Arthur had known. He'd known Amelia had something up her sleeve the moment she'd divulged to him they had had a babysitting request. While the original retelling of the assignment had been an event in and of itself, Arthur had been so caught up in it that he'd completely glossed over one very important detail.

Amelia said that they were to watch Maddie's four year-old cousin over the weekend. Amelia always worked on the weekends. Who, pray tell, would be the one to watch the lad then?

"Oh come on, Arthur! Maddie says he's nothing but a sweet, quiet little boy who likes to play with his stuffed animals. Remind you of anyone? Hmmm?"

"While I'll let that quip about my introverted childhood slide, I don't see why you couldn't have gotten off to follow through with your original promise to your cousin."

"Believe me, I didn't mean to pin this all on you, but seeing as I'm the only one that's making money in this relationship, I'd say that you need a bit of a distraction from your...work recently."

Arthur bit back a string of choice words he could have offered as a retort, thinking it better for him to lay low for now. His girlfriend had a point; ever since they'd returned from London, the original agreement with his parents had been nullified in order that he could stay in the States. That being said, he'd been working harder than ever to complete his novel, searching for freelance writing opportunities on the side. So far this was proving more difficult than he had hoped.

"When is the lad scheduled to arrive?"

"His mom should be arriving any minute now to drop him off. I've already spoken with my boss to allow me to be a few minutes late so that I could be here to greet her, but then I'm off myself."

"Wait, if you could get her to do that, why couldn't you convince her-"

Amelia was literally saved by the bell.

"Coming!"

She crossed the room to the front door, Arthur taking some amusement in the familiarity and ownership she had with this place she was only 'temporarily' living in. He, meanwhile, hung back a bit to observe.

"Ah! Mrs. Wang, a pleasure to meet you. Maddie's told me so much about you."

Arthur found it odd that she would speak with so much formality despite the fact that they were, by marriage, cousins. Standing at the doorway was a Chinese woman with shoulder-cropped hair, small of stature but not of frame. Amelia had informed him that Mrs. Wang, or Yin, was a doctor in her a local unit on the edge of China Town. She'd met Maddie's brother when she found him drunk and out cold on the sidewalk in front of her building. They'd been together ever since. The product of such a marriage was the charming little boy currently clinging to his mother's knee: Kaoru.

He was roughly two feet tall, deep brown hair and dark brown eyes. His complexion was unbelievably pale and contrasted deeply with the maroon color of his shirt (which bored a likeness of Mickey Mouse upon it). The most curious thing, however, was the plush panda bear he clung so desperately to. It was an ordinary bear, nothing too out of the ordinary save for the obvious wear-and-tear from being dearly loved.

Arthur, who had been otherwise preoccupied with his own inner musings, was suddenly called back to attention by Mrs. Wang's words.

"Thank you both for being so willing to watch my little man while Maddie is away."

"It's no problem, Mrs. Wang. I know that we'll all have the best time."

If by 'we' you mean 'I', then it's good to see one of us thinks so.

With a short exchange of goodbyes, they parted ways and before he knew it, Arthur sat alone on the couch across from the small child perpetually concealed by his toy.

"So, Kaoru, do you like to play outside?"

The child blinked.

"Do you...enjoy playing with toys?"

Nothing.

Arthur was pulling teeth to get the boy to respond. The minute he'd stepped into the household, he'd found the nearest couch and sat, soundlessly, staring up at him. Those eyes, however rich they might have been, now seemed like a bottomless pit of uncertainty and anxiety. No matter what Arthur tried, the boy had given no indication of even comprehending what he was saying. For all Arthur knew, the boy lived in a bilingual household; perhaps his family had chosen to start him off early with Chinese and he was just now learning English?

Possibilities and scenarios ran through his head at lightening pace, the situation growing increasingly awkward as time passed. He wracked his brain for a solution when suddenly his eyes fell upon the Panda Kaoru held. As if the boy could sense that it was now being targeted, he clung tighter to the raggedy thing.

"Does your bear have a name?"

Arthur took a gamble with this question, but he was willing to chance it. Shortly, he was glad he did, as the boy's eyes flashed with interest before tilting up to observing Arthur cautiously.

"Panda..."

Not the most creative name, I'll admit, but at least we're getting somewhere.

"Oh, what a lovely name...", Arthur smiled seeing Kaoru's shoulders slowly relax, "You know, I have a bear too. Would you like to see him?"

The child finally picked his head up fully from his companion and tilted it slightly. "You have a bear?"

"Why yes indeed. He's been my dear friend since I was about your age."

Arthur motioned for the Kaoru to stay put, which he hoped the boy would obey, and made his way back to his room. After a bit of rummaging around, and a few piles of clothes strewn haphazardly on the floor later, Arthur returned to the living room where Kaoru had remained seated. Triumphantly, he sat down on the opposite end of the couch from him and presented what was left of his scruffy excuse for a teddy bear.

"This is Pooh Bear. Winnie the Pooh to be precise. He lives in the hundred acre woods with a whole lot of friends. I'm sure that he'd love to meet Panda as well."

Kaoru eyed the bear for a few moments, wordlessly returning his gaze to Arthur. Arthur waited, his good mood rapidly fading the more time passed. Suddenly, the boy opened his arms and scooted Panda forward until it sat a few inches away from Pooh. He then blinked up at Arthur expectantly.

"Panda likes friends."

Arthur's face softened, taking the right arm of his weathered bear and extending it out to take Panda's in a hearty shake.

"A pleasure to meet you, Panda."