Work Text:
"Benson, wait up!" the woman called out after the little boy.
He was running as fast as he could, wanting to get out of their hideout. His father had mentioned snow. Actual snow! He needed to see it with his own eyes. Being only four years old, he didn't remember seeing snow before. He wanted to see if it was just like his parents had told him.
Making it out of the hideout, he was met with big snowflakes falling from the grey sky. He gasped, looking upwards with a focused expression.
It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He knew right then and there that he loved snow. The woman caught up on him, grabbing into his arm to keep him from running off again.
"Benson, what did I say about going out here? The Daves could be waiting for us. It's dangerous!" she hissed at him, attempting to pull him back into the hideout where he would be safe.
"But mom! I wanna play in the snow!" Benson whined, giving her his best pout as he looked up at her with big, brown eyes.
The woman's eyes softened and she leaned down to stroke his cheek gently.
"I know you do. The second we win this fight, you'll get to play for however long you want. Until then, I need you to listen to me. I don't want to lose you. Okay, baby?" she explained and Benson nodded with a sad expression.
He was about to follow her back inside when she stopped him, figuring that he could play for a couple of minutes. There had been no signs of the Daves for a couple of days. Maybe it was too cold for them to attack? In that case, she could let her son play for a little bit.
"You can play for five minutes, but after the time's up, I want you to go back inside with me. No protests. Do you understand?" she offered and Benson immediately lit up.
He hugged his mom quickly before going to run in circles as he let the chilly snow fall on him. He stretched his tongue out, waiting for snow to fall on it. The snow didn't taste like anything, but he liked it anyway. The time went by so quickly. It felt like he had only been playing for a few seconds e when his mom called out for him to get back inside.
Knowing that he had promised not to protest, he ran up to his mom and took her hand as they hurried back into the hideout. Later that evening, Benson told his father all about his time in the snow.
His dad was surprised that Benson had been allowed outside, but his wife reassured him that nobody had seen them and that they had only been outside for a couple of minutes.
Her husband wanted to teach his son about the dangers of the surface, but seeing his happy expression as he talked about his day made him let all those thoughts go away. He had time to teach Benson how to keep himself safe.
For now, he would let him be a little boy. He deserved it.