-

Sunblock, extra clothes and some toiletries. Elijah didn’t expect much of the invitation and he didn’t have to worry packing less than necessary. He packs all of his things in his bag along with Matteo’s and sat down on the edge of the bed. Silence, eerily breezing his entire room. The white noise had only rung in a soft tone and the cars he expected to hear from outside weren’t causing any.

How did he manage to agree in all of this? Elijah can’t answer. He doesn’t even know how the situation turned against him. His ex-wife and her soulmate have solely dependent on his answer and turning it down was the reply he was ready to utter. And yet, something changed – and he knew it wasn’t him.

Right?

“Papa?” Matteo calls out to him, soft and almost quiet. Uncertainty was clear in his son’s voice. Elijah looks from his behind, noticing the furrowed brows and pursed lips from his little boy.

Matteo was leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom. His white shirt and blue trunks were chosen by himself and had needed barely any help when he got dressed for the occasion. Toys were carefully selected and have been pack in his own backpack for the beach.

“What is it, Matteo?” Elijah questioned, letting his tone be as gentle as he could and motion his son to sit beside him. Matteo responded by running up to the bed and groan as jumps to get on top of it. Elijah didn’t reprimand the behavior and let Matteo drag Elijah’s left hand onto his lap.

“Do we really have to go?” Matteo answered with another. “Mama is there but… Adam is too.”

“Do you dislike Adam, Matteo?” Elijah asked his little boy and sighs as Matteo eventually answered with a nod. It can’t be helped if his son felt this way, Matteo had only seen misery and constant fighting at the time when Adam arrived. That, and phenomena surrounding soulmates did help solidify his son distaste towards the man.

However, Elijah doesn’t want his son to know more about hate. He doesn’t want to suppress the emotion either. If anything, Matteo shouldn’t need to hate – shouldn’t have to.

“I understand, Matteo,” Elijah tells his son and felt fingers poking around the middle part of his pinky. “I don’t want to go but your mother thought it’d be a great idea to spent some time at the beach.”

“It’s not great if it’s not only the three of us at the beach, papa,” Matteo responded, muttering his words under his breath and huddled close to Elijah. The bed moves as Matteo did, bouncing and shuffling from the movement and Elijah realize that one of the corners of the bedsheet had folded from it. But the small matter was brushed away.

“I know,” Elijah agreed.

He heard a car parked on front of their apartment, its engine loudly running in the background as well as the honk that came after it. Elijah didn’t need to guess whose car it was and its occupants’ intent to parked next to his home. Elijah simply stood up from the bed, listening in to the whines from his son and carried his bag on his shoulders.

“Papa carry me,” Matteo whines, pouting along to his request and Elijah just goes along to his son’s wants. Matteo sometimes wanted to be carried if it meant facing the inevitable, whether it’d be doctor appointments or weekend meetings with the teachers. It seems going out to somewhere with Adam is part of the list as well.

Matteo holds onto his neck with his chin resting on Elijah’s shoulder. Elijah goes down the stairs, making sure that the locks on the backdoor were closed along with the windows on the first floor. The second floor had already been secured. He went to the living room, slipping into his sandals and opens the front door of his apartment.

The sun wasn’t kind to his face, his skin and his eyes. He shields his face with his hands and makes sure to lock the door before he closes. Matteo then tightens his hold as Elijah strides toward the vehicle, finally exiting his place.

He opens the door of the passenger seat and was greeted by the cold of the air conditioning. A contrast to the humidity he’s been facing at home and his short walk to the car. His ex-wife peeks in between in the driver’s seat and passenger seat and smiles at them. He enters the vehicle, albeit with a struggle when his son wouldn’t let go of him and opted to sit on Elijah’s lap instead.

“Hey, Eli!” She sounds excited with a bright grin stretched on her face. Elijah couldn’t share the same enthusiasm but nods back as a greeting. His words were murmured and she seems content with what she got as a reply.

“Hey, little boy,” Lisa cooed, extending a hand on Matteo’s back before reaching his shoulder. “Mama’s here, you know. She misses you a lot.” Matteo slowly untangles his hands from Elijah’s neck and looks behind. His son’s position changes, facing forward to his mother and reciprocated the gesture with his small hands intertwining Lisa’s.

“Hi… mama,” Matteo replies back, hesitantly.

“Are you excited, Matteo?” She asked him and Matteo responded the same answer when Elijah had question him before. Hurt was an emotion written all over his ex-wife’s face and Elijah didn’t intervene to shower false optimism. It was a harsh thought but facing the problem meant experiencing the pain it causes.

“Why, my love?” Matteo stayed quiet but his answers lie on the glances he had made onto the back of the driver’s seat. Her eyes followed his – her smile falls bit by bit.

“Um, Christian’s not here with us, mama,” his son explained moments later, “he said he had to go somewhere important.”

“Well, invite him the next time we go to the beach then,” she recommends and showcased a forced, small smile on her face. She tries to reassure her expression and attempt to chuckle at the shock from her little boy. But Elijah knew better, noticing details his son couldn’t witness and felt the pain too.

Elijah looks at the driver’s seat, knowing that the man had listened to the conversation and grimace at the white knuckles holding the stirring wheel tightly.

-

Adam had reserved a cottage at the furthest part of the resort. Lisa has packed their lunch and arranged them on the table while Elijah places their things on one side of the seat.

“I’m glad you accepted the invitation, Eli,” she states her gratitude, “I kind of predicted that you would refuse the offer but I’m happy that you didn’t.”

 Elijah paused his movement, holding onto the zipper of Matteo’s backpack. His toys were placed next to it, readily available for his son to use at any moment. He can feel her from behind and Elijah shivers at the obvious, feeling air brushed down his spine. Or was it her nails? He’s unsure.

“I’d do everything for Matteo,” Elijah responded. “Even if it means being in a situation, I’m uncomfortable with.”

“Eli, I-“

“Papa!” Matteo shouts. Elijah redirected his attention to his little boy and watches his son run up to their cottage, his face dripping with salt water with his skin slightly glistening from the sun. There’s even sand sticking to his hands and knees. Nevertheless, discomfort wasn’t portrayed on his face but rather a grin that calms down Elijah’s emotions.

“Papa! I saw tiny crabs,” Matteo announced and clings onto Elijah’s leg, bouncing as he repeated his words once again. There was a shadow casting over Elijah and his son, the heavy footsteps of someone entering the cottage and Elijah didn’t need to look to see who it is.

Adam simply intervenes the topic with his observation, “He want to grab the starfish but he got scared.”

“I wanted to give it to him but he ran away before I could get close…” Disappointment was the tone Elijah hears from Adam and noticed another set of eyes aimed at him. He tries to ignore the attention, pretending to be unaware at the desperation passed onto him.

“Is that true, Matteo?” It was her turn to enter the conversation. Still, Matteo shrinks. “There’s no need to be scared, dear. Starfish don’t bite or hurt anyone – they’re just stars that fall down from the sky and swim in the ocean, that’s all.”

“Why don’t we go back to the water and tell me where the starfish is,” she added, coaxing his son to come out from hiding behind Elijah’s leg. “I could grab it for you.”

Silence. Matteo didn’t give an answer to indicate any sort of agreement to idea but the quiet wasn’t meant to be a decline either. Elijah brushes his son’s hair, feeling his son leans against the touch. He witnesses the frustration on her face, looking down on her throat to see her gulping it all down and the sigh that restarts the entire conversation.

“Adam might try to catch a few of them in deeper waters as well.” She couldn’t have chosen the worst idea to capture Matteo’s attention.

Matteo raised his head to face Elijah instead, expecting something. His son even tugs his trunks down and titled his head.

“You go have fun with your mama, Matteo,” Elijah suggests, nudging his son away from his leg. The grip had loosened but has yet to fully let go, especially with Matteo’s nail softly digging into his skin.

“What about you papa?” Matteo questions and pressed his body against Elijah’s leg, rubbing his soft cheek on the leg hair and sunblock-coated skin. “I want to play with you, too.”

Elijah observes his wife, silently. His judgement wasn’t formed nor structured enough from the action he’s seeing and lets her grab Matteo’s wrist, gently pulling him away from Elijah. He expects the whine from the forced detachment and hears the promises she’s trying to convince his little boy to give into. Yet, with all of the trouble surfacing, Elijah merely bent down on the ground, groaning at the pain that comes along such movement and holds Matteo on his other hand.

Adam, too, comes close but didn’t do anything. Nor said anything to say otherwise against his soulmate’s actions too.

“Mama!” Matteo began to screech, kicking his feet off the ground and spraying sand on front of him. “No, mama, no!”

“Honey, I’m not doing anything bad,” she reassures Matteo. “Mama just wanted to play that’s all.”

Elijah gave his son a kiss on the forehead and wipes the tears that falls down on his cheeks. Matteo quiets down from the gesture. His son licks his lips and wipes his snot off his face with the hand Elijah had let go of. Lisa loosens her grip, letting Matteo have full control with both of his hands.

“Matteo,” Elijah calls out to his son, listening in to the hums from his little boy as a response. “Your mama just wants to play with you – but, if that’s not what you want then you can say no, okay?”

“Eli?” She wasn’t quick enough to butt into his talk and Elijah glares at her attempts to say anything else. Adam crossed his arms on his chest, his gaze wasn’t aimed at them but Elijah knows where the man’s focus is.

“I-I want to stay here with you, pa-papa,” Matteo answers, “sun is too hot and the water is too cold, I don’t like starfishes and Christian’s not here to play with me.”

“If that’s what you want then it’s alright with me,” Elijah said to his little boy, rubbing his son’s back to soothe out the hiccups he’s getting. The water bottle wasn’t far from them and managed to reach it from the table. He gave his son the drink and Matteo began to drink.

“Eli?” She didn’t approach him.

“You can force someone to do something but it doesn’t mean they’d like it, even if the intentions are holy.” It was a line Elijah had memorized, motivating him to go against the string and tie the knot with her. Their love wasn’t written in some god’s notebook but they made it happen despite the trials and errors they tackled against.

Lisa’s words inspired him to see beyond fate and now he’s using it against her.