tugged at Jasmine’s pant leg, looking up at her and asking,
“Mama, can you-” Not knowing the words to say, he tapped his finger on a button. Jasmine nodded and said,
“Of course, sweetie,” as Michael stood as all little kids do, standing before Jasmine and letting her unbutton the two buttons, then holding the pants up and scampering to his room, pulling on his Spiderman pajama pants, the only pants that he could put on by himself.
He ran back, situating himself between his mother’s legs again, having to squeeze in a little, because their legs had grown used to not having a child separating them.
Hà lifted him up by putting her hands under his armpits, which felt uncomfortable at first and made him feel like a turtle before she set him down on her lap.
“So, Mister Michael,” she teased, poking his stomach and making him squeal, “Tell us more about Sarah, hm?”
Michael took a deep breath, thumping his hands on his legs. His mothers looked at each other from over his head and giggled together, quickly looking back down at Michael when he started talking.
“She talks kinda weird-”
“Michael!” Jasmine scolded him. “That’s not nice to say, at all!”
“But she does!” He argued. “She ta- talks l-li-like th-”
Hà put a hand on his leg, which lead him to notice that he had been bouncing and nearly sliding off the couch. He wiggled back, and Jasmine said,
“Michael, you know that you don’t like it when people point out your lisp, or your accent, right?”
Michael looked away and crossed his arms. Jasmine kept speaking.
“Do you think she would feel nice if you pointed out the way she speaks?”
Michael sighed through his nose.
“No…”
“Okay then.” Her lecture now over, Jasmine went to look her son in the eye, Michael starting to giggle as he covered his face with his hands. “C’mon, can I see your pretty eyes?”
“No!” Michael tried to hide behind Hà, her laughing as her son tried to crawl behind her back. Jasmine giggled, pulling Michael out behind her wife, Michael still hiding his face with his hands.
“May I please see your pretty eyes? They’re my favorite eyes.” Jasmine asked. Michael shook his head, his hands still over his eyes. “No?” Michael shook his head again, and Jasmine groaned, plopping him in the middle of her and Hà again. “Fine,” Jasmine whined jokingly.
Michael took his hands off of his eyes for a second, blinking once before covering them again, Jasmine crying out in mock anger.
“Hey! I barely got to see them, silly!” The two of them tussled a little longer, Hà covering her mouth and giggling at the scene.
Once the two of them were worn out, Michael let his hands fall from his eyes, then went to rub at one due to an eyelash getting stuck. He rubbed it free as Jasmine asked him another question about Sarah.
“What do her eyes look like?” It was a more common question than you’d expect. Naming colors was always a hard thing for Michael when he had started to talk, so his moms asking him what eye color his friends all had was a practice to help him remember his colors.
Michael scrunched his nose, thinking.
“They’re really pretty, mama! They’re both blue ‘n green-”
“Ooh!” Hà exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth as both her son and wife looked at her with ‘really?’ looks on their faces. Well, on Jasmine’s. Michael had a more ‘mommy, what the heck’ look on his. “Sorry.”
“Are one of her eyes blue and the other green, Michael?” Jasmine asked, Michael shaking his head no.
“Nuh-uh. They’re like a- a k- kalidsape?” Michael tried to figure out his word.
“Kaleidoscope?” Hà asked, Michael nodding enthusiastically.
“Yeah!”
Both of the adults looked over their son’s head again, wondering how in the world did their little boy know what a kaleidoscope is?!
“Sometimes, her eyes are really pretty and blue, but then I looked at her again, and boom! They’re green!” Michael explained, trying to have his moms know what he was talking about. They had trouble with that sometimes, he thought.
“That’s really cool, Michael.” Jasmine told him, laying her hand on his head and scratching a little. Michael smiled, his dimples showing.
“It is cool!” He then remembered another part of Sarah’s appearance that he had found cool. “She also has hair like- uh-” Michael moved so that he was on his knees, then grabbed a lock of his mama’s hair, since it was longer than his mommy’s. He tried twirling it like how Sarah’s hair looked like, in a pretty curl.
Since Jasmine has waves, not curls, Michael spent a long time trying to gently curl his mama’s hair with his hand, looking more upset every time he let go and all of his hard work fell to waste. Finally, Hà intervened.
“Does she have ringlets, Michael?”
Michael cocked his head, looking confused. Hà stood and grabbed an adult storybook (the kind with harder words to read, prettier artwork, and paper pages instead of cardboard) and flipped until she found a excerpt of Alice in Wonderland. She sat by Michael again, pointing at Alice.
“Is that what her hair looks like?”
Michael made a so-so motion with his hand.
“Kinda. Sarah’s are prettier.” He had lifted his finger to say Sarah’s name, and rubbed it on his pajama bottoms when he was done.
The two wives giggled at the way their son said it in such a serious tone, then Hà closed the book and set it down.
“Well, I think that you quite like this Sarah, yes?” Hà asked him, Michael nodding happily.
“She’s really nice! She let me color with her crayons!”
“Oh! Did you thank her?” Jasmine asked. Michael turned to face her, and nodded.
“Yep! I said ‘thank you Sarah!’ and she said ‘you’re welcome Michael!’” He confirmed. Hà smiled.
“Do you think that you’re gonna talk to her tomorrow?”
“Yeah!” Michael cheered. Both of his moms cheered with him.
“Good!”
---
A few weeks later, Michael was picked up by both of his moms, the three of them planning to go see a rerun of the original Star Wars. Michael had asked Sarah if she had wanted to come, but her parents weren’t letting her go. Something about Friday that was important to her family.
Anyways, Michael was strangely silent as they picked up him up. Hà had tried to secretly take his temperature, which wasn’t burning hot. He didn’t look sick either, just… thoughtful.
About five minutes into the unnormally quiet ride, Michael suddenly said, in a very serious tone,
“I think I’m gonna marry Sarah.”
The car swerved before Jasmine got it under control, Hà choking on her water.
“You think so?” Hà asked, after she had recovered from her choking fit. Michael nodded.
“Mm-hm. I asked Sarah, and she says okay. We’re gonna get married on the playground next week.”
“Who’s gonna lead the ceremony?” Jasmine asked, now recovered from her slight moment of panic. Michael scrunched his face, thinking hard.
“I dunno.” He finally said. Jasmine giggled softly.
“Well, you can plan that out with Sarah, right?”
Michael bounced in his seat.
“Mm-hmm!”
“Just don’t kiss her, okay Mikey?” Hà said, Michael’s face falling.
“Why not? Isn’t that what couples do?”
“Well, yes. But-”
“There’s pictures of you and mama kissing at your wedding.” Michael grumbled, slouching back in his chair. Wriggling uncomfortably, he suddenly whined “I don’t like my seat ,” as he kicked his feet in anger.
“What’s made Angry Mike come out?” Jasmine asked, looking at her upset, pouting child in the backseat. Michael looked away, clearly not up for jokes. “Seriously, Michael. Tell us, please?”
“Moody boys don’t get to see Star Wars.” Hà decided, Jasmine making a plan to pinch her the next time she wasn’t distracted with driving. Michael kicked his feet again, yelling,
“No! I wanna watch Star Wars!”
“Michael, then you gotta tell us what’s wrong, honey.”
Michael wasn’t listening, only flailing in his seat and whining. It was clear that something other than him proposing to Sarah had happened, but he wasn’t going to tell them easily.
“Hey!” Hà snapped, Michael freezing his tantrum and staring at the back of her seat. “Stop throwing a fit, Mister. One more word, and we’ll just go home and miss Star Wars. Got it?” Michael nodded, and relaxed. He almost complained about his seat again, but the tense air in the car interpreted as mommy and mama are angry. Leave them alone.
Michael was silent for the rest of the ride, and he was trying to lean and get a book of his when they pulled into a restaurant, Jasmine quickly getting out of the car and releasing Michael from his chair. Before they went inside, Jasmine let Hà go inside the restaurant and stayed outside with Michael, kneeling in front of him.
“Alrighty, buddy. What’s happening? In my experience, you’re usually not upset and crying when you’re engaged to someone.” Seeing Michael’s small smile, she continued, “of course, you cry, but it's happy tears, you know?” Michael sniffed, and cuddled deeper in his jacket.
“Yeah.”
“So, other than you asking Sarah to marry you, what happened?”
Michael took a deep breath. His hands, which were covered with gloves, started fidgeting together.
“We- we had to talk about our mommies and daddies today, but I told everyone that I had two mommies, and they-”
“Who’s they, anak?” Jasmine asked. Michael shrugged.
“I dunno. But- I said I had two mommies, and Sarah thought that was cool, but then they told their older brothers and sisters at recess and-” Michael sniffed, tears collecting in his eyes. Jasmine cooed softly, holding one of her hands out in a invitation to have him hold them. Michael quickly grabbed her hand with one of his, the other still clenched at his side. He kept talking.
“The- they said that you ‘n mommy were gonna go to Hell and-” Michael’s tears overflowed, dripping down his cheeks as he held tighter onto Jasmine’s hand. “I don’t want you and mommy to go to Hell, mama,” he cried, sobs overtaking his body as Jasmine quickly collected him into her arms, holding the back of his head with one hand and rubbed his back with the other, shushing him quietly and rocking them softly.
Soon, Michael’s sobs had died down, but he was still hiccuping and rubbing his cheek with his glove.
“I don’t want you to go to Hell, mama,” Michael repeated, Jasmine smiling softly.
“Ohh, Mikey, before I go to Hell, the Devil himself will have to drag me there.” She tried to soothe him, but Michael only looked more panicked. “Hey, Michael, breathe. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Remember how I always say you’re my angel?” Michael nodded a little. “Well, I don’t think God's gonna separate one of his little angels from his mommies, yeah?”
Michael shrugged.
“I guess…”
Jasmine smoothed her thumb over where Michael’s left cheekbone would be if he didn’t have chubby cheeks, then stood, her knee cracking. She made an awkward sound and face, making Michael giggle a little. Then, her elbow cracked, and her awkward face from before doubled, and she made another sound, Michael laughing harder.
She took a while to recover and laugh, then held out her hand for Michael to take. He grabbed it tightly, then the two of them walked into the restaurant. Probably looking badass. Jasmine hoped so.
---
“I need more overalls.” Michael was pointing towards a pair of overalls, ones that didn’t look all that different from the pair they had just bought. Hà turned around, seeing her son stand with his hands on his hips.
“Oh? Why’s that, Mister Michael?” She asked. Michael, assuming that she had accepted his request, went to try and tug the overalls off of the rack.
“Sarah wants a pair.” He whispered, as if Sarah wanting overalls was a illegal affair. He soon was able to successfully get the overalls off of the rack, save the hanger. Hà only gently took them from Michael’s hands, putting them back on the rack.
“Mister Michael, why doesn’t Sarah have her mommy get some for her?”
Michael shrugged, then went to grab the overalls again. Hà batted his hands away, then picked him up and carried him away. Michael reared up to start screaming. Once Hà felt him take in a deep breath and start to let it out, she covered his mouth with her hand.
“Michael!” She hissed, Michael still trying to scream behind her palm. “Act like a big boy!”
Michael stopped trying to scream, looking at his mother with teary eyes before licking her palm. Hà shrieked and rubbed her palm on her pants, muttering French curses under her breath. She looked to see Michael, holding the overalls, sporting a huge shit-eating grin on his face. Hà sighed, deciding that maybe they could spare for another pair of pants. It was the holiday season, after all. It could be Michael’s Hanukkah present to Sarah…
Hà sighed. Michael looked at her with hopeful eyes, squinting a little from the distance.
“Michael, do you want to get Sarah’s holiday present now?” Hà asked, Michael nodding enthusiastically and nearly dropping the overalls.
“Yes!” He bounded towards her and tried to throw the pants into the shopping cart, but due to his short height, he only succeeded at dropping them on his face. Hà took the overalls and placed them neatly at the bottom, saying,
“This is the only time I’m gonna let you do this, Michael. Don’t think that you can get away with screaming. Only bratty and mean kids do that. Are you a brat?”
Michael shook his head from side to side, his enthusiasm bringing his whole body into it.
“No!”
Hà smiled.
“That’s right!” She boop-ed Michael on his nose, Michael crossing his eyes to see where her finger was going.
They walked a while longer, Michael finally saying,
“Mommy?”
“Hm?”
“Wanna know why I’m gonna get Sarah some overalls?”
“Is it your wedding present?” Hà teased, Michael giggling and covering his face with his hands.
“No! That was the Pikachu card, remember?”
Hà grabbed a bunch of bananas.
“Yes, yes, silly me. Why?” She tried to listen, but she had other things to focus on.
“It's because-” Michael saw that Hà wasn’t listening. “Mommy!”
“Yes, Mister Michael, I’m listening.” She looked at him, and he took a deep breath.
“It’s because Sarah’s mommy doesn’t let her wear overalls, and Sarah doesn’t like that.” He told her, Hà humming. “Sarah’s mommy is mean.” He said next, mumbling under his breath.
“Michael, you don’t say that about other people's mommies, remember?” Hà gestured for him to follow her to the checkout.
“But she is.” Michael muttered. Hà smiled and patted his head softly.
“What am I gonna do with you?” She asked, mostly to herself. Unfortunately, Michael had very good hearing.
“You’re gonna love me!” He giggled, wrapping his arms around Hà’s leg. She smiled and sighed, saying,
“That I already do. Now, do you want to check Sarah’s overalls out?”
“Yes!”
Later, as Hà was helping Michael wrap Sarah’s overalls up in newspaper (Michael had seen a headline declaring the time of Hanukkah had started, and he felt the need to wrap a present with it,) Michael sighed through his mouth and said,
“I think Sarah’s sad.”
Confused, Hà only gave him a glue stick, tapped out where to glue on the paper with her finger, and asked,
“Why?”
Michael carefully glued the paper and folded it over, avoiding the denim.
“She doesn’t smile a lot, mommy. Whenever she goes home, she looks sad. I don’t like sad Sarah.” He flipped the present over, and patted his hands on it, as if to say ‘I made this,’ which he did, but anyways. “I like happy Sarah. That’s why I wanna give her this present!” He bounced happily at the end of his words, his little kid way of thinking so sweet that Hà wished more people thought in that way.
“That’s very sweet of you, Mister Michael.” Hà told him, rubbing his hair. Jasmine thumped down the stairs, brushing her hair.
“Mama! Mama! Look what me and mo- mama! Look at what me and mommy made!” Michael proudly displayed the present, saying in a loud whisper, “It has overalls for Sarah inside, but don’t tell her!” Jasmine rubbed his head, saying,
“Awesome job, Michael!” She then went towards Hà, quickly bending and kissing the top of her head. “Awesome job, mommy!”
“Thanks, mama!” They both said, Michael toddling to put the overalls in his backpack for the next day, the second day of Hanukkah.
---
Sarah was a sweet kid. She really was.
Michael was right about her ringlets; they looked like they weren’t real at all from far away, but the closer you got, the more you see the fuzziness of her curls. Michael often would reach over and pull one, Sarah assuring Jasmine ‘No ma’am, it doesn’t hurt, its fun!’
And her eyes were just gorgeous. Both of Michael’s moms complimented her on her eyes, Sarah blushing and hiding her face in her hands.
The two kindergarteners were scampering around happily as parent/teacher conferences went on. Jasmine and Hà noticed that the other kids noticed Michael and said hi to him, but only walked past Sarah, like she wasn’t there at all. Michael was clearly annoyed by it, but Sarah seemed just fine, scolding Michael when a kid walked past Sarah and Michael yelled “Hey!”
Sarah was at least three inches taller than Michael, and a beanpole. She was like a waif, which was helpful in the occasion of hide-and-seek the two conjured up.
Michael seemed happy around her. And, seeing as how she was wearing the overalls Michael got for her, she was happy around him, too.
When Jasmine walked over to see how they were doing, Sarah was teaching Michael on how to say her full name.
“It’s Sar- Sarah Hadassah Heere.”
“S- Tharah-”
“No, Mikey-”
“Sarah-”
“Yeah! Now, Had-ass-ah-”
Jasmine walked away, a warm feeling growing in her chest.