Arms Hotel, Saturday Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, so for all the complaining about having to get up early - especially after a night chock-full of pollen - this was Kathy's favorite weekend of the year. Surrounded by kids who called her mom, arguing over breakfast, listening to them babble on about their likes and interests and hopes, singing them to sleep at night. Even with as a late an evening as they'd had, she was still up, bright and early, humming around the public room of the suite, readying it for tiny visitors.

A hotel room meant that she had to rely on room service for breakfast, but she made due, making sure to order plenty of fruit (heavy on the strawberries), and juice, and more bacon and sausage than any one room really ought to have.

Now to wait for folks to start showing up!

[Open for all tiny children and their parents, whether related or not!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Oh Zeke.

Kathy paused, looking at her son's face with soft eyes. "It's hotel apple juice, so probably just from a bottle," she said, letting that line of questioning go. "Do you wanna go see if there's somewhere we can get a better caliber of juice on the island?"

[bouncy_foxkit]

Zeke shrugged. There was something ever so slightly stilted about his casual demeanor. "It doesn't really matter that much. You know how searching for things sounds like work, right?"

Dad had always said that.

[spin_kick_snap]

She'd mostly been giving him an excuse to leave if he needed one, but she certainly wasn't going to force him to take it.

"And heaven forbid we do something like that," she teased lightly. "I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for apple juice from concentrate."

[bouncy_foxkit]

He didn't really have anywhere else to go.

Or, he didn't want to be so obvious about being uncomfortable as to actually take the excuse.

He made a show of heaving a great big sigh. "You have failed me, Mom. But I'll live with it."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm a constant disappointment to all my teens today," Kathy said, giving a truly tragic sigh. Not that Evie technically counted, but she seemed like she was trying to get an early start. "Hopefully I have my act together where you're from."

[bouncy_foxkit]

"You do."

Look, with the underlying currents present here, that was one thing he didn't feel like being quippy about. Comments about her obsession with healthy foods aside, obviously.

In fact, he leaned in and kissed her temple. "You're a great mom," he said, dropping his voice a little lower because sorry, Evie, but this wasn't really for you. "And I probably don't tell you often enough."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy looked up at him, trying not to cry with her hands coming up over her heart. "I'm pretty sure I know," she told him, just as softly. "Because I look at the person you are and there can't be any doubt. I know I spend every minute as your mom being so proud of you."

[bouncy_foxkit]

Zeke flashed her a wide grin. "Obviously. I'm fantastic."

... And he could do sincerity for so long before switching gears became a necessity.

[spin_kick_snap]

Of course. He got that from his father, too.

"Well, duh," she said, rolling her eyes at him like the teen she had been not too long ago, "You're my son. How could you be anything else? I'm flawless."