Chapter 9: Chapter 9

"Auntie," Kyle came running into the room with his iPad.

"Yes, buddy, what's wrong?" I asked as he jumped on the bed and crawled to my side.

"Look at my new high score," he excitedly said, showing me his new high score in fruit ninja.

"Wow well-done love that's amazing, you deserve a treat for that," I said ruffling his hair making him smile brightly.

"Really?" He asked

"Yes you do, how about we go to the park tomorrow," I said

"Yay," he happily said, running back to the lounge.

"Slow down," I said, scared he might trip over his own feet.

"He'll be fine," Cole reassured me.

"You say that now but if he has even one scratch on him there will be hell to pay," I said

"Tell me about it last time he scraped his knee when I babysat him, Haley, nearly cut my balls off," he said fear written all over his face as he shivered at the memory,

"Serves you right," I laughed

"The girls cold-hearted I'm telling you," he said

"Believe me I know that firsthand," I said with a sigh

"So she's leaving you to take care of her son while she's doing god knows what," he said

"Sounds about right," I hummed

"She needs to get her shit together before it's too late," Cole sighed

"You're telling me," I scoffed

"Enough about her I say we pull out the wine and relax a bit," he said

"Ya not in my house and not while Kyle is here," I warned

"You're acting way too old for your age, you know that right?" Cole asked with a raised eyebrow

"Then maybe you should send me to an old age home because these old bones of mine are starting to become brittle," I said mimicking an old lady making Cole playfully roll his eyes at me.

"Point taken, I'm going to take a shower care to join me?" He offered

"In your wildest dream," I said with a playful eye-roll

"A guy can only dream," he chuckled as I left the room to give him privacy.

I stayed in the lounge playing some educational games with Kyle while Cole took his shower. Kyle was an exceptional kid and learned quite quickly, he never gave up when he didn't understand something like most kids. No, he stayed strong and tried again and again until he got it right. I admired that most about him because he in a way inspired me to be a better person than I was today, this life of mine wasn't how I imagined it would be when I was younger. By now I thought I would have the perfect partner, perfect job and a child but I still had the chance to make that reality like most people who don't have that opportunity so it was only right if I exploited my opportunities for good causes and maybe a few personal opportunities.

We were currently playing Tiny Polka Dot which was a fun maths board game to help Kyle develop a good number sense.

"What would this equal?" I asked him placing two colour cards with different amounts of dots on them.

"Ten," he proudly said

"Good, what about if I place two more of these cards, what would that equal?" I asked

"Ten plus Ten is twenty," he answered

"Well look at you little math genius," I proudly said to which he smiled widely.

"Now I'm taking away these three cards and there's only five. What if I times it by two what would that equal?" I asked him

"Ten because five plus five is ten," he answered

"Very good, now you can answer these small sums I made for you," I said, giving him a piece of paper with five easy maths questions, I left him to figure that out while I went to grab a glass of water feeling my throat parched and cheeks aching from smiling too much. I couldn't understand for the life of me why Haley was so against getting to know her son. I thought after so many verbal slaps about growing a pair from our mom she would realise that Kyle wasn't going anywhere and if she kept neglecting him it was going to affect him.

With a sigh, I washed the glass I used and went to my balcony sitting on a chair with a book, hoping it would be a nice distraction from my life. I was privileged sure even rich to most people yet I never like flaunting my assets because I know there are people worse off than me and it kills me to see them in the streets every day, I try to give them food and any help I can provide but it never seemed enough and my heart bled for them. Sometimes I wished I wasn't so privileged so I wouldn't have to feel like this but then again I appreciated what I had and never tried to take it for granted.

"Hey," I heard Cole softly say closing the sliding door behind him

"Hey," I sighed looking at my book. I've been staring at the same page for minutes on end but haven't taken one single word in because my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about what I've done to be the helpful citizen that I wished to be, be the change you want to be in the world they say and I've tried to be that but it just never seemed enough no matter what I tried to do, and most importantly I was thinking about Veronica and what I did to her, my guilty conscience was finally acting up and eating away at me.

"You alright?" He asked sitting across from me

"Ya just tired is all," I said

"Liar," he said

"Excuse me?" I asked confused

"You're not ok, you only ever come out here when you're excited or about to have a meltdown," he said

"Quite frankly I'm perfectly fine just came here to get some fresh air," I defensively said

"Harley Rose Glenn you can lie to anyone else in this world and they may believe your bs but I don't because I know you and you're not ok so tell me what's wrong?" Cole gently said with a concerned look

"As I said before I'm fine now if you'll excuse me I have to put Kyle to bed," I said getting up and heading inside to get Kyle ready for bed,

"But Auntie I'm not tired," he whined as I carried him to brush his teeth

"I know love but it's time for bed," I said

"But it's the weekend can I stay up a little later?" He begged

"It's eight-thirty Kyle that's late enough," I said giving him his toothbrush

"But I don't wanna sleep yet," he cried making me sigh

"Kyle brush your teeth," I firmly said, making him huff but obey, once he brushed his teeth I filled the bathtub with lukewarm water and bathed him.

"Auntie?" He asked me while I was drying him

"Yes, Kyle?" I asked

"Are you mad at me?" He asked sadly

"No baby not in the slightest," I said kissing his forehead

"Can I stay up later than," he begged

"kyle no means no now please stay still," I said finishing putting lotion on his body before dressing him in his pj's.

"But why?" He whined once we were in the bedroom and I was tucking him in.

"Because you need to be well-rested when we go out tomorrow and you need sleep for that," I told him

"Fine, night auntie," he said

"Night Kyle," I said, turning the lights off, I left the door slightly ajar and headed back to the kitchen.

"I think you might need this more than I do," Cole said handing me a glass of red wine

"Thanks," I said taking it and chugging it down,

"That doesn't mean finish it all," he chuckled, pouring me another glass.

"Less talking more drinking," I ordered, taking my time drinking the second glass as we sat out on the patio with a slight breeze chilling us. I looked up at the cloudy sky wondering if there was anyone up there judging us for our every action and if there truly was heaven on earth.

"Harley?" I heard Cole call my name

"Mhm," I hummed wondering what he was going to say

"That was the third time I called your name," he noted eyeing me seriously

"And?" I asked confused about where he was heading with this conversation. Honestly, I didn't even hear him call my name the first couple of times.

"Doesn't matter I'll be heading back now, I won't be back for a while," he said startling me

"What?" I asked

"I'm going to see my mom in Marseille she's not well and dad thinks she won't be with us for long," he answered

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that I hope she gets better soon," I awkwardly said. Cole never got along with his parents because of his habits but when he visited, which was rare, they welcomed him with open arms.

"Thanks but I won't be back for some time so don't kill anyone else while I'm gone ok," he joked making me smile slightly

"How long will you be?" I asked anticipating his answer with my heart beating through the roof

"Three months at most," he said making my eyes bulge

"Three months," I said in disbelief

"Ya I haven't been home in a long time so it's about time I focused on my family," he said

"Of course take all the time you need," What was I saying I didn't want him gone for more than a damn week now I'm saying he could stay for longer than three months what was wrong with me.

"Guess I won't have to go to that party ha," I forced a laugh trying to lighten the mood

"Don't think you're going to escape that deal so easily, there's always a party every week at Neon Lights so no rush," he smirked making me laugh

"Do me one favour while I'm gone would you?" He asked

"Of course anything you name it," I immediately said

"Take care of yourself," he said, making me deflate. I thought maybe he would ask me to come along with him because he didn't want to be away that long from me but I guess that's just wishful thinking.

"Of course you take care of yourself too," I said sadly, my body shaking and not from the chill air.

"Will do," he smiled we locked eyes for what felt like forever before he cleared his throat

"Bye," he said, no that felt too final like he wasn't coming back.

"Later," I said hoping he would say it back but he just smiled and turned around to head out the front door with his bag. My heart wouldn't stop racing so fast I felt like someone was stabbing me over and over and there was nothing I could do about it. I knew I relied too much on Cole and now that he was gone for some time I felt like I was going to fall apart without him, whenever he wasn't with me I was quite ok with it because I knew I could easily just go to his place or just give him a call and we would meet and just the sight of him always calmed me but now I couldn't do that and it sent me off balance.

I ended up drinking the entire wine glass without reading a single page of my book, all I did was stare at the cloudy sky with my mind in turmoil. I spent almost the whole night outside just trying to clear my head but that didn't help so when it was around three in the morning and the wind finally got too cold for me I headed back inside to lie down on the couch for even an hour's rest.

I was woken up by the banging of something in the flat upstairs, the people living above me sure loved making noise whether it be in broad daylight or early morning they sure know how to piss me off. I've tried talking to them about being cautious of making a lot of noise since I lived right below them and could hear everything but they seemed not to care about my concern, with a groan I sat up only to curse as my head pounded away. This is why I hated drinking. The hangover was always such a pain literally, with a sigh I got up and headed to the bedroom to find Kyle still sleeping so I just grabbed my painkillers and brushed my teeth since the inside of my mouth smelled like something died in there.

It was at around eight when Kyle woke up and said he was hungry, so I made him some french toast and while he ate and watched tv I took a relaxing bath to clear my head. By the time I finished changing into something comfy he was already asking when we were going to the park.

"In a few buddy go brush your teeth first," I told him, he rushed to the bathroom while I made the bed and kept an eye on him making sure he didn't do anything to hurt himself. I wasn't quite hungry so I skipped breakfast like I always do and dressed warmly since it was kind of chilly outside,

"Come on buddy don't make this harder than it needs to be, it's cold outside," I said with a sigh while Kyle was not listening to a word I was saying, he didn't want to wear his jumper because as he says the cold doesn't bother him. So I let him be and carried his jacket in my hand as we walked out of the flat, I took a deep breath and exhaled seeing my breath in the cold morning air.

"Can I have my jacket please?" Kyle asked, shivering, now he wants it.

"Right," I said, helping him put it on, kids and their obedience quite charming when they're still kids of course but when they're older it just gets quite annoying. We walked to a nearby park that was almost seemingly empty since no sane person would want to leave their homes when it was cold outside.

"Want some hot chocolate?" I asked Kyle when I spotted a food truck.

"Yes please," he said enthusiastically, I held his small hand walking to the truck and I ordered a large espresso and small hot chocolate.

"Here you go," the food truck guy said, giving us our drinks and my change.

"Thank you," I said, giving him a tip.

"Have a nice day," he said

"Same goes to you," I said and walked to sit on a bench with Kyle enjoying the scenery of people walking by or simply taking a jog. I breathed in the fresh air, stinging my nostrils because of the low temperature. I simply loved doing this, just taking a moment to appreciate the world we were brought into. It kind of gave a sense of serenity. Vancouver was my birth home and I hope one day that my kids would be born in this lovely town I call home, I've lived here for as long as I could remember and I did hope to explore the world a bit more but with the knowledge of knowing Vancouver will always be my home no matter where I travel. I've grown so attached to this place in such an unhealthy way it's hard to even consider travelling to other places such as Niagra Falls for a short vacation without feeling homesick.

I honestly couldn't comprehend why I made life so difficult for myself.