The First Times

First Friend Over

After the holidays, Will and Nico found themselves knowing more of Benny.

He would normally wait for his mother with Ana at the school's stairs, talking to her. Nico was still a little reluctant to meet his family, but Will had no such prejudice and happily waited with the kids until his family arrived to get him. Surprisingly, his family was as reluctant as Nico to meet them.

However, Tyche- or Nemesis, depending who you ask -seemed to be on their side that Thursday.

It had snowed heavily the day before and many roads were still covered by a deep layer snow. Ana had watched in fascination how the snow was pilling up on the streets. She couldn't wait to Grandpa Apollo to come out so she could make a snow angel on the park. Though, she was a little disappointed when it was a gentle blizzard when she was out of school.

"Aw, I won't be able to make my snow angel..." She complained while waiting for her Dad.

"I'm sure you can do one tomorrow." Benny reassured her. Ana smiled and shrugged. "I thought you liked the summer more..."

"Oh, all seasons are great! In summer, I get to see all my uncles and aunties and cousins!" Ana explained, a little sparkle in her eyes. "Then, on winter, I like to go play in the snow... Oh, in the fall, I like it because I can eat Grandma's turkey! And spring is nice cause all the flowers are born!"

"Oh." Benny replied, not really knowing what to say. Luckily, he was saved by Will's arrival. "Hi, Mr. Solace."

"Daddy!" Ana greeted him, no shame whatsoever of calling him like that. Or to jump in his arms for a twirl, giggling.

"Hello, guys." Will told them, smiling. "Looks like someone missed me." Ana kept giggling, saying nothing. "How are you, Benny? How is your Grandma doing?"

"She's doing better, thanks to your advice!" Will flashed a smile at the beaming kid. He was glad his advice was listened to. "Mom was a little scared it wouldn't work, but now she's more relaxed."

"Well, that's good to hear." Will crutched down to his level. "Tell her if she needs anything, to let me know, all right?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Ugh, no sir! How old you think I am?" Will joked, placing a hand on his heart, making the kids chuckle.

"You're ancient, Daddy!"

"Ancient?!" Will repeated, as if an arrow had gone through him. A dramatically and imaginary arrow. "Well, if I'm ancient, how old is Grandpa then, uh?" Ana thought about it before replying.

"A dinosaur!" Will couldn't help it but to laugh loud about it. That's how Benny's Mom found them, all laughing together. "Oh, you must be Benny's Mom." He shook her hand as soon as he calmed down. "I'm Ana's Dad."

"Hi, Mrs. Troyer." Ana waved at her politely. The woman smiled tightly, before offering her hand to Benny.

"Hello. Benny, we have to go if we wanna arrive before the blizzard gets worst-" Mrs. Troyer couldn't say more when a strong wind started to blow, threatening to carrying everyone with it. Will held Ana tight to him, while Benny held to his mother. Seeing this, Will made a split second decision.

"Mrs. Troyer, you and Benny are more than welcome to stay in our place until the wind settles down..." Both Ana and Benny had their eyes wide open in expectation, as if that was something they wanted but couldn't ask for it. Benny could see his mother a little wary into accepting the polite invitation.

"Just until the wind settles." She agreed to it, earning a nod from Will. Both kids wanted to jump in joy, but knew it will not be well received by her, so they accompanied their parents to their respective cars and headed towards the Solace-di Angelo place. Once the group was there, Ana was the first one inside, looking for Nico.

"Papà, Papà!" She called for him, finding him in the kitchen. Upon seeing her, Nico picked her up and she hugged him tight. "Papà, guess what?! Daddy invited Benny and his Mom here!" Nico paled upon those words, but couldn't do anything but to be polite to his guests.

"Mrs. Troyer, welcome to our place." He could see that the woman seemed to be struggling with the idea of two men raising a little girl. However, manners won for the moment and she shook his extended hand. "Principessa, why don't you take Benny to your room so you can do your homework?" Ana nodded and wiggled down his arms to take Benny to her room.

"Come on, Benny!" She urged him, chuckling.

"Leave the door open, Ana!" Will reminded her, as soon as they disappeared into the hallway. The chatting of he kids was soon replaced by a little awkward silence between the adults. "Before you say anything-" Will started, seeing as Nico was opening his mouth. "-the wind and the blizzard was getting stronger and an accident could have happened..."

"Thanks for that, but I was about to ask if coffee or tea to our guest." Nico covered it quickly, but Will was no fool. Thankfully, a teapot of tea with some cookies later and the grown ups were more relaxed about being around each other.

"I have to admit I was uncomfortable that Benny had a best friend who was a girl..." Mrs. Troyer admitted, putting her fears for everyone to see. "He's too young to have bad influences..."

"You should had seen Nico's reaction, then..." Will saw the hidden meaning of her statement, but decided to let it rest and ignore it for now. However, he took care of it before Nico could speak. "He was pulling his hair out and complaining his 'little girl was growing so fast'..."

"Should I go tell Ana you cried for two nights in a row when she told us about Benny for the first time?" Nico argued back, smirking.

Neither of them could imagine how close the kids would turn.

----

Good morning/afternoon/evening!

Wow, can you believe it? We're already in the third weekend of January... I don't know about you guys, but for me feels like January 1st was a millennium ago... which makes- and I'm not trying to get political here -even more dramatic the USA shutdown situation. I really hope this resolves soon, as no one deserves a paycheck-hold for being unreasonable.

Anyway, let's move on from sad topics for now... We, here, are concern about my chapters and stories... I want to add that I'm taking the time to edit my stories (grammatically and temporally- as if I confused an age or anything). I was thinking of adding comments on the side to some things I said/wrote and people keep commenting (like in my first Mortals: Meet... chapter, I wrote about the Winter Olympics and everyone keeps correcting me... Guys, I adore you but remember that MY winter is YOUR summer).

Today's update!

The First Times: 1 chapter! Also, thanks to Ashuri Benturi who knows exactly how to cheer me up! Really, thanks!

I'll see you next weekend, waiting to hear all of your thoughts...
xoxo, SilverHuntresses