butterfly// 5SOS

12

Michael

"Goodmorning buddy, time to wake up," I said, shaking Elijah a little, "You're gonna come out with mum and I for the day!"

"I am?"

"Yeah, we're gonna do a little bit of shopping, then have a picnic with Calum and Kaykay, and finish it off with the cinema,"

"I don't want to shop,"

"It's only a little because you need some things, okay? Mum and I will support you and find you good clothes,"

Groggily, he sat up and wiped his eyes, tiredly resting against me; I kissed his head and teasingly pulled him out of bed. We went downstairs and Jasper was making breakfast, so I assisted him while the other two kids played with Lauren's dolls.

"What're you up to today then?"

"Homework and video games,"

"Why don't you have a friend round?"

"Maybe,"

"You still seem a bit down,"

"I'm okay, I just need some time alone,"

"Okay bud, if you need to talk about anything, no matter how upset or ashamed you feel, you can talk to us. Communication is key, yeah?"

"Yeah,"

I kissed his head and got out the plates, then he served everyone beans, egg and bacon. One part I loved about having Lauren was the plates we had, and all the little cutlery as it was adorable. She bounded through and took her food to the table, followed by Elijah and Crystal.

"Maybe you can try and cook tomorrow?" I said to him, "Me and you,"

"Okay,"

"This is really nice, thankyou Jasper," Crystal said, "I bet we can start teaching you harder meals soon, I'm sure your grandad has a few you can learn,"

"I might walk to see them today, actually,"

"That sounds great, just call them beforehand,"

"Ashy,"

"Yeah, Ashton is coming to take you out babygirl,"

Elijah and I headed upstairs to brush our teeth and wash our faces, then we put our shoes on.
Trusting Jasper with Lauren, the three of us left, climbing into my car.

On the way, Elijah didn't speak to us, so when we got there we parked up and stayed in the car.

"Are you okay?" Crystal asked, "It would be nice if we could start sharing our thoughts instead of bottling them up,"

"I don't know you guys very well, I don't want to,"

"Do you think it's because you don't know our reactions, or a previous experience?"

"When I came, I promised myself to only say four words; yes, no, mum and dad. Usually that's okay for people, but you guys want more and I'm not used to it,"

"Of course we want more, we want to get to know our son,"

"That's why it's freaking me out! No one in my life has ever wanted to speak to me,"

"Your new friends do,"

"It's not happened before this week. I'm really struggling,"

I reached my hand back and he held it, squeezing it so tightly that it hurt. However, Crystal and I knew how hard it was to admit that you were struggling with something, and that sometimes sympathy wasn't what people wanted.