Maya

It was Jackson's favorite night tonight—movie night. Fridays were for movie nights, and none, literally none of us had or would ever miss it. Jackson was seated between me and Nate, finding a safe place as the horror movie unfolded like he’d been anticipating it to be. The funniest part, even though he was scared of the movie he was watching the whole part of it through the gap of his fingers—it was his way. Every horror movie he'd ever seen had been seen through his fingers.

"If you are scared of the horror movie, why do you insist on watching it, baby?” I asked, brushing my fingers through his hair and trying to get his hands away from his face, but he refused to do so.

"Mommy, don't do this!" It was his quiet yell, and a chuckle slipped past my lips.

"You are cute," Nate chuckled, kissing Jackson's cheeks.

"Buddy, don't disturb me!"

Another snicker slipped past my lips at his quiet yell. He was actually adorable!

"Hey, you two, why are you troubling our poor boy?" Ivy intervened, "Let him watch the movie in peace."

"Yeah, right. They annoy him all the time.” Kael joined, “Let him just be, for once!”

They were literally Team Jackson. It had always been so obvious. Jackson could break people's houses, and these guys would still find a way to defend him. Stella and others were of the same group—they’d always find ways to make excuses for a six-year-old kid who himself knew how to make enough of them.

My son was smart—he knew how to lie and make excuses perfectly. The bigger blame lay on Nate; he had learned lies from Nate and even considered him his 'teacher' in that matter.

“God, fine!” I groaned, “Take your Jackson if you all want. I won’t touch him.”

“Hey, I am not giving him to him, he’s mine and he will stay with me,” Nate quickly announced, a frown settling between his brows, and he drew Jackson closer, wrapping his hand around him.

“You have to! You are annoying the hell out of him!” Tyrone interrupted.

“Hell yes, these two are always clinging onto the poor bud. It doesn’t matter if he’s only six; he also needs space!” Liam added.

God! They were unbelievable.

“Guys, listen—“ Before I could say anything Nate interrupted.

“You two don’t get to tell me what to do and not. Like I said, he’s mine and I will keep him with me.”

“No way, that’s not right!” Ivy yelled.

“Nate, that’s so unfair!” Stella also seemed frustrated.

And just when the argument began escalating, Jackson suddenly yelled, “Guys, I am watching a movie! What are you all doing?! I can’t even hear the dialogues!”

“See, you all are ruining his moment!” Nate reasoned, seemingly confident.

“We are ruining his moment? You and Maya were doing that by disturbing him the whole time. Why do you two attack his poor cheeks all the time? It must have been so irritating for him!” Liam added.

“You better shut your mouth. When you are around him, you do it even more.”

It seemed like Nate wasn’t going to back down from the fight.

And I kind of enjoyed watching this argument. It was fun, knowing that these people fighting over meaningless issues would soon end up making up, and then they’d forget all about it. These types of arguments—I was just too used to it by now. Seven years hadn’t been a short period at all.

“Mom, I want to watch the movie! Tell them to stop fighting!” Jackson groaned, kicking his legs.

“Calm down, baby,” I chuckled, kissing him on the cheek before speaking up.

“You all, you are not letting him watch the movie because of your argument. You can continue it later, now please shut your mouth,” I spoke up, trying to maintain a serious face and succeeding halfway, “Now, if you don’t want to deal with Jackson’s tantrums for a week over a wasted movie night, please stay quiet and enjoy the movie.”

I earned a few frowns from them before they all listened and dropped their quest for an argument. Nate, on the other hand, took the opportunity to pick Jackson up in his arms and settle him on his lap, who didn’t complain as he was pretty much invested in the movie itself and his popcorn. He loved popcorn and Nate never forgot to bring it.

The movie continued, thankfully without any interruptions.

I watched how Nate throughout the movie kept Jackson comfortable, especially in the scenes where he’d get scared. He’d act scared himself too, and it was actually heartwarming.

None could ever replace Nate’s place in Jackson’s life. He was everything to Jackson after me. In every family picture he’d made, it was always him, Nate, and me. To him, this was the definition of family. I didn’t want to correct him or tell him that in that picture, the place he’d unknowingly given Nate was not actually his, and I wasn’t going correct him at all because I think, whether given a name or not, Nate deserved to be in the picture for everything he’d done for Jackson.

And I knew Jackson filled a part of his life. He’d lost his child before even seeing them, and now that he had Jackson, he was happier than ever, and I’d never ever take that happiness away from him. I didn’t quite know why, but….I wanted to see Nate happy. I wanted to keep him happy, just the way he was.

“Oh god!” Jackson yelled, burying his face into Nate’s chest, as a scary scene popped, “It’s the ghost! It’s the ghost!”

“Yes, it’s the ghost!” Nate matched his tone, pretending to be scared, “Come here, buddy, I will protect you!” He opened his hoodie, and settling him closer, he zipped up the hoodie, making his own DIY baby-carrying jacket with it.

A smile spread on my lips upon watching them.

A question did pop into my mind in the middle as I looked at Jackson and Nate—would Maximus and Leonardo have treated Jackson the same way as Nate? Would they love him and care about the tiniest details like Nate did?

But then again, I knew I’d seen their reality—they were nothing but monsters, and monsters cared for none but themselves, so I shrugged the thoughts away, focusing my attention back on the two most important people in my life.

“I had never thought you’d become such an important part of my life, Nate,” I whispered in my head, looking at Nate, the way he looked so happy with Jackson and the way his eyes glimmered, “But you are pretty much the only thing that gives me hope that there is still so much better for me in this world.”