This Time

|60| IKA-ANIMNAPUNG KABANATA

— AIDEN —

Amayah sat up as fast as she could, pushing me away from her. I silently thank whoever's listening that Aaron at least came a little late, preventing him from seeing what he shouldn't. The kid stood with his brows furrowed and a deep frown, reminding me of his mom's look whenever she's mad at something. Although he was confused, I could see realization slowly showing in his face. Cooper laid down on the floor beside him.

"You and Aide, mom?" Aaron asked, his eyes moving back and forth to me and Amayah. "What is this?"

"Baby," Amayah stood up, cautiously approaching her son and kneeling in front of him to get on his level. "I... I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you but–" she cut herself off, nervousness and probably fear getting the best of her. I

"Are you two in a relationship? Since when?"

I stood in my seat, going beside Amayah to at least ease her nerves. "Aaron–"

"I'm not talking to you, Aiden," He snarled at me. My eyes widened in surprise at the sudden anger, not used to seeing such emotion from such a young age, much less Aaron who always seems to be happy and accepting. 

"We are," Amayah answered weakly. "Aiden's my girlfriend, baby."

"Since when?" He asked again.

"Over a month," I answered when Amayah stayed silent, earning a glare from Aaron.

"Over a month?" He repeated, his fists clenching. Amayah and I could only stay standing in our place as Aaron walked off, climbing back up the stairs into his room. I flinched when the sound of his door slamming echoed around the suddenly quiet house.

Amayah fell to the floor and a sob broke out of her, absolutely breaking my heart. I kneeled down in front of the beauty and cradled her in my arms, winding my hand into her hair as she buried her face into the crook of my neck. I kissed her head, gently rocking our bodies as I stroked her hair. I smiled at Cooper as the dog nudged Amayah's leg, probably feeling her sadness.

"He hates me, Aide. My son hates me now," She cried, hands gripping my shirt.

I pulled away slightly from the embrace and cupped her face, staring straight into her reddening eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Aaron doesn't hate you, he's just confused right now."

"I should've told him earlier, this is all my fault–"

I stopped her self blaming. "This is not your fault, Amayah. Please don't say that. He saw us by accident and he may have been feeling betrayed but we'll talk to him, okay? Let's give him time to calm down and we could talk to him after."

"What if he doesn't want to?"

"Then we'll wait and try. So please don't cry, I hate seeing you sad," I whispered softly, wiping her tear-strained cheeks with both of my thumbs.

"Okay," she replied weakly, letting her head fall onto my shoulder.

My brows furrowed in confusion when I heard a car beeping in the driveway, guiding Amayah to sit on the couch, I went to check who it was. To my surprise, it was Tristan's car. Biting my lip in worry, I went out to let him in.

"Who is it?" Amayah asked when I came back.

"Hey," Tristan and Bianca greeted gently, making the dark-haired woman raised her head up.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Tristan cleared his throat and touched his neck. "Aaron called us to pick him up."