It wasn't as difficult to roll out of bed as I expected. I guess I had long accustomed myself to little sleep and early mornings. However, given how much work Ethereal would require if she was living with me normally my crazy work schedule really wasn't that different from that of a first time parent with a young child. Ridiculous hours, never ending responsibility, and constantly exhausted...which was why if I could barely handle it, I knew Blaze struggled a dozen times more. The drive to Berrybrook proved calming and gave me the clear mind I knew I would need to deal with the biggest baby out of Ethereal, Amaranth, and Blaze. He was difficult to begin with, and that phone call the previous afternoon wasn't going to do me any favors.
I arrived several minutes later than intended, although it certainly didn't make a difference to Blaze. I had began driving to the house in which Coal and Desire had hoped to build their family. The money for the place had been the wedding present from Coal's parents, but, unfortunately, the two story building with three fireplaces, an in-ground pool, and excellent view of the sea now had a For Sale sign in the front yard again. Getting my car down the appropriate street, I found a spot to park on the road and made my way towards the place Blaze and Amaranth now called home, which was little more than a glorified trailer.
It wasn't that Blaze didn't have plenty of money. Coal and Desire had both had life insurance as had Coal's parents. Amaranth had inherited all of what had belonged to my best friend and his wife, and Blaze had the same from his mother and father. Still, Blaze was reasonably paranoid after losing so much that he believed he would continue to lose more. Though he could afford the house he had been living at with Coal, Desire, and Amaranth for the moment, he decided it was better for him to save as much as he could, especially when the bills for his college education and daycare for Amaranth constantly added up.
"Hey, buddy, how are you doing today?"
Amaranth sat on the floor playing with his favorite teddy bear when I walked in, for Blaze thankfully didn't have the door looked. He never would have let me past the entrance otherwise. His head whipping in my direction, Amaranth smiled his huge smile and squealed excitedly. I knelt next to him, gave the biggest hug, and ruffled his hair.
"These locks of yours are growing as wildly as ever, I see," I spoke with a smile, twirling my finger in a collection of strands, "Perhaps that's something we can take care of this weekend."
"Get out." Blaze gruffly instructed.
Glancing up curiously, I was met with an irate scowl.
"I made it damn clear yesterday. Amaranth and I don't need you. We don't want you here. You'd better walk out that door this very instant or I'll kick your skinny ass." he threatened.
"You say that, Blaze, and you've said stuff like that a hundred times by now. You asked me to come down this weekend, and I came down. I'm not leaving until I want to leave." I explained indifferently, shrugging and examining a hole Amaranth had chewed in his bear that would have to be fixed.
"This is my house!" Blaze huffed viciously, "I can very easily call the cops and get them to kick you out if you don't get your shit self out of here in the next minute."
"Call them if you want," I shrugged again, "Just be careful with that mouth. Am is going to start picking that stuff up soon."
Blaze stood with clenched fists, a rigid glare, and face so stiff he looked as if solid stone made up his body. He watched me with a snarl as I stood.
"Making salad?" I said, nonchalantly walking past him towards the counter, "I can finish that up if you want. Am likes playing with you more anyway."
The expression on Blaze's face clearly hinted he wanted to take a decent swing at me, but I held my head high and reached my destination. As dangerous as he could look, Blaze really wasn't the kind to raise his hand so easily. I'd definitely seen him throw his fair share of punches, make no mistake about that. He just simply wanted until he was fully justified in doing so.
"I'm telling you one more time, I want you to leave, now." Blaze demanded, although he took a deep breath and managed to control his tone more evenly.
"And I will follow through with that request, if it becomes clear that you do actually want me to leave," I promised, giving a brief glance his way as I started work on the half made salad, "We both know that once you calm down you would much rather have me here than gone, even if you never admit it aloud. Besides, I'm not going to go so simply after I made the drive down here. You wanted me to visit, so I'm visiting."
"Fine, do whatever you fucking please," Blaze grumbled, "Work yourself to death at your job and waste your personal time screwing around here. You want to make a damn salad, make the damn salad. You want to babysit, then go ahead and babysit. I'm going to go take a nap."
Without another word, he spun on his heel and stomped into his bedroom. I listened to him leave and breathed a sigh of relief. To say that I hadn't been worried despite my confident manner of Blaze forcing me out or losing control was a lie. The situation had gone as expected though.
"Good," I smiled, whispering to myself, "Take a nap, and then you'll be yourself when you wake up."
Amaranth, attracted by the noise of Blaze rushing off, crawled to his uncle's closed door before pouting up at me with a longing for attention. With a chuckle, I picked him up and placed him on the counter while I kept cooking. Amaranth greatly enjoyed munching on the tiny pieces of yellow pepper I gave him while pulling the greatest faces of disgust after he snuck a piece of chopped onion thinking it, too, would be a wonderful snack.
"You poor thing, you really do need a haircut." I remarked when the food was done and Amaranth refused to be taken out of my arms after I picked him up.
His tiny hand also attempted to brush away all the hair falling in his eyes when I did my best to sweep it back.
"Well, you're not the one this salad was intended for, and I ate already. I'll wrap it up, let's check on Blaze, and then we can plan out the day."
Amaranth laughed when I gave him a playful bounce before digging around for Blaze's stock of cling wrap.
Cracking open the door revealed that the several minutes that had passed was all Blaze needed to be deeply asleep. The guy had only managed to take his socks and shoes off. He wasn't even under the covers, and his glasses, half tilted on his face, were at good danger for falling off onto the floor or getting crushed by Blaze when they dropped next to him.
"I know you hate contacts, but you're going to break another pair of glasses if you don't start being careful." I whispered to no effect, obviously, as I gently removed the spectacles while keeping Amaranth situated on my hip.
The plan had been to let Blaze know that I intended to take Amaranth out as I hadn't thought he would already be asleep, so I searched for a pen and paper instead. Now that I could look at him without receiving a death glare, the stress lines wrinkling Blaze's skin were more apparent than they had been the past few weeks. Dark circles embedded themselves deeply under his eyes and even in sleep his body lay as if a heavy weight dragged every inch of him down.
Amaranth allowed me to wriggle him into socks and shoes of his own, which was a nice change of pace from Ethereal who adored having bare feet. She always threw a fit anytime anyone tried to so much as place sandals on her. I thought of her then, hoping all would be well, before heading out with Amaranth. The relatively quick trip to the hairdresser I intended to make turned into several hours away from the house. We had to wait as we had no appointment, and then, well, I caught a bit of a shopping bug. There were things I wanted, there were things I knew Amaranth needed, and it was my first day off in over a week, so darn it I just went ahead and found myself taking us all over the place. The two of us ended up resting on a bench for a while in front of a bookstore near the ocean.
Right in the middle of me searching for a cab company to call was when a text buzzed my phone. No surprise, it was exactly who I expected. Not only was Blaze awake, but he'd also been taking a walk of his own, apparently. He didn't say it in so many words, but it sounded like he'd been trying to clear his mind. He showed up about ten minutes later shuffling down the way with a gaze set more on the ground than us.
"I see you bought him a new hat." Blaze spoke, softly and somewhat sheepishly as he avoided looking directly at me.
"He sort of picked it out himself," I spoke amusedly, "I noticed his shoes were really worn out, so when I took him to that toddler clothing store he grabbed it when I wasn't looking. I think it suits his new cut well."
"Yeah," Blaze mumbled and then motioned to the bag of things, mostly for Amaranth, sitting at my feet, "I see you bought him more than a haircut, shoes, and a hat though. Eden...I'm not in that bad of a position where you have to do such pity shopping for me. I suck at this whole parenting thing, but I can at least get him the things he needs."
"You do not suck, Blaze, and I didn't buy all this stuff out of pity. I bought it because I wanted to, because I like spoiling this little guy you've got here. I don't like spending my money on myself, but it's fun spending it on other people for some reason." I shrugged yet again, talking cheerfully.
Blaze didn't answer. His stare remained distant, hesitant, and somewhat embarrassed. I patted the open spot on the bench.
"C'mon, sit down and join us."
Slowly, Blaze did so. Amaranth eagerly reached for him as he did, and his excited babbling filled the gap of silence between my friend and I. Blaze, most likely waiting for me to be the one to speak, shifted much more than was usual for him. I, on the other hand, didn't feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, I sort of let my mind wander as I stared out at the view in front of me. Blaze and I hadn't grown up all that far away from Berrybrook, so we'd definitely heard of the city from time to time. There was no mystery about why Coal and Desire had chosen to move here. There were soft, shallow mountain hills, large open fields, groves scattered all around, several long beaches, and a calm sea that stretched for infinity. It was perfection in my mind. If I ever could, this was where I would bring Ethereal. If somehow I got her out and we could live freely, Berrybrook would be her introduction to the real world. I bet her eyes would grow wide from the shock of seeing the open horizon. She and Amaranth could even grow up as good friends. Coal and Desire would have liked such a thing, I'm sure.
Blaze made a strange noise, which jolted my attention back to reality. He was attempting to speak, and his voice remained quiet when he managed to get his words out.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, his mouth hanging open for a while as he struggled immensely, "I still have a lot of growing up to do. I think some part of me is dealing with the shock of everything being so difficult when life has otherwise been incredibly easy for me in the past. I don't know how to handle it all now that I actually have to be the responsible one. To be honest, I think Coal and Desi made a massive mistake leaving Am in my care. I get that they left him with me because we're family, but he'd be so much better off with you."
"Bullshit," I retorted with a light smile, making sure to cover Amaranth's ears in that second, "You do not suck at this, and don't make me say it again."
"I have no idea what I'm doing! You...you do everything right without making a single mistake." Blaze fought back indignantly, his voice quivering somewhat as he turned his head away.
"I grew up constantly surrounded by children of all ages. With me basically being a live-in babysitter, I have a lot of experience in taking care of newborns, babies, toddlers, young children, and on and on. Trust me, I made mistakes left and right then, and I continue to do so now. I've just gotten good at hiding them. I'm not perfect at this, and what skills I do have doesn't have anything to do with you when it comes to your own abilities."
That got Blaze turning his head back, but this time his mouth stayed closed.
"Do you hold Amaranth when he cries?" I questioned.
My friend looked at me severely puzzled, forcing me to repeat my words.
"Do you hold him when he cries?"
"Of course." Blaze answered with a confused frown.
"Do you play with him?"
"As often as I can."
"Do you provide him with the food and clothes and basic things he needs?"
"I can't even remember the last time I bought something for myself. It's all for him."
"Are you doing your best to care for him and teach him how to be a good person?"
"Yes..." Blaze answered, his voice growing softer again as he had figured out my intention.
"Do you love him?" I asked the final question.
Blaze went silent for a moment, stared at me, stared at Amaranth, and then stared determinedly out at the ocean.
"I would jump in front of any car or bullet or whatever that came at him in a heartbeat."
I chuckled as I pat him on the shoulder.
"See? Your heart is right where it needs to be, and, though I can imagine it's hard going from living in the nice places your family provided to where you are now, you are working hard to make sure you have the necessary material things you need as well. That's all that matters, Blaze. It's as simple as that."
"I don't know..." Blaze said somewhat dejectedly before shooting me a more optimistic gaze, "But you're practically always right about everything. You're probably right here too."
Smiling proudly, I nodded in smug agreement. Then I retied Amaranth's shoelace as his fiddling with it had it come undone, but when I sat straight again I saw Blaze staring, almost glaring, at me intensely.
"What?" I wondered, not sure what the problem was.
"Nine fucking days straight. Really, Eden? I never invite you over just because I want the help. You're scaring me working as much as you do, and getting you down here seems to be one of the only ways to force you to take a break. I don't care if your employer allows it. From what I can tell, you work seventy, sometimes seventy-five, hours as week. Seriously, what are you doing that is so important?"
I bit my lip. In actuality, I generally worked closer to eighty-five hours a week. I made about $8,500 a month.
Sighing mentally, I prepared myself for the response awaiting me when I gave Blaze the same answer he'd made me give him a hundred times now.
"I can't tell you. It's confidential to the extreme, and, honestly, I don't think I want to tell you." I revealed.
I was slightly annoyed at his persistence, yet more annoyed by the fact that I did have to keep my work secret. Blaze would adore Ethereal without a doubt. I bet she would end up laughing all day if she was around him.
Blaze rolled his eyes in his own frustration and huffed out an exasperated exhale.
"Listen, I know it seems like I've gotten myself stuck in a horrible position. I can't lie and say that there aren't a million and one things I despise about my job, but...it means so much to me, Blaze," I professed pleadingly, "I have to do what I'm doing. I have to make it work. I've had so little control over my life so far, and now I can finally accomplish something great. It'll make such a difference if I succeed. If I do, I have every intention of sharing it with you then. I know that's when you'll understand why I push myself now."
A small, lopsided smile brushed Blaze's lips.
"Alright, Eden. I get it. I still don't like that your work demands so much, but I want you to succeed too. If anyone deserves to get what he wants, it's you. Just...try to get a bit more rest perhaps? Despite what I say when I'm being an asshole, and that's a thing I promise I'm going to stop, you're family to me and this little guy here. You can't save the world or whatever it is you're doing if you don't take care of yourself."
"I promise," I comforted, "I believe they're changing around today and tomorrow how the program I'm working in is being run, which is why I was originally going work the weekend. I'll most likely go in on Monday to hear they won't need me quite so often."
It saddened me to think it would be harder to see Ethereal, but I could handle that if it meant her standards of living were improved.
"Good," Blaze nodded his head approvingly, "I hope things work out. As an apology for causing grief and bullying you down here, why don't we go get some ice cream? My treat."
"Did you even touch that salad?" I wondered with a knowing grin.
"Oh, uh, no, I completely forgot about that." Blaze laughed at himself.
"Ah, whatever. Let's go get some ice cream." I shrugged merrily.
Amaranth squealed excitedly at that, perhaps coincidentally or perhaps he had recognized my words, so Blaze and I smiled wider as we collected the bags beneath us and made our way down the road.
"Hey, buddy, how are you doing today?"
Amaranth sat on the floor playing with his favorite teddy bear when I walked in, for Blaze thankfully didn't have the door looked. He never would have let me past the entrance otherwise. His head whipping in my direction, Amaranth smiled his huge smile and squealed excitedly. I knelt next to him, gave the biggest hug, and ruffled his hair.
"These locks of yours are growing as wildly as ever, I see," I spoke with a smile, twirling my finger in a collection of strands, "Perhaps that's something we can take care of this weekend."
"Get out." Blaze gruffly instructed.
Glancing up curiously, I was met with an irate scowl.
"I made it damn clear yesterday. Amaranth and I don't need you. We don't want you here. You'd better walk out that door this very instant or I'll kick your skinny ass." he threatened.
"You say that, Blaze, and you've said stuff like that a hundred times by now. You asked me to come down this weekend, and I came down. I'm not leaving until I want to leave." I explained indifferently, shrugging and examining a hole Amaranth had chewed in his bear that would have to be fixed.
"This is my house!" Blaze huffed viciously, "I can very easily call the cops and get them to kick you out if you don't get your shit self out of here in the next minute."
"Call them if you want," I shrugged again, "Just be careful with that mouth. Am is going to start picking that stuff up soon."
Blaze stood with clenched fists, a rigid glare, and face so stiff he looked as if solid stone made up his body. He watched me with a snarl as I stood.
"Making salad?" I said, nonchalantly walking past him towards the counter, "I can finish that up if you want. Am likes playing with you more anyway."
The expression on Blaze's face clearly hinted he wanted to take a decent swing at me, but I held my head high and reached my destination. As dangerous as he could look, Blaze really wasn't the kind to raise his hand so easily. I'd definitely seen him throw his fair share of punches, make no mistake about that. He just simply wanted until he was fully justified in doing so.
"I'm telling you one more time, I want you to leave, now." Blaze demanded, although he took a deep breath and managed to control his tone more evenly.
"And I will follow through with that request, if it becomes clear that you do actually want me to leave," I promised, giving a brief glance his way as I started work on the half made salad, "We both know that once you calm down you would much rather have me here than gone, even if you never admit it aloud. Besides, I'm not going to go so simply after I made the drive down here. You wanted me to visit, so I'm visiting."
"Fine, do whatever you fucking please," Blaze grumbled, "Work yourself to death at your job and waste your personal time screwing around here. You want to make a damn salad, make the damn salad. You want to babysit, then go ahead and babysit. I'm going to go take a nap."
Without another word, he spun on his heel and stomped into his bedroom. I listened to him leave and breathed a sigh of relief. To say that I hadn't been worried despite my confident manner of Blaze forcing me out or losing control was a lie. The situation had gone as expected though.
"Good," I smiled, whispering to myself, "Take a nap, and then you'll be yourself when you wake up."
Amaranth, attracted by the noise of Blaze rushing off, crawled to his uncle's closed door before pouting up at me with a longing for attention. With a chuckle, I picked him up and placed him on the counter while I kept cooking. Amaranth greatly enjoyed munching on the tiny pieces of yellow pepper I gave him while pulling the greatest faces of disgust after he snuck a piece of chopped onion thinking it, too, would be a wonderful snack.
"You poor thing, you really do need a haircut." I remarked when the food was done and Amaranth refused to be taken out of my arms after I picked him up.
His tiny hand also attempted to brush away all the hair falling in his eyes when I did my best to sweep it back.
"Well, you're not the one this salad was intended for, and I ate already. I'll wrap it up, let's check on Blaze, and then we can plan out the day."
Amaranth laughed when I gave him a playful bounce before digging around for Blaze's stock of cling wrap.
Cracking open the door revealed that the several minutes that had passed was all Blaze needed to be deeply asleep. The guy had only managed to take his socks and shoes off. He wasn't even under the covers, and his glasses, half tilted on his face, were at good danger for falling off onto the floor or getting crushed by Blaze when they dropped next to him.
"I know you hate contacts, but you're going to break another pair of glasses if you don't start being careful." I whispered to no effect, obviously, as I gently removed the spectacles while keeping Amaranth situated on my hip.
The plan had been to let Blaze know that I intended to take Amaranth out as I hadn't thought he would already be asleep, so I searched for a pen and paper instead. Now that I could look at him without receiving a death glare, the stress lines wrinkling Blaze's skin were more apparent than they had been the past few weeks. Dark circles embedded themselves deeply under his eyes and even in sleep his body lay as if a heavy weight dragged every inch of him down.
Amaranth allowed me to wriggle him into socks and shoes of his own, which was a nice change of pace from Ethereal who adored having bare feet. She always threw a fit anytime anyone tried to so much as place sandals on her. I thought of her then, hoping all would be well, before heading out with Amaranth. The relatively quick trip to the hairdresser I intended to make turned into several hours away from the house. We had to wait as we had no appointment, and then, well, I caught a bit of a shopping bug. There were things I wanted, there were things I knew Amaranth needed, and it was my first day off in over a week, so darn it I just went ahead and found myself taking us all over the place. The two of us ended up resting on a bench for a while in front of a bookstore near the ocean.
Right in the middle of me searching for a cab company to call was when a text buzzed my phone. No surprise, it was exactly who I expected. Not only was Blaze awake, but he'd also been taking a walk of his own, apparently. He didn't say it in so many words, but it sounded like he'd been trying to clear his mind. He showed up about ten minutes later shuffling down the way with a gaze set more on the ground than us.
"I see you bought him a new hat." Blaze spoke, softly and somewhat sheepishly as he avoided looking directly at me.
"He sort of picked it out himself," I spoke amusedly, "I noticed his shoes were really worn out, so when I took him to that toddler clothing store he grabbed it when I wasn't looking. I think it suits his new cut well."
"Yeah," Blaze mumbled and then motioned to the bag of things, mostly for Amaranth, sitting at my feet, "I see you bought him more than a haircut, shoes, and a hat though. Eden...I'm not in that bad of a position where you have to do such pity shopping for me. I suck at this whole parenting thing, but I can at least get him the things he needs."
"You do not suck, Blaze, and I didn't buy all this stuff out of pity. I bought it because I wanted to, because I like spoiling this little guy you've got here. I don't like spending my money on myself, but it's fun spending it on other people for some reason." I shrugged yet again, talking cheerfully.
Blaze didn't answer. His stare remained distant, hesitant, and somewhat embarrassed. I patted the open spot on the bench.
"C'mon, sit down and join us."
Slowly, Blaze did so. Amaranth eagerly reached for him as he did, and his excited babbling filled the gap of silence between my friend and I. Blaze, most likely waiting for me to be the one to speak, shifted much more than was usual for him. I, on the other hand, didn't feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, I sort of let my mind wander as I stared out at the view in front of me. Blaze and I hadn't grown up all that far away from Berrybrook, so we'd definitely heard of the city from time to time. There was no mystery about why Coal and Desire had chosen to move here. There were soft, shallow mountain hills, large open fields, groves scattered all around, several long beaches, and a calm sea that stretched for infinity. It was perfection in my mind. If I ever could, this was where I would bring Ethereal. If somehow I got her out and we could live freely, Berrybrook would be her introduction to the real world. I bet her eyes would grow wide from the shock of seeing the open horizon. She and Amaranth could even grow up as good friends. Coal and Desire would have liked such a thing, I'm sure.
Blaze made a strange noise, which jolted my attention back to reality. He was attempting to speak, and his voice remained quiet when he managed to get his words out.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, his mouth hanging open for a while as he struggled immensely, "I still have a lot of growing up to do. I think some part of me is dealing with the shock of everything being so difficult when life has otherwise been incredibly easy for me in the past. I don't know how to handle it all now that I actually have to be the responsible one. To be honest, I think Coal and Desi made a massive mistake leaving Am in my care. I get that they left him with me because we're family, but he'd be so much better off with you."
"Bullshit," I retorted with a light smile, making sure to cover Amaranth's ears in that second, "You do not suck at this, and don't make me say it again."
"I have no idea what I'm doing! You...you do everything right without making a single mistake." Blaze fought back indignantly, his voice quivering somewhat as he turned his head away.
"I grew up constantly surrounded by children of all ages. With me basically being a live-in babysitter, I have a lot of experience in taking care of newborns, babies, toddlers, young children, and on and on. Trust me, I made mistakes left and right then, and I continue to do so now. I've just gotten good at hiding them. I'm not perfect at this, and what skills I do have doesn't have anything to do with you when it comes to your own abilities."
That got Blaze turning his head back, but this time his mouth stayed closed.
"Do you hold Amaranth when he cries?" I questioned.
My friend looked at me severely puzzled, forcing me to repeat my words.
"Do you hold him when he cries?"
"Of course." Blaze answered with a confused frown.
"Do you play with him?"
"As often as I can."
"Do you provide him with the food and clothes and basic things he needs?"
"I can't even remember the last time I bought something for myself. It's all for him."
"Are you doing your best to care for him and teach him how to be a good person?"
"Yes..." Blaze answered, his voice growing softer again as he had figured out my intention.
"Do you love him?" I asked the final question.
Blaze went silent for a moment, stared at me, stared at Amaranth, and then stared determinedly out at the ocean.
"I would jump in front of any car or bullet or whatever that came at him in a heartbeat."
I chuckled as I pat him on the shoulder.
"See? Your heart is right where it needs to be, and, though I can imagine it's hard going from living in the nice places your family provided to where you are now, you are working hard to make sure you have the necessary material things you need as well. That's all that matters, Blaze. It's as simple as that."
"I don't know..." Blaze said somewhat dejectedly before shooting me a more optimistic gaze, "But you're practically always right about everything. You're probably right here too."
Smiling proudly, I nodded in smug agreement. Then I retied Amaranth's shoelace as his fiddling with it had it come undone, but when I sat straight again I saw Blaze staring, almost glaring, at me intensely.
"What?" I wondered, not sure what the problem was.
"Nine fucking days straight. Really, Eden? I never invite you over just because I want the help. You're scaring me working as much as you do, and getting you down here seems to be one of the only ways to force you to take a break. I don't care if your employer allows it. From what I can tell, you work seventy, sometimes seventy-five, hours as week. Seriously, what are you doing that is so important?"
I bit my lip. In actuality, I generally worked closer to eighty-five hours a week. I made about $8,500 a month.
Sighing mentally, I prepared myself for the response awaiting me when I gave Blaze the same answer he'd made me give him a hundred times now.
"I can't tell you. It's confidential to the extreme, and, honestly, I don't think I want to tell you." I revealed.
I was slightly annoyed at his persistence, yet more annoyed by the fact that I did have to keep my work secret. Blaze would adore Ethereal without a doubt. I bet she would end up laughing all day if she was around him.
Blaze rolled his eyes in his own frustration and huffed out an exasperated exhale.
"Listen, I know it seems like I've gotten myself stuck in a horrible position. I can't lie and say that there aren't a million and one things I despise about my job, but...it means so much to me, Blaze," I professed pleadingly, "I have to do what I'm doing. I have to make it work. I've had so little control over my life so far, and now I can finally accomplish something great. It'll make such a difference if I succeed. If I do, I have every intention of sharing it with you then. I know that's when you'll understand why I push myself now."
A small, lopsided smile brushed Blaze's lips.
"Alright, Eden. I get it. I still don't like that your work demands so much, but I want you to succeed too. If anyone deserves to get what he wants, it's you. Just...try to get a bit more rest perhaps? Despite what I say when I'm being an asshole, and that's a thing I promise I'm going to stop, you're family to me and this little guy here. You can't save the world or whatever it is you're doing if you don't take care of yourself."
"I promise," I comforted, "I believe they're changing around today and tomorrow how the program I'm working in is being run, which is why I was originally going work the weekend. I'll most likely go in on Monday to hear they won't need me quite so often."
It saddened me to think it would be harder to see Ethereal, but I could handle that if it meant her standards of living were improved.
"Good," Blaze nodded his head approvingly, "I hope things work out. As an apology for causing grief and bullying you down here, why don't we go get some ice cream? My treat."
"Did you even touch that salad?" I wondered with a knowing grin.
"Oh, uh, no, I completely forgot about that." Blaze laughed at himself.
"Ah, whatever. Let's go get some ice cream." I shrugged merrily.
Amaranth squealed excitedly at that, perhaps coincidentally or perhaps he had recognized my words, so Blaze and I smiled wider as we collected the bags beneath us and made our way down the road.
"I just in front of any car or BULLET or whatever that came at him in a heartbeat."
ReplyDelete...If only you knew in this moment how true that statement is. Lmao!
Oh gosh, baby Am is so friggin' cute!!
Ps. When can we expect generation 3 to start!?
Isn't he seriously cute? (^^)
ReplyDeleteNot for some time. The plan still is at the moment to make real progress with my novel first before I try tackling consistent updates for CMW as it's far too distracting. Hopefully in a few more months I gave give you guys a better time-frame of when the story will return, but as of now I'm not focusing on it.