"Seat belt," he said, pulling his own across and watching as Noah did the same. He started the car up and set off. "You have a good day?"
Noah half nodded, half shrugged. "I drew a picture of a dog."
"A dog, huh?"
"Can I have a dog?" Noah asked.
Boone looked at him. "Noah, we've talked about this."
"You said when I was older," Noah pointed out. "I'm older."
"That was like two weeks ago," Boone argued. "You're still not old enough."
"Zara has a dog," Noah complained.
"Zara's older," Boone stated. "And I think that's Shannon's dog."
"When I'm six can I have a dog?" Noah asked.
Boone sighed. "We'll talk about it when you're six."
This seemed to make Noah happy as he sat back and looked out the window. "Miss Croft read us a story about a boy and his mommy and I said that I didn't have a mommy and Johnny Osbourne said that everybody has a mommy."
Boone cringed a little. "Johnny Osbourne's an idiot."
"But then Miss Croft said that everybody does have a mommy even if their mommy isn't around anymore." Noah looked at Boone who kept his eyes on the road, willing Noah not to ask. "Do I have a mommy?"
Oh God, Boone thought. It's not like he didn't see this day coming, he just kind of hoped he'd have a little more time before Noah started asking about things like that. He also hoped that Jack would be there when he did.
"You hungry?" Boone asked, hoping he could distract him. Noah just looked puzzled. "You wanna go to McDonalds?"
"You said we were having pasta," Noah said. "And you said McDonalds was bad for you."
Boone nodded. "Right, I did say both those things."
"Boone..."
"I have to stop for gas," Boone interrupted, pulling the car in to the gas station. It was a total lie, he had nearly half a tank left, but he wanted to buy himself some thinking time.
He got out of the car and went around to the pump, knowing he wasn't going to be able to fit a whole lot in. He filled it up and then went into the store, wondering exactly what he was going to say to Noah when he got back to the car. Strictly speaking Noah did have a mom but strictly speaking he didn't. He had a woman who carried him around for nine months and gave birth to him, which some people would say would make her his mother, but Boone thought there was more to it than that, especially in this situation. Noah was never going to meet Tayla or have anything to do with her so really she may as well not exist. But he was bound to have questions about her all the same and Boone wasn't sure how to answer them.
Boone sighed and moved to the front of the queue where he saw a display of cookies. He knew it was wrong of him to attempt to bribe his son but if he could just keep him quiet until Jack came home then his life would be a whole lot easier. He grabbed a cookie and paid.
He headed back out to the car. "I got you something," he told Noah, handing over to cookie. Noah smiled and took it off him. "What do you say?"
"Thank you," Noah chimed. Boone gave him a smile. "Can I have it now?"
"Sure thing," Boone replied, starting the car up again. He watched as Noah tucked into the cookie and pulled out of the gas station.
The cookie kept Noah quiet on the way home but then he sat at the kitchen table while Boone was trying to make dinner. Boone usually liked when Noah did that, he'd sit and draw pictures and tell Boone about his day, but today Boone could really do without it.
"What is a mommy?" Noah asked. "Is it a girl version of a daddy? I have two boy daddies."
"Yeah, you do," Boone agreed.
"How is a mommy different from a daddy?" Noah asked.
"Well, a mommy's a girl," Boone said.
"I said that," Noah complained. "Why do you need a mommy? I don't like girls. Aunt Shannon always smells funny."
Boone couldn't help but smile. "That's her perfume, Noah."
"It smells funny," Noah stated, scrunching up his nose. "And Zara's always flinging her hair about when we play, she hits me with it."
Boone smiled again. "I'm sure she doesn't mean to."
"Do you have a mommy?" Noah asked.
"You know I have a mommy, Grandma Carlyle is my mommy," Boone replied.
"She always holds onto my hand too tight," Noah complained. "And she says I break things when I don't, they just break."
Boone sighed and turned to face Noah. "How many times, Noah? Things don't just break on their own."
Noah nodded enthusiastically. "They do."
"They seem to when you're around," Boone muttered, turning back to what he was doing.
"Do you have a daddy?" Noah asked.
"My daddy's not around," Boone replied.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Did you lose him?"
Boone smiled. "He left, he didn't tell me where he went."
"Why did he leave?"
"I don't know, he didn't tell me."
Noah seemed to consider this for a while. "Do I have a mommy?"
Boone sighed. "Why don't you go watch some TV?"
"I don't wanna," Noah complained, pouting.
"Okay, well, just be quiet, I need to concentrate, okay?" Boone said, turning back to his cooking.
"Can I help?" Noah asked.
"Not today, Noah," Boone replied.
"Suzi Hammond in my class lost her tooth today," Noah said. "It was her front one, now she has a gap. She looks really silly."
"You'll lose your front teeth soon, Noah," Boone told him.
Noah pouted again. "I don't wanna. I like my teeth."
"But when you do you get new ones," Boone said. "Stronger ones, they're better."
"Does the tooth fairy give you extra for your front teeth?" Noah asked.
"Why would she give you extra?"
"Because she makes you look silly for taking them," Noah explained.
"I don't think she sees it like that, Noah," Boone replied.
"How does the tooth fairy get into your house?" Noah asked.
"She flies in," Boone told him.
"But how does she fit?"
"She's really, really small," Boone explained, which Noah seemed to accept.
"Does the tooth fairy have a mommy?" Noah asked.
"I don't know," Boone replied.
"Don't you know the tooth fairy?"
"No, I don't know her."
"But I thought all parents knew the tooth fairy," Noah said, looking a little puzzled. "And Santa Claus."
"No, no one's allowed to meet the tooth fairy or Santa Claus," Boone told him. "Not even grown ups."
"But I met Santa Claus at Christmas," Noah pointed out.
"Right," Boone said, thinking on his feet. "But that's different. You can meet Santa Claus just before Christmas when he comes to visit but you can't see him on Christmas eve because if you do then he won't leave you any presents."
"But how do you tell Santa what I want?"
"Santa knows what you want," Boone said. "He listens to you all year round."
"Don't you get to meet Santa?" Noah asked. "Jack said Santa took care of the presents."
"He does, yes," Boone agreed, unsure where he was going with this. "But we don't get to see him."
"Why not?" Noah asked.
"Because you're not allowed to see Santa, no one's allowed to see Santa."
"But I saw Santa."
Boone sighed and wondered how the hell he managed to get into this conversation. He guessed he should count himself lucky that Noah wasn't asking him about mommies anymore but he was also getting slightly stressed out. He really wasn't in the mood for one of Noah's question sessions. He knew that the kid had a lot to learn about the world but he wished he'd ask about something he had a clue about.
"Does Santa Claus have a mommy?" Noah asked.
Boone turned around to face him, trying not to look annoyed. "Why don't we talk about mommies when Jack comes home, huh?"
"Okay," Noah said, looking a little disinterested and turning his attention back to his crayons.
Boone expected more of a fight than that if he was honest but he knew he should be happy. He should have tried the Jack card ages ago, it usually worked, Noah doted on Jack, mainly because he wasn't around as much as Boone was. Noah might be closer to Boone than he was to Jack but Jack had unintentionally made himself a special commodity so the promise of Jack was sometimes enough to keep him quiet. Boone knew that it's effectiveness was limited though and Noah would undoubtedly get bored and start questioning him again if Jack didn't return soon. Boone just hoped Jack was going to be on time so he could help answer some of Noah's questions.