Prompt: Garrett, Silas, and their son have a family night watching stars
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"Come on, Carter!" Silas called as I gathered some snacks and drinks. "You sure we're okay takin' him out this late?"
"Please, like we ever had normal bedtimes?" I said.
"Well my parents didn't give a shit if I stayed out all night at his age," Silas said. "Carter! We're going to leave without you."
"No! No!"
Our son hurried into the room, nearly running right into me. "Don't leave without me! I couldn't find my jacket. I think I left it at Uncle Akira's house."
"You did. He texted me earlier. We'll pick it up tomorrow. Wear your other one for now," I said, ruffling his hair. "You feeling wide awake?"
"Wide, wide awake," Carter said, beaming a smile at us. "Let's go."
I grabbed one of his jackets and tossed it to him. The three of us left the house and got in our car. I handed Silas my phone so he could pick out music as I drove towards the spot we were going to.
It was a beautiful night out, though there was a chilly breeze. Still, the sky looked amazingly clear.
We reached the spot, getting out of the car. Carter seemed eager as we walked a short trail, up to the top of a hill.
Silas laid out a blanket for us and we laid down on our backs, Carter between us. He stared up at the sky in amazement.
"There, see that? Remember that one?" Silas asked.
"The Big Dipper!" Carter said proudly. "It's an as...as...as-something."
"Asterism," Silas said, cracking a smile. "Took me a while to get it right, too."
"See that one, Car? That's the Great Square of Pegasus," I said. "It's also an asterism."
Carter squinted. "Which one, dad?"
"It's a little hard to see if you don't know what you're looking for. There it is," I said, tracing the pattern with my finger.
Carter copied me and I guided his hand so he was pointing at the right stars. He looked a little disappointed.
"Don't worry," I said, kissing his head. "You'll get it sometime. It took me a long time to get your dad to see it."
"Really?" Carter said, looking at Silas.
"Yea, but you'll get it quicker than me. You're a lot smarter," Silas said.
"You're smart," Carter insisted. "You can pronounce as...ast...those things!"
Silas laughed. "Asterism," he said, speaking it slowly.
"Aster...aster...ism?" Carter tried.
"There, see, you're gettin' it. Smarter than me," Silas said. "It ain't-" He paused, and tried again. "It's not so hard to say if you keep practicing."
"Then I'm gonna practice real hard," Carter said, looking determined. "When I stayed with Grandpa Ray, he wanted me to teach him about the stars. So I'm gonna practice really hard and teach him!"
"That's the spirit," I said, grinning at him. "We'll just have to take you out here more often to star gaze, huh?"
"Do you think we'll see a shooting star?" Carter asked.
"We'll have to pay real close attention and see if one passes by," I said. "Do you want a drink? I brought some water."
I passed him and Silas water bottles. We laid together, the two of us pointing out asterisms and constellations to our son, explaining how the rotation of the earth affected the stars we saw. He was too young to fully understand all of it, but he paid close attention and dutifully repeated what we told him to help commit it to his memory.
As it grew later into the night, Carter sat up to stretch and wake himself up a little. Silas got up and I watched him curiously.
"Si?" I said.
"Here, Carter," Silas said, and knelt down in front of him. "Hop on. We're going to hunt for a shooting star."
Carter brightened and climbed onto Silas's shoulders. Silas kept a firm grip on his legs and paraded him around the trail, Carter's joyous laughter ringing out into the night.
I smiled as I watched them, feeling like someone had snatched all the stars from the sky and tried to fit them into my heart. I was bursting with how much I loved this little family of mine. How lucky I was to teach my son about the world with the man I loved.
They'd stopped a little ways away from me, so I got up and went to join them. Carter reached a hand up towards the sky.
"I wanna get tall enough to touch the stars someday," he said.
"Gotta eat your vegetables, then," Silas said, and I snickered.
But Carter suddenly grew excited. "Look! Look! A shooting star!"
I looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of the star. Then my attention shifted to Carter's ecstatic face, his eyes locked on the sky where the star had streaked past.
"Make a wish, quick," I said, putting a hand on his back. "You saw it first, so the wish is yours, Carter."
His expression shifted to one of concentration as he looked up at the sky. But then it eased into a simple, boyish joy.
"I made a wish," he confirmed. "But I can't tell you what it is or it won't come true."
"I'm glad we got to see a shooting star," I said, pulling him off of Silas's back and setting him on the ground.
"I can't wait to tell Grandpa Ray!" Carter said in excitement, throwing his arms around my waist and burying his head against my stomach as he hugged me. "Thanks for bringing me here."
I hugged him back, kissing his head. "We'll see plenty more, I'm sure of it."
Carter released me and jogged forward, climbing onto a rock and peering up at the sky again. Silas shifted next to me, sliding his arm around my waist.
"He's so happy," he said, unable to stop the smile on his face. "It's good to see."
"You're good with him. Maybe now he'll even eat his vegetables," I said, and we both laughed at the idea of our kid actually eating broccoli. "Okay, well, we'll keep trying on that issue. It's getting late, though. We should get him home."
Silas checked the time and hesitated as he looked back over at Carter. "Just a little longer, Gar."
"You're such a pushover," I said, kissing his cheek.
"Am not," he said, glaring at me and blushing.
"Whatever you say," I said, resting my head on his shoulder.
So we stood in the peace of the night, watching our son watch the stars. There was nothing I loved more than these nights with these people.
