Distrustful Eyes (An AleHeather Fanfic)

Chapter 5

When Alexander Hiroki Kasuga was born, he almost didn't make it.

He hadn't understood what that meant, but one of his earliest memories was seeing his mother sitting at the side of his crib, crying. Though he could not form the words to describe what he was feeling, he was overcome with a sadness for the sight and the need to stop her from crying at all costs. He began to cry, and his mother pulled herself together to coddle him. As she did, she gently whispered to him, "I'm so glad you made it."

When he grew older, Alexander learned that feeling was called protectiveness. 

Growing up was an adventure in itself. It seemed like every few weeks, they were staying in a new place. Sometimes they slept on a bed, sometimes they slept on a couch, sometimes the floor, but they were always together. Alexander's first words were, "Spathe Wangerth!" in reference to the Space Rangers: the Adventures of the Vagabond Cowboys or just Space Rangers for short. It followed the inter-galactic escapades of the two main characters, Lex and Russ, as they went wherever the cold dark universe lead them. He had started watching it when they stayed at Auntie Gwen's house for awhile. His first words were spoken as his mom was feeding him mashed carrots, and he said it in absolute glee when he saw the TV show come on. Heather seemed proud, yet oddly disappointed. He was just trying to reassure her that they were like the Space Rangers. Maybe his mom wasn't smart enough to get it.

Auntie Gwen was the one who suggested calling him Lex, after his mom had complained to her about what happened. Auntie Gwen also laughed at his mom for it, saying it was refreshing to see her drop the queen act.

Eventually he learned to say "Mama," which made his mom inexplicably happy. This happened when they moved in with Auntie Sierra, or Sisi, who's house was probably his favourite. It was full of weird and amazing doodads that he could not stop looking at for hours. He would have wanted to stay there forever, if not for the fact that his mom started disappearing more often when they moved in. Apparently Sisi was a TV host? And had introduced his mom to a job? Whatever it was, she was busy and had no time for Lex. This made him angry, so angry that not even Sisi's amazing puppet shows could calm him down, nor could Uncle Cam's pop-up butterfly books when he came to visit. 

One night, when his mom came home late, looking tired and ragged as all hell, he threw himself at her. With his tiny little fists he hit her legs with all his might, and he mustered the most angry expression he could as the tears fell from his eyes. "Mama, no more go!!!" He kept screaming. His mom didn't stop him, rather she looked like something dawned on her. Sisi rushed to pick him up, but his mom stopped her. Instead, she let him hit her until he was satisfied, and when he was tired, she picked him up and rocked him to sleep. He was only three at the time.

It didn't take long for them to move again after that. This time they stayed at Momma Coco's apartment (technically she was his Godmother, but she insisted he address her like a second mother). They had to sleep on the pullout bed in the living room, which was cool to look at but not as comfy to sleep on. He asked why they couldn't just stay at Sisi's again, to which she answered that living here would make it so that she could leave work earlier. Lex didn't understand why his mom couldn't just not have a job, but he wasn't complaining if she came home more often.

Despite that, ommy and Momma Coco were still very busy; mommy with her new job, and Momma Coco with her Bar Exam? Sure, they tried their best to spend as much time as they could with him, but it wasn't an unusual sight for Auntie Gwen or Sisi to come visit and babysit him. It was getting easier to not see his mom around for hours at a time, however, not seeing her at all was a much different story.

One day, she came home with a look of determination in her eyes. "This is going to be my big break," she said in fervor. Momma Coco asked her for the details, the majority of which Lex could not understand. There was just so many big words like Model, Carissimo, scandal, paparazzi, and so on, but even a child could understand when their mother was excited.