Living With My History Teacher

Chapter 22

This morning I woke up to the most unexpected scene ever. All I could do was stand and watch.

"Would you like some more?" Damon asked Nolan who was seated at the table in the kitchen. Nolan only nodded and Damon put two more pancakes on his plate before going back to his own breakfast.

I did not expect that Damon would still be around. I was happy to see that he still was and most of all, having breakfast with his son. But, it seemed kind of awkward between them. Nolan minded his breakfast and did not bother to look up at Damon. Damon on the other hand looked like he wanted to ask some questions but decided not to.

"Morning" I said, finally disturbing the awkward silence. "Morning" Damon said looking up at me, his face showing obvious relief. I chuckled a bit under my breath taking my seat at the table.

"Morning Nolan" I said to the kid seated next to me. "Morning Taylor" he said smiling up at me and I smiled back at him. I noticed Damon staring at me, confusion written all over his face. I'm guessing at Nolan's behavior.

Breakfast was a silent affair after that. Father and son didn't say a thing to each other. I had expected Nolan to be happy to see his father but he seemed so indifferent and Damon was trying to talk to his son but, not hard enough.

I did not like it at all. So, before the end of breakfast, I had made up my mind to help these two build a relationship. They were father and son after all.

"So, what do you want to do today?" I asked Nolan as I helped him put his clothes on. Sadly, I couldn't stay long since I had to get to work. He didn't say anything, he just watched my hands button up his shirt.

"How about we get ice-cream at the park" I suggested smiling at him.

Who didn't like ice cream?

"Okay" he agreed, an excited glint in his eyes. "Great, come on" I said taking his hand and leaving his/ Kyrn's room. I helped him put on his shoes and just when we were about to leave, I remembered my resolution this morning.

"I'll be right back" I told Nolan going back down the hallway. I stopped at Damon's bedroom door and knocked. In a moment, he was standing right in front of me.

"Hey, do you want to come to the park with us?" I asked with a bright smile on my face, hoping he would agree. He was quiet for a while staring away from me before finally saying, "sure" even though he sounded quite unsure. But, that was enough for me.

We walked down the hallway to the living room where Nolan was still standing at the door waiting. When Nolan saw Damon behind me, he looked down at his sneakers avoiding eye contact. I heard Damon let out a low sigh at that but chose not to say anything.

"Let's go" I said taking Nolan's hand and leading him out of the apartment, Damon following behind us.

'I really hope this works' I thought to myself.

Damon drove us to the park which wasn't so far. There weren't a lot of people there. A few kids were playing around under the watchful eye of their parents, a few were having picnics and others were just walking around the place.

Nolan was the first to spot the ice cream truck and we all went over to get our ice-cream. I had vanilla, Nolan had chocolate and Damon paid for them without getting any.

Taking my ice cream, I began to walk away from them but I was stopped by Nolan asking, "where are you going?" I turned around to find Nolan staring up at me, an anxious look on his face.

"I have to get to work" I told him. "B...bu...but I thought you were going to stay with me" he said. I knew how uncomfortable he was around new people and I understood why he sounded frightened. That made me wonder why he was so comfortable around me. I couldn't come up with an answer but I liked it.

It was going to take a while before he got used to Damon but he had to be patient.

"I'm sorry but I have to go" I said starting to feel sad because of how sad he sounded. "Your dad's going to take care of you; I won't be gone too long alright?" I said hoping to calm him. He looked scared for a second but nodded anyway.

Damon looked like he was about to tell me to stay but said nothing. "He likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" I told him before walking away.

*****

Too many customers on Saturday, it was exhausting.

All I wanted to do was take a shower and go to bed.

That was the plan until I opened the door. I didn't go in; I just stood at the doorway and stared on. I was not prepared for the scene I just walked into.

Everywhere I looked, there were boxes and boxes and boxes of toys and most of them were themed 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. Right in the middle of these toys were Damon and Nolan laughing and playing with action figures.

"What the hell?" I said catching their attention. "You're back" Damon said looking up at me from his position on the floor. He did not look phased by the boxes around him.

"Taylor!" Nolan yelled jumping up and running towards me. "Look, Damon got me a Raphael action figure" he said excitedly holding it up to me. I couldn't help but smile.

"It's really cool" I said smiling down at him, all exhaustion and shock forgotten now. He looked the happiest I had ever seen him.

"There's a Mikey one too" he said running to the boxes of toys rummaging through them until he came up with it. He gave it to me with a huge grin on his face. The Mikey action figure was also really cool. I was also happy that he remembered my favourite turtle.

"Thank you" I said to him. He ran back to Damon and soon they were playing together again. It was a really beautiful scene. I stood there with the Mikey action figure in my hand watching father and son play and I could not help the smile that crept on my face.

Damon's eyes caught mine mid play and he mouthed, "thank you."

"You're welcome" I mouthed. 

*****

PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE.