There's No Such Thing as Too Young

It was dismissal, every student’s favorite part of the day except for recess, and it was pouring rain. Kellin was waiting inside his classroom for his mom with Mr. Oli and Mr. Josh, who were flirting shamelessly but he was unaware of it. He was the only kid in class, which was not usual, most of the time he was the first to leave but today he was not. Kellin was worried, what if his mommy got hurt or worse, and what if she forgot about him? As these thoughts ran through his head, his beautiful blue eyes began to water up and next thing he knew, he was crying. Why would his mommy leave him here? Did she not love her little Kelly-Bear anymore? Mr. Josh saw Kellin cry and rushed over towards him.

“What’s wrong Kellin?” he asked in a calming tone.

“M-mom-my.” He cried.

“You want your mummy?” Mr. Oli asked. Kellin nodded and cried harder. However, his crying stopped when he saw Vic looking at him. What was Vic doing here? Maybe his mommy forgot about him too. Both teachers looked at the door and saw a woman with two boys by her side. Vic let go of his mother’s hand and walked towards the classroom.

“What’s wrong Kells?” he asked as he up to Kellin with his mother and brother behind him.

“Mommy.” Before the eldest could say anything, another woman appeared at the door.

“Sorry I’m late. There was traffic on 66.” Kellin knew that voice anywhere. He left Vic’s side and ran into his moms arms. “I told you I’d be here Kelly-Bear. Did you miss me?” the four year old nodded in response. “Well I’m here now baby. Go get your stuff so we can go home.” When his mom looked up, she saw someone who she thought she would never see again. “Viviann? Is that you?” yes. Vic’s mom and Kellin’s mom were best friends in high school but lost contact after senior year.

“Katherine?” Viviann said in shock. “It really is you! Oh! I thought I would never see you again! I knew Kellin looked so familiar. Oh, you should here the sweet things Victor had told me about your son. When I went to pick him up, he said that Kellin said he was his. Oh, I’m happy their best friends.”

“Me too.” Katherine said with a smile. Both mothers left the classroom with their kids as they waved bye to the teachers. “I’ve missed you Vivi.”

“I’ve missed you too Kat.” She said using the old nickname from high school. “When can we catch up?”

“Well, I don’t have to be home until later, how about you?”

“Victor won’t mind. You remember him right. He was the guy in a grade older than us.”

“You married him?” Katherine asked in surprise, Viviann nodded in pride. “Wow. At least you got a happy ending. Robert left this morning; he said he couldn’t handle living with a son who doesn’t talk a lot, though I think he ran off with someone else. But that’s ok; I wouldn’t give up Kellin for anything.” At the mention of his name, Kellin looked up from walking with Vic and his little brother Mike and smiled at his mom.

“Do you guys want to come over? It’s Friday and I’m sure Victor would love to see you again and I’m sorry about Robert leaving. He never was my favorite.”

“He wasn’t mine either.” Katherine said. In fact, she was more than delighted he had left. She was always working while he sat on his ass, being a lazy bum. However, she needed to tell Kellin and was scared how he’d react. “If it continues to rain, may I stay over? I don’t really like driving in the rain.”

“Of course you can.” They each ran to their cars after exiting the building. Katherine followed Viviann and a smile broke on her face when she heard small snores coming from the back of her Station Wagon. After the thirty-minute drive, they finally reached a medium-sized house. It was blue on the exterior with a tree in the front lawn that had a swing, a garden underneath both bay windows, and a few outside toys scattered around. Once they were inside the warm house Victor Sr. came to say hello to his family when he saw the stranger, giving her a curious look. “Don’t you remember her Victor?”

“She looks familiar but no.”

“I’m hurt Victor, even after I hooked you and Viviann up.” Said Katherine with a smile as realization crossed his face, shifting a sleeping Kellin in her arms.

“Katherine! It’s been long times no see and who’s this?”

“This is Kellin; he’s mine and Roberts’s son.”

“Ah yes Robert.” The older man said in an un-amused tone. “How is he?”

“Long gone. I’ll explain everything later but is there a place where I can put him?” Viviann led her up some stairs and opened one of the two doors on the right hand side of the hallway.

“Here, it’s the guest room. You can just place him on the bed. I’ll go down and start the coffee and tell my boys to quiet down a bit.” She said as she left. Katherine set Kellin down on the fluffy queen sized bed and tucked him under the blankets. Once she thought he was comfortable enough, she got up, turned off the light and closed the door enough to still have light coming in from the hallway. “Boy’s,” Viviann said as Katherine came down the stairs. “Go upstairs ok? But be quiet because Kellin is asleep.” Vic and Mike tiptoed up the stairs and into their shared room, each going to their side and on their bed.

“Vic, Ima go to sleep too.” Mike said as he got under his Transformers blanket. “G’night Vicky.”

“G’night Mikey.” Vic said as he turned off the light and stood in front of his now closed door. He looked in the guest room and saw Kellin’s body moving calmly under the white fluffy blanket; he snuck in and carefully climbed on the bed with him. Once he was comfortable, he turned on his side and ran his long tan fingers through Kellin’s blonde hair. A smile formed on Kellin’s lips as he snuggled closer to Vic, taking two small fistfuls of his shirt as Vic put a protective arm around his tiny body.