Prompt: Little Jace and his dad. Jace mentioned that when playing Hide n' Seek, his dad forgot they were playing, and forgot him. I kind of wanna see how that plays out.
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“Daddy, can we play hide and seek?” 5 year old Jace asked eagerly.
“Sure Jace. You hide and I’ll find you,” Cameron said distractedly, dropping the cigarette he had been smoking and putting it out with his shoe. He would let the kid hide while he finished washing his car, and then go find him and bring him inside for dinner.
“Okay! No peeking!” Jace said sternly.
“No peeking,” Cameron said with a nod, more focused on washing his car.
Jace giggled and took off, going around the back of the house. He looked around before crawling into the bushes and curling up. He giggled again and slapped a hand over his mouth so his dad wouldn’t hear him.
He yawned and leaned against the bushes sleepily, since he hadn’t napped today. He rubbed his eyes, hoping his dad found him soon so they could play another game before he got too tired.
Cameron found his mind drifting off as he scrubbed at the windshield of the car. He had to clean the garage tomorrow, fix the hose, and wash Erica’s car. He also had to run to the store and buy batteries and some groceries.
He sighed, letting his mind wander as he continued to clean his car. A little while later, he nodded in satisfaction at how clean it looked. He went back into the house and checked the time, realizing that Erica wouldn’t start dinner for a little.
He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. He grabbed a box of crackers and went to the living room, turning on the TV and relaxing the couch, opening his beer.
After about an hour, Erica came into the room and smiled at him. “Hey Cameron, I’m going to start dinner,” she said. “Are you okay with chicken?”
“Huh? Yea, that’s fine,” Cameron said, his eyes remaining on the TV screen.
Erica turned and disappeared into the kitchen. Cameron leaned back, propping his feet up on the coffee table.
After another hour, Erica returned to the living room. The smell of dinner was drifting through the house, making Cameron’s stomach growl.
“Dinner’s ready,” she said. “Do you know where Jace is? I checked his bedroom but he wasn’t there.” She sounded nervous.
Cameron’s eyes widened and he jumped off the couch. “Shit!” he cried.
“What? Where’s Jace?” Erica asked in alarm.
“Shit, shit, shit. We were playing hide and seek,” Cameron said, smacking his palm to his forehead.
“You forgot him?!” Erica screamed. “Oh my fucking god Cameron, how long ago were you playing? Where were you playing?”
“Outside. He hid about…shit, two and a half hours ago,” Cameron said after checking the time.
“Oh my god,” Erica choked out. She gripped her husband’s arm tightly. “Cameron, you left a five year old outside for almost three hours! He probably wandered off!”
“I didn’t mean to!” Cameron snapped.
“We have to find him!” Erica’s voice was overflowing with panic. “Oh my god. Oh, god. He’s probably so scared. We have to find him.”
“Let’s go check outside,” he said, pulling her out to the front yard. He cupped his hands over his mouth. “JACE! JACE!” he called.
“You check the front yard, I’ll check the back,” Erica said, her heart racing. Terrifying thoughts of Jace wandering off or getting kidnapped were trying to flow into her mind. She fought them off, knowing she had to focus on finding Jace before she panicked too much.
She hurried around to the backyard. “Jace!” she called, hearing the rising panic in her own voice. “Jace, where are you?!”
There was no reply from the little boy. Erica let out a moan as she checked his usual hiding spots when they would play. She tugged at her hair anxiously, feeling terrified, wanting to go punch Cameron. How the hell could he just forget about Jace?
She checked all of the hiding spots she could think of before slumping against the side of the house. She could still hear Cameron yelling for Jace, which meant he hadn’t found him either.
“Jace,” she whispered, her eyes watering. She wiped at them hastily. She would not cry. Her son was missing, and she would keep it together until she had found him.
She carefully scanned the backyard. Her eyes landed on the bushes, and she realized that it was the only place she hadn’t checked yet.
“Please,” she whispered desperately as she moved over to the bushes.
She pushed them aside and her eyes widened, her heart basically bursting through her rib cage. There was Jace, fast asleep on the ground.
“Jace!” she cried, dropping to her knees and gathering the little boy into her arms.
He woke up with a jolt as she held him tightly. “Mommy?” he mumbled sleepily.
“Oh Jace,” she whispered, her eyes watering again as she held him close and stroked his hair. “Are you okay? Oh god. I love you so much Jace.” She kissed him and squeezed her eyes shut, never wanting to let him go.
“Where’s daddy? We were playing hide and seek,” Jace said, looking a little disoriented.
“Did you find him?” Cameron asked, coming around the back.
Erica stood up with Jace in her arms. She walked over to Cameron and pressed one hand over Jace’s ear, holding him so that the other ear was pressed against her shoulder.
“So help me god, I will kill you if you ever forget him again,” she snarled before walking past Cameron and carrying Jace inside.
“Erica! I didn’t mean to!” Cameron said, following after her. “Jace, are you okay?”
“You never found me daddy,” Jace said with a frown, reaching his arms towards Cameron and squirming against Erica.
Erica reluctantly passed him into Cameron’s arms. Cameron frowned as he looked down at Jace.
“Uh…mommy wanted to play too. She found you before I did,” he said.
“Can we play again? I won’t fall asleep this time!” Jace said, putting his arms around Cameron’s neck and snuggling against him.
Cameron set Jace down and shook his head. “No, it’s dinnertime and I’m hungry. We’re going to eat,” he said.
Erica picked Jace up, shooting Cameron a glare. He mentally sighed, realizing that it would be a few days before she forgave him for forgetting the kid.
“Come on Jace. Let’s go eat,” she said, kissing Jace and glaring at Cameron again before carrying Jace into the kitchen to eat.
“No more hide and seek,” Cameron grumbled before following after them.
