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Not only did this Wednesday have to start early, it also had to start with a letdown. Mommy had a day off and wanted to spend time with me. She mentioned that she didn't want to spend the whole day alone, so she allowed me to skip school.
But now I had to sit in this stupid classroom again. There was an emergency at work, and they asked Mommy if she could go and work. I know she didn't leave me on purpose, but I was still sad. She promised to spend the day with me, and even if she didn't do it on purpose, she broke that promise.I was barely listening to what Mrs. Murray was talking about. I was still thinking about how I could have spent time with my Mommy instead of having to sit in class now.
I felt Tamarack's gaze on me and also sensed Qiu turning around a few times too often in the corner of my eye.
I had told them how I would skip school to spend time with my Mommy; they must be confused about why I am here. But there is no way they could ask me now, Mrs. Murray didn't like it when we talked during her classes.
Mrs. Murray had given us a worksheet where we had to pick out what was an adverb and what was an adjective from lists of sentences. Since I didn't listen well when she was talking, I wasn't able to fill out much. I sighed while scribbling down the answers I did know.
After that, the lunch bell rang. I looked out the window, it was still raining, just like this morning when Mommy promised me to spend time with me.
Since it was stormy, we had to stay inside the school the whole time; no one was allowed on the playground.
The whole day, there was no opportunity to talk to Qiu or Tamarack. It's not that I wanted to keep the reason why I was in school to myself, but the circumstances didn't let me.
What might've been the worst day of class went by. There was nothing special about today's lessons, but I still felt bad for not participating as much as I usually did.
Class was over. But the rain did not want to go away. I think the clouds felt the same way as I did.
I stood up and walked over to the window. I am sure it was raining even more than before now!
I watched the raindrops run down the window. I heard footsteps coming closer, and when I turned around, Tamarack and Qiu were standing in front of me. Class was over, so we could finally have a talk.
Tamarack immediately bombarded me with questions, while Qiu simply asked me what was going on.
I looked at the blue classroom floor. I tried to answer, but tears started streaming down my cheeks instead.
Qiu and Tamarack visibly panicked.
"Why are you crying?!" Tamarack shouted, for the whole classroom to hear.
"What's going on?" I heard Mrs. Murray ask across the classroom.
Qiu visibly looked panicked as he watched Mrs. Murray make her way towards us.
She rushed to my side. Maybe Mommy wasn't around, but Mrs. Murray still was. She was nice. I wish she were my Mommy, then I could spend the whole day with my Mommy.
"Are you fighting? Are you sick?" She asked, confused.
I sniffled, I tried to stop the hiccups, not wanting to cry in front of a grown-up.
"We're not fighting, and I am not sick." I finally managed to say."
"Jay is having a bad day. You can't help. Sorry, Mrs. Murray." Qiu told her.
I sniffled again. "My Mommy wanted to spend time with me, but then she left because she got called in for work"
Mrs. Murray's confused expression turned into understanding.
Qiu suddenly spoke up, "Well, my dad is going to pick me up after school, you could come with us!"
Tamarack's hand sprang in the air, as if she were raising her hand for class.
"Omi is too! You could ride with me in Omi's van." She said with a smile on her face.
I smiled at them, but I knew they sensed it wasn't genuine.
Mrs. Murray watched us, not interrupting the conversation, but then she decided to speak up.
"You could also come over and visit Darren, so you wouldn't have to stay alone until your Mommy is back."
I looked up to her, surprise written all over my face.
My face started beaming at the mention of Darren.
"I can visit Darren at home?!" I asked excitedly.
My Mommy wasn't able to spend time with me, but I would be able to spend the time with Darren?
I looked at Tamarack and Qiu, and they were both smiling and nodding. I knew what that meant. As long as I was happy and safe, I could choose whoever I wanted to.
I looked at Mrs. Murray again and nodded. "I want to see Darren's house!"
Mrs. Murray chuckled and bent down a little to be on eye level with me.
"Alright, when Darren comes by in a bit, I'll tell him about the plan. You won't have to stay at home alone on a rainy day then." She said with a soft smile, and then got up and walked back to her desk to do teacher stuff.
I beamed at Tamarack and Qiu, and they smiled right back at me.
"I get to see Darren's house! Mrs. Murray is so nice! I wish she were my Mommy." I got quieter at the end, the smile on my face getting replaced by a frown.
Qiu was the first to speak up. "You gotta see his room! Darren got such cool toys!"
"If you married Darren, you could move in with him!" Both you and Qiu looked at Tamarack in disbelief.
"Marry? Darren?" I asked, confused.
"They can't get married yet; only adults can," Qiu said, a serious expression on his face. He didn't seem to like Tamarack's suggestion.
"Oh, you're right…" She answered with a frown.
I didn't listen to that later part of the conversation, though. I was too deep in thought.
My mommy left me for work. I could be part of a new family!
Marrying Darren sounded nice!
I noticed something yellow in my peripheral vision and whipped my head to the side. Darren was walking into the class!
He greeted his mom and then walked up to us.
"Hi Qiu! Hi Jay. And uh, hi Tamarack." He got more awkward at the end, still not being entirely comfortable with talking to Tamarack.
Tamarack and I waved at him, and he started talking with Qiu.
"Darren, could you come over for a second?" Mrs. Murray asked him.
He looked at her a bit unsure, but Qiu told him it was fine, so Darren walked over to his mom.
Tamarack pulled lightly at my sweater, and I looked at her.
She motioned me to get closer and started whispering into my ear.
"Don't listen to Qiu, you can totally marry Darren." She said, and chuckled at the end.
I looked a bit confused but smiled.
I never doubted that, but it was nice how she wanted to encourage me.
Qiu watched me and Tamarack, but before he got to ask what Tamarack had whispered to me, Darren came up to us again.
"You, uhm, are gonna come over?" He asked me.
He asked me!
I nodded.
"But it was Mrs. Murray's idea!"
Darren looked around the room, still feeling awkward.
Qiu spoke up. "Darren, you gotta show him your toys! They're so cool!"
Darren smiled at Qiu, and they continued talking about Darren's toys.
I looked at Tamarack, and she gave me two thumbs up.
I wasn't jealous. Darren knew Qiu way longer than I did; of course, he was more used to talking to him. That's why I wanted to make sure that Darren and I would get to know each other better.
After Tamarack got picked up by her Omi and Qiu got picked up by his dad, Mrs. Murray left the school with Darren and me. We walked to her car, and Mrs. Murray got in the driver's seat, and Darren got in the passenger seat.
I sat in the back, through the small mirror in the front, I was able to see half of Mrs. Murray's face.
"So, Jay, do you like school here so far?" Mrs. Murray asked, not taking her eyes off the road.
I hummed approvingly. "Mhm, yes! At first I was a bit sad because… my mommy had to move, but now I've got used to here and like it! It's all about getting used to it!"
I could see Mrs. Murray smile through the mirror.
"That's true. Don't you think so too, Darren?"
Darren flinched and looked at his mom.
"Uh… Yeah."
The rest of the drive went quietly. The air was a bit tense, and the conversation had made me think about my mommy again.
Arriving at their house, I quickly got out of the car.
I followed Darren and Mrs. Murray inside
Mrs. Murray probably sensed that I felt down again, so she didn't leave me any time to get deep into my sad thoughts again and started to show me around the house, Darren quietly following us.
"The living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the other bathroom, Devin's room, mine and Mr. Murray's bedroom and lastly, this is Darren's room." She named all of the rooms while we walked past them, showing them to me too, but of course not showing me Devin's room. She mentioned how he liked to not be disturbed, so I made a mental note to not annoy Darren's brother. And Mr. Murray wasn't at home, because he had to work overtime today.
I looked at Darren's door, which had a sign on it with Darren's name on it and a cartoon fox. It seemed fitting for him.
"Darren? Could you play with Jay for a bit? I still have some school stuff to take care of, and later you can have some snacks."
Darren mumbled something inaudible at his mom's request but nodded.
He opened the door to his room, holding it open for me to walk in.
After I walked in, Mrs. Murray put a hand on her son's shoulder, and he looked up to her.
"Try to cheer him up, okay? He had a rough day."
Darren rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact. "…Okay. I'll… try. Somehow."
Mrs. Murray smiled and walked away.
Darren entered his room, closing the door and putting his forehead against it. He sighed.
I was busy looking around his room to notice the small conversation that had just happened between him and his mom, but when he sighed, I looked at him.
"Are you feeling unwell, Darren?" I asked, concerned.
He flinched and turned around, facing away from the door to look at me.
"No, I'm okay." He said flatly.
I nodded and continued looking around his room again.
It was big, big enough to fit another bed. And in that corner right there, I could fit my drawer! And in that other one, my desk!
I scanned the room up and down, and Darren watched me a bit nervously.
"You, uh, you like it? My room?" He asked.
"It's so big, I could fit my own room in here too!" I answered excitedly.
There was a pause after that.
"Uh… thanks?"
I giggled and sat down on his carpet. "Qiu said you have cool toys! Can you show me?"
Darren grumbled, but went up to his drawer and got some cars and action figures.
He sat down beside me and put the toys on the carpet.
"Whoa! Are those Carrera cars and Marvel action figures?!" I leaned forward onto my knees and hands to take a closer look at the toys.
Darren smiled and nodded. "Yeah, they are." He said softly.
"Can I touch them?" I asked.
He nodded again, and I took one of the toy cars, which was black with red flames.
"That's so cool! I also want racing cars!"
"You could ask your mom to buy you some."
The expression on my face fell again at the mention of my mommy.
I put the car down and sat up straight again. Darren realised that he had crashed the mood and internally panicked.
"Uhm… do you want to talk about it?" He asked, slightly fidgeting around.
I took one of the Marvel figures and moved around it's limbs.
"My Mommy broke her promise… She said she would spend the day with me, but she went to work…" I muttered.
Darren listened quietly, nodding to show me he understood.
"So that's why mom invited you here…" He said.
"But it's alright, I won't go back to my mommy! I'll move in here!"
Darren's head shot up in disbelief.
"You… huh? You can't just move in, you're not part of the family." Darren looked confused beyond belief.
"Don't worry, I figured that out already", I pointed at me and then at him. "I am going to marry you!"
The car in Darren's hand fell onto the carpet.
"Huh?!" Darren shouted, way louder than he had wanted.
We heard footsteps coming closer, and his mom opened the door.
She looked at her beet red son and me sitting on the carpet with the toys.
"Everything okay?..." She asked.
I opened my mouth, but before I could answer, Darren spoke up.
"Yes! We're- We're hungry… can we snack on something, Mom?"
Mrs. Murray nodded slowly. "Yes, but come to the kitchen for it, I don't want your carpet to get dirty again."
Darren immediately stood up and sprinted out of the room. She watched her son leave and then looked at me and motioned me to leave the room, too.
I got up and followed Darren to the kitchen, where he was already sitting at the table.
He tensed up when I sat beside him, but I was too busy watching Mrs. Murray fill bowls with all kinds of snacks.
Cookies, Gummies, Dry Fruits, Nuts, and- pickles?
People ate pickles just like that?
Mrs. Murray put the bowls onto the table with some spoons and a glass of water for each of us. Darren immediately took a spoon to get a pickle.
I tilted my head but didn't question it any further.
Mrs. Murray pushed the bowls further towards me and pointed at them. "Take whatever you like."
I nodded, took some nuts and started munching on them.
I looked around the kitchen and scanned it up and down.
Mrs. Murray noticed me looking around. "Are you searching for something, Jay?"
I shook my head. "No, I am trying to memorise everything."
"Memorise everything?" She asked. Darren looked between us, grabbing his glass to take a sip.
"Yeah, for when I move in, after marrying Darren!"
Darren choked on his water, and his mom instantly got up to gently rub his back to help him breathe. She looked at Darren and then at me again.
"Marry Darren? That's sweet, but you're a bit too young for that." She said.
"Mom!" Darren spurted out between coughs.
I got up and started rubbing Darren's back, too. His face was beet red again.
"I know! But Darren said I must be family to move in!" Darren gently slapped our hands away.
Mrs. Murray looked more confused than she did before. "Darren, you want Jay to be part of the family?" She asked him.
"No, I don't!"
"So, you don't want me to be part of the family?" I asked genuinely.
Darren tensed up and looked away. "I… uhm…"
Mrs. Murray cleared her throat. "Well, either way, you'd have to wait 8 more years for that." She started cleaning the table and told us we could go back to Darren's room.
The walk to his room was short and quiet, and I just kept looking at Darren's back.
Back in his room, I looked around again.
"How about we build a fortress?" I suggested.
Darren shrugged; he was still trying to calm himself down. "Uhm, sure… I'll go and ask my mom for more blankets and pillows."
While he got more stuff, I started building with what he had. His bed was big, so the blanket was just as big, and he had a lot of pillows!
When Darren came back, he had two more blankets and pillows in his hand.
I got off the bed and took the pillows from him, our hands brushing against each other, which made him do some kind of squeak sound. I smiled, so cute!
He avoided my gaze again while trying to help me build the fortress.
"No, no! Put the pillow under here, not there," I told him.
"Huh? But it makes way more sense over here."
We continued bantering about where what should be, and I giggled every time his side of the fortress fell apart. He huffed, but didn't give up. And after a particularly loud giggle from me, he looked up and smiled at me.
When we finished the fortress, we turned off the lights.
I was the first to get into the fortress. "Come on, Darren! It's cosy in here!"
"Don't rush me…" He got into the bed and crawled into the fortress after me.
We tried to make the fortress as big as possible, but we still had to sit really close beside each other, our faces were so close I could feel his breath on my face!
Darren must have felt that we were sitting really close, because he tensed up immediately.
We didn't talk for a while. The sound of the rain hitting the window and our breathing was the only thing that filled the room.
"Hey… Do you really want to marry me?" Darren broke the silence.
I fidgeted with my sweater. "Yes…"
"But we only just met?" For him, the thought of wanting to marry someone so soon must be unbelievable, but for me, it wasn't.
"I'll just get to know you better, easy!"
It was dark, but I could feel Darren's face heating up again.
"Alright…"
"Hey, hey, how about we each tell each other a secret!" I nudged his shoulder with mine.
"A secret? Why?"
"Because we are in a fortress! It's fortress rule!" Darren wanted to question whether that rule was an actual thing, but decided against it and just nodded.
"I'll go first! Hm… I still sleep with a plushie!" I confessed.
"Is that really a secret? Isn't that normal for a kid?"
"Come on, Darren, it's your turn!"
He sighed and fidgeted again.
"I uhm… I sometimes don't like being-"
Suddenly, the door swung open, and we both shrieked. Darren instinctively threw his arms around me, the fortress fell apart on top of us, and we couldn't see anything because of the blankets.
I continued shrieking, and then the blanket was pulled away. The room light was turned on again, and Mrs. Murray was standing in front of us.
Darren and I squinted our eyes, and when we got adjusted to the light, we looked at each other. Darren noticed he still had his arms around me, and his arms shot up in the air while he scooted towards the other side of the bed.
Mrs. Murray looked between us and then pointed at the door. "Jay, your mommy is here."
She left after announcing that, and my mommy stepped into the room.
All of the emotions I felt this morning came crashing down again, and I crawled closer towards Darren with a frown on my face.
"Jay… could we have a talk?" She asked while she sat down at the edge of the bed.
I leaned closer towards Darren.
"Mommy, I'm gonna live with Darren instead!"
That took Mommy aback. "What?!"
But she didn't seem to let go that easily.
"Jay, you can't- you can't just move. This is your home. And I am your mommy. You will be remaining at home."
"You act like we work together, but that's pretend… You broke your promise!" I hid my face in Darren's arm, as best as I could, facing away from my mommy.
Darren looked between us nervously. He wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this.
"Ms. Second?" Darren called out to my mommy. "I think… the promise was very important to Jay. He, uh, he must be dealing with a lot of things right now."
Darren had spoken up to my mommy. I lifted my head and looked at him. Even though he didn't like arguments, he spoke up to my mommy.
I looked at my mommy again. Putting some space between Darren and me again.
Mommy sighed, and the stern look on her face vanished. "You're right, both of you, I am being unfair."
My face faltered. "What?"
"You aren't a toy, or simply 'my child', you are your own person… and what a person you are," Mommy said with a bittersweet smile on her face.
She took a deep breath and continued.
"You're such a smart and kind boy, and I wish I could be there for you more often. Balancing this new job…. and my time with you… Sometimes I don't know how to handle that. I just don't know…"
She didn't know what to do.
Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. My mommy was crying!
"Mommy- I- I won't move away!"
She started wiping away the tears running down her cheeks.
"Thank you, Jay. That's kind of you. There has been a lot going on, but none of it was your fault."
She continued crying.
Darren nudged me, and I crawled over towards my mommy and started wiping away her tears.
"All I want to be is your mommy. I always wanted that. I can't give you a different home, but I want you to be part of my family…"
Even though her lips trembled, she didn't stop.
"Without you, there is no family…" She whispered.
"I love you, mommy…" Tears started to stream down my cheeks, too.
Mommy smiled at me, and now we were wiping away each other's tears.
"I love you too, Jay."
The plan was officially scrapped! I didn't want to move away anymore.
"After today, you're allowed to skip homework if you haven't done them already. And if you're fine with it, we could go out to eat dinner today." Mommy's hand fell down to my arm, squeezing it lightly.
She made eye contact with Darren.
"You're invited too; I can talk to your mom. Jay and I aren't on our own little island; neighbours are always welcome."
Darren looked up at my mommy and sat up straight.
"Thank you. Ms. Second." He answered calmly.
At the end of this looong day, mommy wouldn't let another plan get cancelled.
After having asked Mrs. Murray for her approval, Darren and I got into Mommy's car. Sadly, Mrs. Murray couldn't come with us, because she still had important school stuff to take care of.
But on our way, Mommy had even called Qiu's parents and Tamarack's grandparents to ask if they could come too. And they agreed!
Arrived at the diner, Mommy parked the car. Darren unfastened his seatbelt and opened the car door to hop out of the car.
I unfastened my seatbelt too. When trying to get out, Darren held up his hand towards me. He wasn't looking at me, but it was obvious he wanted to help me get out of the car.
I took his hand, squeezed it too, and got out of the car, immediately letting go after my feet hit the parking lot ground.
There was only one restaurant in Golden Grove that mommy found good, so obviously we went to the diner.
Arriving inside, Qiu, his parents, Tamarack and Mrs. Baumann were already inside. They were all sitting at a booth on their own.
Mommy, Darren and I sat at our own booth. I sat beside Darren across from my mommy.
A waitress came up to us and asked us what we would like to eat, and we ordered. Once the coast was clear of diner-worker-people, Tamarack popped up behind me. She stood straight on the squeaky cushion, and mommy gasped.
Tamarack leaned over to get a better view, and I turned around as best as I could to look at her.
"Hi, Jay. Hi Jay's Mommy, Hi, Darren."
Mommy held on to the tabletop and let out a chuckle.
"Hi, Tamarack", she said.
Darren only hummed, acknowledging that he had heard her.
"Settle down, young lady, this is no playground." Mrs. Bauman told Tamarack.
"It's fine, Omi."
Mrs. Baumann had failed to rein in her granddaughter.
"Hey, Jay, Ms. Second, Tamarack, Darren."
Mommy wasn't fazed this time. Not that Qiu's entrance wasn't bold, but nothing could top Tamarack anymore.
Qiu was on his knees or something, barely being able to look over his seat. If he were sitting right behind mommy, I wouldn't have been able to see his face at all!
"Hello to you, Qiu." Mommy greeted him.
"Hi, Qiu." Darren gave him an actual greeting, unlike Tamarack.
"I am not being bad, mommy. And neither is Darren." I mentioned proudly.
Qiu snorted. "We're up here, so you don't have to do anything!"
"Yeah!" Tamarack agreed.
I learned a bit more about Darren today, and we definitely got closer! This day wasn't completely horrible!
But before I could continue thinking about the Murray's house, Yusuf came up to our table. He wasn't wearing an apron today, so he must only be here to say hello.
Qiu didn't bother sitting properly, even with an employee here. "HI, uncle!" Qiu beamed at him.
Tamarack didn't sit down like she was supposed to, either, though of course she wouldn't "Hi!"
Darren only waved at Yusuf, a smile planted on his face, though.
The dinner went great, everyone was having fun, and I even got to sit beside Darren during it.
After dinner, Mommy had to bring Darren home before we could go home.
She parked the car in front of his house and was ready to get out, but I stopped her.
"Wait! I wanna bring Darren home!"
The mentioned person stopped mid-unfastening his seatbelt.
"I could also go in on my own…"
I shook my head viciously. "No way! This is the least I can do!"
I got out on my side of the car and held the door open for Darren. When he tried to get out, I held my hand out towards him. He hesitated, but ultimately took my hand, squeezing it a bit too!
I closed the car door and walked him to his door.
"Darren! Today was a lot of fun with you! I was so sad because of my mommy… but thanks to you, I felt better!"
His cheeks heated up, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I didn't really do anything… but… uhm…" He looked around, unsure if he should continue. "If you feel down again… you can come over again… I'll cheer you up." He whispered the last part, but I heard every word.
Now it was my turn to blush. I smiled at him and held my arms open.
He looked at my mom's car and then at the windows of his house, trying to see if someone was watching.
"You don't have to, it's fine." I was about to lower my arms again when suddenly Darren grabbed one of my arms and pulled me into a tight hug.
"You really are a nice boy… or something." The hug was short but still warm and comforting.
He smiled one last time for me and then knocked on his door. Mrs. Murray opened the door and thanked me for bringing her son back home. I waved at her and went back to my mommy's car.
On our way home, I smiled the whole time.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Jay?"
"In the future, I'll marry Darren." I declared.
Mommy chuckled. "As long as you're happy."