the art of letting go

twentyseven - falling in love

the art of falling in love

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Nico invited me round to his, but warned me that he had Coden for today. Apparently Kaitlin had finally given in to his demands to see his son so Nico got to spend a couple of hours with him. As I hadn't managed to see him in a couple of days due to exams and my shifts at Dexters, we'd agreed that today could be ours.

He insisted that Coden didn't change that, despite the fact I wouldn't have blamed Nico if he would've canceled.

But that was the exact reason why I was currently sitting in Nico's living room with a five year old.

Coden seemed relatively comfortable with me, hopefully calmed by our previous meetings. He'd been quiet since he arrived though, clearly not expecting me to be here but luckily my presence didn't take away the attention from Nico, nor their excitement at being able to see each other again after all the time they were forced to spend apart.

I was scribbling in my notebook, trying to structure my latest essay as Coden played with his toys. Nico was off doing some work organizing the Gym schedules.

Pausing for a second to gather my thoughts, I looked up for a split second and my eyes met the kids. The little blond haired boy cocked his head at me, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His stare didn't falter enough though I'd caught him looking at me - the joys of being a child.

"I like your nails."

Instantly, my gaze flickered down to my ebony nail varnish that was just barely chipping at the corners. The varnish was a few days old by now and was probably due another coat.

"I'm going to paint them again," Even though I absolutely wasn't, I started checking my bag for the bottle that I normally kept in there. Pulling it out, I levelled the child with a smile. "Do you want me to do yours?"

His eyes widened in excitement, body jumping up as he ran over to me, his toys left discarded on the floor. "Really? Will you really do them?"

"'Course, bubs." Crawling down to the floor beside him, I crossed my legs and held my hand out expectantly. He put one of his tiny hands in mine, attempting to keep himself still as excitement overtook him. It was an endearing sight, in all honesty. The beauty of childhood amazement and awe was always so beautiful to witness. "You've got to stay still so it doesn't smudge, okay?"

He just nodded his head, pressing his lips together as if forcing himself to stay quiet and stationary. I didn't miss the way his gaze followed every single one of my movements and twinkled in delight whenever I'd finish another coat of nail polish.

"Just keep your hands there for a few minutes while it dries. Well done, kid." I said softly as I finished both his hands, moving onto my own to top up the nails that required it. He followed all of my instructions easily and I was thankful that he wasn't one of those kids who did anything other than what you asked. Cleaning up nail polish was a bitch in general, never mind the fact that I didn't have any acetone on me.

When I finally screwed the cap back on the bottle and placed it down, Coden held his hand out to me. With my eyebrows furrowing in confusion, I held my own out under his as he linked our fingers together, tilting our joined hands until both of our nails were visible.

"We're matching!" He exclaimed happily, shuffling closer to me so he could examine our hands. My heart fluttered in my chest, a weird but welcomed sense of adoration suddenly encasing me for the boy in front of me. It still seemed so insane to me that this was Nico's son, this was the baby that I saw all those years ago. A grown child, a talking child. "Uncle Brayden said that I was allowed to paint my nails with my friends. Are you my friend, Kezz?"