??? POV
Kiana Samuels is a mother of an 8 year old boy, named Keith whom I babysit whenever she goes for work and errands.
Miss Kiana is 27 years old and she's working a lot of jobs that sometimes, Keith doesn't even see her at home anymore and of course, the kid feels sad with this and that, but at least it understands that what her Mom is doing is for him.
"Uncle Pierre! Uncle Pierre!" Keith calls from the living room.
"Hm? What is it, Bud?" I asked, running to him.
Smiling, Keith points at a picture on his tablet. "Do you think Mom will like this if I bought this for her birthday?" He asks in wonder.
Ruffling his hair with a smile, I replied. "I'm sure she will." Pausing, I looked at the picture again, my eyes searching how much was it, then asked. "How do you plan buying them then?"
Smiling, he says proudly. "It's easy, I'm just gonna ask Dad to give me some money."
Forcing a laugh, I give him a nod."Hopefully he does." I mumbled, hinting my sarcasm.
With Keith calling his Dad, I just went back to the kitchen and continued cooking dinner for me, Keith and Miss Kia, who will likely be home sometime later.
"But, why not? It's for Mommy's birthday!" Keith suddenly howls, so I went a little closer to eavesdrop on what his Dad is saying to make him mad.
"Sorry, son. Dad just really got no money now, but I promise to give you some when I got it, okay?" It says, making Keith end the call, his anger still showing at his face.
"Hey, bud. What happened? Why did you tell at your Dad?" I asked, pretending not to hear anything.
Shaking his head, he continued frowning as he mumbled. "I just don't think I can buy Mommy that gift."
"Hm? Why so?" I asked again, not to annoy him but to encourage him to voice out his feelings.
Fidgeting with his fingers, Keith replied. "Dad says he got no money to give me."
Nodding, I ruffled his hair, saying. "I know you're disappointed that you can't buy something for your Mom, but what you did isn't right either. Didn't your Mom told you not to drop a call when no one says bye?"
Looking down, he nods back. "Sorry, Uncle. I'm just sad that I can't give Mom a present."
"That sorry isn't supposed to be mine, Keith. How about messaging your Dad?" I said calmly, making sure that he doesn't take it that I am mad at him.
Nodding once more, he sends a quick voice message to his Dad, saying he's sorry.
To reward his immediate contemplation, I then said. "How about I pay for your gift?"
An instant smile appeared into his face. "Really Uncle?" He asked to confirm.
Nodding, I pinched his cheek, saying. "Yeah, but I want you to promise me something."
"What is it?" He eagerly asked.
Smiling, I said. "Promise me that you won't say that I am the one who paid for it, Just say that you saved some money from your allowance."
Confused, Keith looked at me with a curious look. "Why not? Isn't that counted as lying?" He asked.
Shaking my head, I said. "I just don't want your Mom to think that you imposed me to buy it and pay it for you."
Nodding understandingly, Keith smiles. "Okay! I promise not to say anything." He says.
Satisfied, I let him place the order while I went back to the kitchen and finished cooking.
After a while, Miss Kia arrives looking tired as ever, but when Keith comes to greet her, she immediately smiles and give him a hug.
"Welcome home, Mom!" Keith greeted her with a kiss on her cheek.
"I'm home, baby." Miss Kia replied, hugging and kissing Keith back. "How's you day?" It asked, carrying his son back to the living room where they lounge at the couch together.
"Today is fine, Mommy, how about yours? Are you tired?" Keith asked thoughtfully.
"Mine is fine too, baby." Miss Kia paused to look at me and back to Keith to ask. "Have you been a good boy to your Uncle Pierre?"
Smiling, Keith nods. "I'm always a good boy!"
Giggling, Miss Kia nods and soon asked me. "Did you cook for dinner?"
"Yes I did, Miss. Should I set the table now?" I asked back.
With a smile, she replies. "Yes please. Let's eat now so you can come home early."
Nodding, I silently obliged, can't help but to smile.
"Food is ready!" I called.
Nodding, the two of them went straight to the sink and washed their hands before sitting across the table.
"Bon appetit!" Keith cheerfully said as his Mom fills his plate with food.
After doing the same for herself, Miss Kia hands me the platter and we all ate together.
After dinner, I was about to clear the dishes away when Miss Kia told me leave it. "You can go home now." It said.
"Are you sure Miss? I mean, I'm not in a hurry to go home, I can just finish them so you don't have to worry anymore and just sleep." I briefly suggested.
Smiling, she nods. "Sorry to impose, I'm just so tired today." She says, yawning.
"Mommy, you're sleepy. Let's go shower now so we can sleep early." Keith said, practically dragging his Mom to stand up.
Nodding drowsily, Miss Kia follows. "Just lock the door when you leave." It reminded me before going upstairs.
After clearing the dishes, I just made sure that all the windows are closed and as I went off their house, I locked the door, ensuring their safety before going home.
The next day, I came back to their house as I know that Miss Kia will be leaving for work once I am in but into my surprise, there isn't a sign that the two of them went down already.
Thinking that they're still sleeping, I waited for a bit more before totally checking on them. "Miss Kia? Keith?" I called out from their shared room, then the door opens and revealed Keith, whispering. "Shh! It's been a while since Mommy sleep that well."
Nodding in understanding, I whispered as well. "But doesn't she need to get up for work?" I asked.
Shrugging, Keith replies. "Can't we just let Mommy sleep? She's always tired and I'm scared that she might get sick."
"We can but we need to know first if she has work today, she might get mad if she missed work because of us." I told Keith.
Nodding, Keith walks back to their bed and asked his Mom. "Mommy, do you have work today? It's already past 8 o'clock."
Then, Miss Kia replied. "I do, baby but I don't think I can go, Mommy is just not feeling well." It paused. "Is your Uncle Pierre there already?" It adds.
"Yes, Mommy. " Keith gave a quick answer.
"That's good. Go with him, I'm just gonna sleep some more." Miss Kia muttered and Keith obliges.
Closing the door, Keith looked at me with his concerned face. "Will Mommy be okay?" Keith asked.
Nodding with a smile, I replied. "We will make sure she does."
Nodding back, Keith comes with me downstairs and together, we prepared breakfast for the both of us and a porridge for Miss Kia.
After cooking...
"Uncle, can I feed Mommy first so she can drink her medicines." Keith asked.
Smiling, I give him a nod, then scooped some porridge to put in a bowl, before putting on a saucer for easy handling.
"Let's go back upstairs so your Mom can eat." I said, holding the saucer on one hand while the other is holding Keith's hand.
Nodding, Keith cheerfully hops until we reached their room and once inside, he gently wake her Mom up by saying "Mommy, Mommy! Time for breakfast!"
Putting up a smile, even she looks terribly sick, Miss Kia says "Thank you, baby. Are you going to feed, Mommy?"
With a proud smile, Keith nods then asked me to give him the porridge. Obliging, I held the tray before him and put it on the bed. "Blow it first, okay? We don't want your Mom getting burned." I reminded.
Nodding, Keith started feeding his Mom but accidentally dropped some on his legs, making it sting a bit.
"Uncle, will you please feed Mommy? I'm just gonna to the bathroom." Keith asked.
Nodding, I took over his place and carefully sat beside Miss Kia. "Sorry to bother you again, Pierre. You're only supposedly to look after Keith, but now you have to look after me too." She muttered shyly.
Shaking my head, I replied. "This is nothing, Miss. You have been good to me ever since I started working here so I'd gladly be of help when it counts."
Smiling, she says. "What a good young man you are, your girlfriend will be lucky to have you."
Can't help but to chuckle, I replied. "That will be good if I have one."
Smiling, she nods. "You're still young so take all the time you need. You don't want to be someone like me." She mumbles, obviously regretting some decisions she made on her life.
"Come on, Miss. You aren't that old, I'm sure that there will be a person who can see everything about you just beautiful you are." I then said, to raise her spirits up.
With a bittersweet smile she utters. "I maybe not that old but who in the sane mind would like to date a person like me? A chubby single mom, with a lot of flaws inside and out."
Can't help but to stop her from talking like that about herself, I just found myself kissing her and instead of pushing me away, she instinctively returns my kiss.
Caught in the heat of the moment, I carefully lied her down the bed, still fervently kissing her as my hands touching her adeptly.
All is moving smoothly until, Miss Kia accidentally kicked the tray, making everything on it spilled and scattered on the floor.
Hearing that, of course, Keith rushed in and luckily, doesn't saw us in the position we're in just moments ago.
"Mommy, is everything okay? Why did the tray fell?" Keith asked his Mom while I made myself busy, cleaning the spills on the floor.
Still flushed, Miss Kia replies. "Yes, everything's okay, baby. Mommy w-was just clumsy and accidentally knocked off the tray."
Nodding, Keith turned to me. "Are you okay too, Uncle Pierre?"
Letting out an awkward chuckle, I nod. "W-why will I not be?" The words rumbles into my head as I glanced at Miss Kia.
"Uhm, how about you two go down for now. I think I will feel better if I sleep some more." Miss Kia suddenly suggested.
Nodding, Keith gets off from the bed and willingly dragged me off the room to leave his Mom alone but no matter what I do, I just can't stop thinking what could have happened if we weren't interrupted.
"Oh God! I think I am losing my mind over her." I groaned to myself as I am cooking our food for lunch.
"Uncle! Uncle! Is the food ready now?" Keith asked, suddenly appearing behind me.
"It'll be ready in few minutes, why? Are you hungry now?" I asked back.
Shaking his head, he says. "I forgot to give the medicines to Mommy."
Smiling, I nod. "Just give it to her when we brought her food up."
Nodding, Keith goes back to the living room and watched his favorite show in silence.
After few minutes, I called Keith back and together, we went upstairs to deliver the food and the medicines, but I heard someone moaning from afar and decided not to come any further.
"Keith, I don't think it's a good time right now. Maybe, we should eat first." I suggested.
Confused, Keith looked at me and asked "But why?"
"I just don't think it's good to wake up your Mom. So let's eat first, okay?" I insisted so the kid just went down.
Sighing, I took a quick glance to the door, muttering. "Enjoy yourself, Miss Kia."