SCARLET MEETS MILA

29

Please comment throughout, I'm sad and need attention 💅🏽

Mila

I drift from staring at the TV to staring at Scarlet. She tickles Teddy's back as he snuggles into her side. He must have fell asleep half way into the movie, while Maisie has only just managed to close her eyes.

They look adorable, laying beside me while tangled between spider man blankets and pillows. She's invested in the movie, and her face has never looked more relaxed.

"Good choice," I laugh, and her eyes spring toward me. "They loved the movie so much they could barely stay awake."

She smiles. "I don't think he's ever seen the end." Teddy shuffles further into her side, lifting his arm over her chest with a gentle sigh. "I'm not sure he's seen any movie to the end."

"Likewise." I chuckle.

"You two look cute." Scarlet tilts her head in my direction. "She's in love with you."

I shake my head and clear my throat. "I doubt that," I reply. "She's obsessed with you and Harlow. Even her teachers hold higher regard in her little head."

"I'm sure that's not true." Her head falls back into the couch with a sigh. "I get how you're feeling though."

"You do?"

"Of course," she scoffs. "It's super easy to believe we're not enough. I worry well the time that I don't give him what he deserves." I shuffle to sit up and face her slightly. "I look at other kids his age and can't help but think he's different because of me."

"He is." I smile at her genuinely. "You're very unique and so is he. He'll never be like all of those other kids in some ways, but in others he'll be similar." I notice her gaze softening and realise she's really listening. "It's important to remember our situation."

"Crazy right?" She shakes her head while looking down at the boy beside her. "Out of nowhere, you walk into my life wrestling this unfair world just the same as I am. Yet somehow, we couldn't be more different."

I shrug. "You made something of yourself. I didn't."

"It's not about that." She sighs. "The way we came to be here. This situation."

"You never really told me how you came to be here in detail." I push the question I've been meaning to ask for days. "I know I haven't either, but I'm curious."

Scarlet purses her lips before shuffling to release her dead arm from under Teddy's back. "It's pretty bleak to be honest." Her laugh is telling. "My mom is an addict."

My stomach sinks. "Go on?"

She shrugs. "Drugs always came first. When I was eleven she left me with my grandma and never came back." Her eyes fall to watch Teddy sleep. "She decided to come back for me when I was seventeen. Turns out, she just needed somewhere to stay until she gave birth to Teddy."

"She left right after?"

"Pretty much."

I shake my head. "Scarlet, I'm so sorry."

"It's not like she ran away for good. Every couple of years she tries to find her way back to us." I can see her jaw tensing, and part of me realises her mom to be a catalyst of anger. "Thankfully, my lawyers managed to plead my case for full custody."

I reach over and stroke the back of Teddy's head with a soft smile. "You're perfect for him," I reply. "She means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Like me and Maisie, you do just fine when it's the two of you."