Autumn Pines - A Lava AU

We're Gonna Be Friends - 1

"Mom! Mom! Someone's at the door!" Kai exclaimed, jumping off the couch and rushing into the kitchen, where his mother, Maya, was finishing frosting a cake she had made.

"Oh really?" She put the frosting down, taking off her apron as well. "Well then, let's go see who it is."

Kai followed behind his mother quickly, practically bursting with excitement once they were in the foyer of their house. "Who is it Mom? Who is it?? I wanna see!" He said, jumping up and down to try and see through the peephole of the front door. He was unsuccessful.

"Kai honey!" Maya laughed, picking Kai up and moving him out of the way gently. "I can't see who it is if I have a rambunctious little boy in the way!" She pinched Kai's cheek affectionately before kissing him on the forehead, making him laugh. She smoothed out her clothes, having been wrinkled by the apron, and opened the door.

Outside stood a young woman with a tray of baked goods in her hands. She gave a warm smile once she saw Maya. "Hey there!" She greeted them. "I'm Lilly! It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm your new neighbor and I wanted to come over and say hello,"

"Well isn't this a nice surprise?" Maya exclaimed, taking the tray. "Are you the people who just moved in a couple days ago? I saw that huge moving truck next door and I was wondering who moved into Mrs. Roseman's old house."

Kai was getting restless. He couldn't see who the lady was all that well due to his Mom being in the way. "Mooommm! Please can I meet the new neighbors? Cmon Mom I wanna see!"

Maya chuckled a bit. "I almost forgot. This little one is my son, Kai. He loves meeting new people. He's a bit of a social butterfly."

"Oh my goodness he's precious!" Lilly cooed, making Kai beam. "How old are you sweetie?"

"I'm five!" Kai told her with pride, holding up five of his fingers. "Mom says I turn six in seven months!"

"Oh my gosh, that's lovely!" Lilly chirped before looking back over to Maya. "My son Cole is his age. He walked over here with me. He insisted on coming with me so I let him."

"Ah, still in his separation anxiety phase?" Maya asked.

Lilly nodded. "Yep. He's a clingy one that's for sure. Come on Cole honey, why don't you say hi to the new neighbors?"

Kai looked a little bit more and, just behind Lilly was a boy, right around his age. His hair was dark, way darker than Kai's. He was clutching onto his mom's jacket, peering out from behind her. Their eyes met, and Kai waved at him, a huge smile on his face. Cole ducked back behind Lilly, clutching onto her jacket tighter.

"Oh sweetie it's okay," Lilly comforted Cole. "They're just the new neighbors, nothing to worry about." She ruffled his hair affectionately, before turning back to Maya. "He's a little shy."

"Oh don't worry about it! Here, why don't you guys come in? I just finished making a cake, I can get you guys some if you'd like," She offered. The mention of cake seemed to grab Cole's attention immediately. He peered back out from behind Lilly, eyes sparkling.

"That sounds great! Thank you so much for the kind offer!" Lilly said, taking Cole's hand gently, leading him into the house. He trailed along cautiously, reminding Kai of a baby duck trailing behind its mother. Kai followed his mom into the dining room, sitting at the table along with Cole and Lilly. He kicked his feet in anticipation. His mom was so good at baking, she made the best cake in the world! This time she made chocolate cake, which was his favorite. He wondered if it was Cole's as well.

Maya served the little kids their cake and asked Lilly to join her in the kitchen for some tea. Once the adults had left, Kai saw the perfect opportunity to get to know the new kid.

"Hi! I'm Kai!" He said enthusiastically with a wide, toothy grin. His two front teeth were missing. "What's your name?"

Cole looked up from his hands, his eyes meeting Kai's. He hesitated a bit, before shyly muttering, "...m-my name's Cole..."

"Ooh I like that name!" Kai giggled, taking a bite of his cake. "It sounds like a superhero name! Or a ninja!"

The compliment seemed to make Cole feel more comfortable. "Really?" He asked, taking his attention away from his hands.

"Yeah! It does! You could like, totally be a superhero if you wanted to!"

A shy smile spread across Cole's face. "Th-Thank you....I like Kai too,"

The two talked as they ate their cake, with Kai carrying most of the conversation, not that he minded. He was always described as chatty, and full of energy. Cole liked listening to Kai talk. Already he was beginning to relax, which wasn't something that came easy to him in new situations.

Once both of their plates were empty, Kai looked over to Cole. "Hey, wanna see my treehouse?" He asked excitedly.

That got Cole's attention. "You have a treehouse?" He asked, eyes wide as saucers.

Kai nodded. "My dad built it for me! Cmon! We gotta go see it!" Kai exclaimed, taking Cole's hand and dragging him into the kitchen. "Mom! Mom! Mom! Can I go show Cole my treehouse? Please please please???"

Maya and Lilly laughed at Kai's silliness. "Yes you can Kai, come here though," She grabbed a washcloth out of the drawer and wetted it with some warm water. "You have chocolate all over your face love."

"Moooom!" Kai groaned, little cheeks flushing red as Maya cleaned his face off.

"Hey, I'm not the one who covered their face in cake," She teased, booping him on the nose once she was done, making his nose wrinkle. "Alright, you two can go play. Kai make sure he knows how to get up there safely! I don't want anyone getting hurt!" Called after the two as they rushed through the kitchen and over to the back door.

Kai rolled his eyes as he put his red jacket on. "Yes, mom!" He called from the backdoor before opening it and dragging Cole outside. Once they were outside, Kai ran over to the treehouse as fast as he could, super excited to show Cole his treehouse.

"Wow..." Cole awed, looking up at it in wonder. "I've always wanted a treehouse!"

Kai nodded and began to climb up the ladder. "My dad built it for me last summer!" He explained as he climbed up. "I call it my Fortress of Awesome!" Kai took Cole's hand and helped him climb up the ladder into the treehouse. "And do you know what the best part is?"

Cole climbed into the treehouse and sat down on the floor beside Kai. "What?"

"No girls allowed!"

Cole laughed at that, and the two boys began to play up in Kai's treehouse. First, they started by playing Pirates, with Kai as the pirate captain, and Cole as his first mate. As Cole became more comfortable, it turned out that he was fun to play with! They went on an entire swashbuckling adventure full of treasure, and fun. They probably stayed in that treehouse until the streetlights came on, and Lilly and Cole had to leave.

"Cole come on honey! We have to go back home and make dinner!" Lilly called from the back door, watching as both boys poked their heads out of the treehouse window.

"Aww, can I stay a little longer? Can I please mom?"

Lilly only smiled and shook her head. "No honey, we gotta go home and make dinner. Kai needs to eat his too. Besides! We live right next door, you can always come over and play tomorrow!"

Cole sighed. "Okay!" He called from the window, before gathering his coat and climbing down the ladder. "Bye Kai!" He said as he walked to the house, waving goodbye with a smile on his face.

"Bye Cole!" Kai called back, waving as well. "Tomorrow we can play ninjas!!"