ANIMALS

Two || Smile

"Why couldn't you just take Dad or Papa?" 

I whined as I shrugged on my soft jean jacket to protect me from the chill of the November air. 

"Hold up, let me just add some more cheese to the list to go with your whine," Mom makes fun of me as he puts on his sneakers and opens the garage door. As soon as he does so, I could hear our rottweiler poke his head into the mudroom. 

"Save me from mom Dallas, chew his leg off," I try to coax our large guard dog but he just sits and tilts his head in confusion instead. 

"Nice try but unlike you, he knows where his loyalties lie," Mom just has to rub it in and let out a heavy sigh before joining him in the garage where for some reason he was walking over to the passenger side of our luxury G-Waggon.

"Listen, I know you're old but your definitely not getting to the age of dementia. What are you doing?" I asked him and he smirked. Underhand tossing the keys over the hood without warning before I rushed to catch them midair. 

"Because you're driving," He simply states as he gets in the car and I got damn came near to bursting with sudden excitement, having never driven the car before. 

"But I'm only 15 1/2, don't you have to be sixteen?" I ask as I get in and raises his left brow inquisitively. 

"You want me to change my mind?" He asks, looking dead at me with those piercing hazel eyes with all intentions of taking the keys from me at the slightest slip-up. 

"No," I quickly take it back as I go to put the keys in the ignition but he slaps my hand down. 

"Did I say you could turn on the car? Don't get ahead of yourself. I know you're excited but you have to think. What should you do first Noah?" He asks and I slowly lean back, knowing I'm in the wrong. I take my seatbelt and click it into place, waiting until he follows suit before adjusting my seat. 

"Good, now you see that button on the door? You need to fix all the windows so you can see your blind spots," He further explains and continues to gently guide me into how to set up and position myself while also turning on the car. Teaching me how to put the shift into reverse as I watch the background camera while taking my foot off the gas. 

After getting out of the garage, I'm met with dad and papa standing on the porch watching me turn the car and honk at them as we left the farm. Following the dirt road that leads us to the main road which eventually turns to the grocery store just five miles down the street. 

Mom stayed as calm as a Buddhist munk trying to mummy themselves through meditation. It was surprising but his demeanor kept me calm as we made it to the whole foods and he had me park all the way in the back where no other cars would dare to park before taking the keys out of the ignition.

I leaned back in the driver's seat, calming myself after my first experience driving, only to look over and find mom was pointing his phone at me like he was taking a video.

"Mom!" I cry out, putting my hand in front of the camera to cover the lense and he laughs, taking his phone back to start texting something. 

"What? I'm just snapping this to your siblings. They're all super excited and to be honest with you, I think you did a lot better than Jaydean and Rumi combined. And they were the best drivers," Mom mentions my eldest sister and brother before gently ruffling my fluffy hair. 

I suddenly feel guilty for complaining about driving with him and bite my lip. 

"I'm sorry about earlier mom, I didn't mean to whine so much I just really wanted to hang out with my friends," I apologize. 

"It's alright, I was the same way when I was your age," He smiles and as he starts to get out and I feel better with his forgiveness. 

"I love you mom," I call out to him as I put the car keys in my pocket. 

"I guess I love you too," He grumbles, rolling his eyes with a sharp smirk as we walk beside each other. I wrap my arm around his shoulder and give him a small side hug.

Back in the days when I never doubted for a second if love was true.