Whew, that was a super fun vacation! Although it was actually bad in a way because now I'm obsessed and want to go to Comic Con every year but I definitely can't afford that. Whoops.
(I also got a tattoo that says "Buckle up, Nerd." I'm 100% serious.)
Anyway, here's more Here to Stay. Sorry for the delay! I actually started writing this while in the Detroit airport last week, and I just finished and edited it in LAX tonight.
Ralph trailed ten or so feet behind the two women.
He was glad that his mother had a friend. And Linda was a real friend. Linda wasn't someone she worked with and therefore was in close proximity to on a regular basis – because if they were all honest with themselves, Paige and Happy worked together a long time before they both would consider each other a friend. Linda also wasn't a parent of one of Ralph's classmates, who Paige talked to while waiting at the end of the day and while on field trips. There was no practical reason for his mother to spend time with Linda, no obligation, so it must be a real friendship.
"Ralph, please try to keep up," Paige said, turning over her shoulder and smiling. "We don't want to lose you in the crowd."
"Mom, there's five other people in this store. And while there is a popular saying that suggests only three people is a crowd, I really don't think we can define the…"
Paige snapped her fingers and pointed beside her. Ralph picked up his pace. Paige was very verbal. If she was instructing him silently, that was a clear sign that he was pushing it.
He missed Walter. He knew his mom did too, but the purpose of this outing – to find Halloween costumes – was having the opposite effect on him than it was on Paige. She viewed this as a way of proving, to Ralph and to herself, that things could go on as normal. To her, it was a moment of strength, of not letting family time fall apart because one part of their family wasn't there.
To Ralph, it was just yet another holiday that he wasn't spending with two parents.
"Halloween isn't traditionally considered a family holiday," Daniel had typed out to him. The other boy had been trying to help.
"I know," Ralph had said, "but it was father daughter time when my mom was little, and so it's always been more of a family thing for us. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up…shut up," he'd said when Daniel cocked a brow. "I didn't have any friends growing up, so it was a me and my mom thing. She told me that Drew went with us once when I was a baby. But I don't remember that. There is a picture though. She went as a cheerleader, he as a pitcher, and I was a baseball. We look stupid."
Daniel had grinned.
"Ralph."
His mother's voice jolted him back to the present. "Hmmm?"
"How about this?"
She was holding a one piece costume, with vertical white and black stripes of different lengths with a single white spot in the center.
Linda cocked her head. "You want him to go as a bar code?"
"No," Paige said with a little laugh. "It's a visual representation of the Doppler Effect."
"Okay, you lost me."
"The Doppler Effect is the apparent change in frequency of a wave as the source and observer move in relation to one another, either closer or farther away. Could be light, sound, or otherwise. This costume was used on a television show a dozen years ago."
"The Big Bang Theory," Paige said to Linda.
"Oh!" Linda nodded. "I remember now. Yeah, Ralph, you should wear this. Sheldon's a genius just like you."
"He's not just like me. His I.Q. is one eighty seven. Mine is two hundred."
"Ralph," Paige said, "be nice. You know what Linda meant."
Ralph folded his arms and looked off to the side. "Sorry."
"Do you want me to go?" Linda asked suddenly. "I can go over to the coffee place and you guys can come get me when you're done…"
"Linda, you don't have to do that," Paige said quickly. She looked at Ralph. "Unless…"
"No, it's okay." Ralph shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm glad you have a friend, Mom."
Paige didn't exactly frown, but she looked confused. "O – okay. Uh, so, do you want this costume? Or…we could keep looking…oh, there might be a…"
"No no!" Ralph said quickly. He shook his head, pointing at the Doppler Effect costume. "That's admittedly very me.
Paige watched as her son stared through the window at the robotics demonstration. It wasn't anything fancy, just a machine of some sort encased in a glass box doing a few movements on loop. Certainly nothing too complex even for the average adult, much less her child. But he always enjoyed these things, these little pieces of him, albeit simplified and on display, in the normal, every day world.
"I don't know why he was so moody today," Paige said, glancing at Linda. "I'm sorry. You've seen how polite and sweet he can be. I really don't know what got in to him."
Linda blinked. She didn't say a word, but her expression was so obvious she may as well have said "really?" out loud. Paige frowned. "What?"
"Hmmm?" Linda raised her eyebrows, then cleared her throat, her face taking on a more neutral expression. "Nothing."
"Yes. Something. What do you know? Did he say something to you?"
"Ralph? No." Linda bit her lip. "But I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me being here."
"Linda," Paige said, "don't think like that. He's a genius, he…he expresses himself differently than some others. Walter is like that too. They give off impressions that they don't mean."
"No," Linda said, "I'm sure of it. You've never given details, but you've said enough to know that Halloween has some familial attachment to it for you and Ralph and Walter. And I don't know what your traditions are or how long they've been going on, but it seems Ralph doesn't like that I'm the other adult on this excursion."
"You're saying he resents you?" Paige frowned. "I know he had some issues with the person I dated before Walter, but he has to know that you and I aren't a thing."
"He doesn't think I'm threatening your relationship," Linda said. "At least, he's a smart kid and I assume he knows that. But if another adult was tagging along on something important to my family when a member of that family wasn't there, it may still feel like a replacement. And an inadequate one at that."
Paige folded her arms. "I guess I can see where you're coming from. Though you sound a lot like Toby," she added with a laugh.
Linda looked at her. Paige sighed. "And Toby is usually right."
Linda briefly laid her head on Paige's shoulder, then straightened up and smiled at her. "I'm so glad we've become friends, Paige. But I think I should spend less time with you when Ralph is around."
Paige smirked. "You're breaking up with me?"
"I know, how dare I, I mean, we aren't even a thing."
"Exactly. Bitch."
Linda laughed. So did Paige. "Well," Linda said after a moment, "I'm going to take off, got to get to the post office anyway, and they close early on Saturdays."
"Okay. Text me next time you want to get lunch, okay?" Paige said with a smile.
"Will do."
When she was gone, Paige crossed the mall hallway and came up to stand behind her son. "Can you explain it to me?"
Ralph looked up at her, an eyebrow raised playfully. "Can I?"
"Will you?"
He grinned. "Sure."
I promise I will catch up on y'all's fics soon! I get so excited when I see the updates!