Unconditional

Chapter 3

Perhaps my frequent appearances in the Sallow's household may have swayed the way Malikai's brother acted around me. Regardless, the sight of little Avery hiding behind his brother was quite a shock.

After lunch a few days ago, I gave Mal a call asking if his brother Avery would want to try a playdate with Sol. As expected the family had no issue doing so, but planned our date for Monday. The two boys spent the weekend at home catching up with their traveling business parents who recently arrived back from somewhere in Asia only to be called back on Monday. It was understandable they wanted to spend all their free time with the ones they loved dearly.

When Monday, today, rolled around, I couldn't help but be filled with anticipation on how the two boys would get along. From the times spent around Avery, he was a generally soft and loving boy. One could describe him as an angel both in looks and personality. His soft baby blonde hair was cut short and outlined his soft features, ones that were blessed by a beautiful smile that radiated happiness. Avery always lit up a room and got along with those in the family so I only assumed he would be just as outgoing to Sol.

Though it seems I forgot to calculate one detail in this meeting.

Sol was a new and unfamiliar person.

"Avery, this is Sol, Sol this is Avery." Malikai spoke as he neared us in the park. I watched as he gently guided Avery to his side.

"Hi, Avery! I'm Sol, nice to meet you!" Sol waved excitedly with a beaming grin as he pointed to his new acquaintance, "I really like your shirt. Green is one of my favorite colors!" Avery's withdrawn form flinched for a moment, grabbing a fist full of his shirt in a nervous gesture.

Avery opened his mouth slightly, his eyes darting from the ground and back up to where my brother and I stood. Mal gave him a comforting rub on his shoulder,

"Nice to meet you, Sol." He spoke softly with a blush across his face. "Thank you, I also really like green, but I find blue much better."

I watched as my brother walked towards Avery and grabbed his free hand with a playful smile plastered across it.

"You are so right!" he exclaims, nodding his head in agreement. Avery's nervous demeanor seemed to be calmed by Sol's action as he smiled warmly at him. "Runa, Mal! We're gonna go play on the playground, okay?" The two of us give our confirmation and watch as Sol whispers something in Avery's ear and tug him off to the playground.

A shared giggle is heard between the two of us as I open my mouth, "That went well- I believe!" I say with a questioning yet joking tone. I watch Malikai as he stifles a laugh and began walking towards me.

The soft spring breeze fled through Malikai's brown locks. His half-up hair mixed with the bits of bangs framing his face left quite an appealing look. Surprisingly enough the jumble of hair meant to resemble a bun only added to his charm. Due to his hair only being a little past chin-length, it made it quite impossible to make a decent-looking bun yet this man somehow pulled it off.

"Nice outfit, looks nice on you," I spoke while scanning his clothes. The dark gray almost black jeans paired with his tucked white tee and the olive green knee-length cardigan was something even I would wear. "I might just have to steal that cardigan from you," I whisper in a half-joking manner.

"Why thank you-," He gasps, "hey if you wanted it so badly you could just ask." I giggle, watching as he nods his head towards the playground. "Wanna walk the trail around the park? We'll still be within viewing distance of the two but we can talk for a while."

I agree and follow Malikai up towards the main play area and turn onto the gravel path. This playground, in between the two of our houses, is our ideal spot for the kids due to the trail going around the playground. Even the one side has a little creak to play in when supervising the kids.