By the time I was your age
I'd give anything
To fall in love truly was all I could think.
Quinn stood at the bottom of a carpeted staircase and cleared her throat.
"Micah!" She winced as her voice echoed through the staircase; she hadn't meant to be so loud. A slightly muffled teenage voice replied from the top of the stairs.
"Yeah Mom?"
"Are you busy?"
"Nope."
"Okay good. Can you come down here?" There was a loud crash and a string of cuss words followed by the sound of an opening door. The blonde laughed as she turned to walk to a black faux leather couch. As she sat she reached over to an end table and picked up a photo. It was of a blithe-looking pair; her and a brunette. They were standing in the snow, wrapped in each other's arms. Quinn gave a dolorous smile before returning it to its place to turn to her son. He had just sat down across from her on a chair that matched the couch she was on. She looked at him for a while, studying his face. There was a strong resemblance between him and the brunette in the photo. The boy's hair was nearly identical to that of the woman, while his eye color was an exact duplicate. He flashed his thought-filled mother a smile and it was like a mirrored image. The smile was wide and genuine, revealing perfect teeth. It caused a slight wrinkle beneath his eyes, both of which shone with the smile.
"Did you just want to stare at me or…" he trailed off with a soft chuckle as his mother snapped out of her daze.
"Right, sorry Micah. Okay… so you're sixteen now-" The boys brown eyes widened drastically as he cut her off.
"Oh no. If this is turning into 'the talk' then uh," he stood up and began to back away.
"Oh heavens no. Sit your ass back down. Good, okay. Now as I was saying, you're sixteen now so you must be interested in girls, or boys. Whatever makes you happy."
"Girls, and you just said this wasn't going to be the talk."
"It isn't. Now let me finish. You're interested in girls, so I need to tell you a story. It's really long so I won't get it all out today. Before you ask, yes you can get some food before I start. Grab me an apple."
He hopped up and walked past her into the kitchen. He grabbed a bowl from a cabinet and scooped out some ice cream before making popcorn and retrieving a green apple from a chrome fridge. Returning to his seat, he got comfortable before tossing the apple to the blonde who in return handed him a picture frame. At first he looked at her in confusion, but then he glanced at the photo. It was of her and brunette again, and all he could do was smile. If it was another one of those stories, he could listen for days on end.
"I'm going to start from the beginning this time." The softness in her voice and tears in her eyes betrayed that her mind was somewhere else. Micah nodded and opened his mouth to respond, but before he could she started speaking again.