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Okay so the place wasn't exactly the cleanest it had ever been.
It might've had the faint residual smell of diapers. And there were still some of Mags' things scattered here and there.
But hey! Their toilet was the most sparkling shining perfection this side of the city. M even debated setting up some scented candles.
Surely Ms. Reyna, Billy's mom, would understand though. About the state of the apartment, not the lack of scented candles. Although those still seemed like a pretty good idea. "We have time, don't we?"
“For what?” Billy was in the midst of wiping off Mags’ face after her breakfast as M shuffled through the cleaners below the kitchen sink.
He didn’t know what half of them were for; Ema bought him a separate cleaner for each and every surface in the apartment. He finally came across a multi-purpose cleaner that he had bought back when he moved in to the place last year and set it on top of the counter. “To tidy up a bit.”
Billy shrugged. Then he settled his gaze on Mags. Suddenly his eyes got wide and he motioned for M to follow him as he lifted Mags up from her high-chair and scurried in the direction of the bedroom. “Hurry,” he beckoned.
“What’s wrong, what did you see? Should I be worried?” He followed Billy into the bedroom and stopped mid-track as Billy set her down on the bed.
“Watch her real quick would you?”
M sat down next to her and patted his lap.
Billy ran into the closet.
All M could hear was the sound of hangers as they slid across the cold, cheap metal bars that economy apartments provided. “What are you doing? Did you lose something in there?”
“No,” Billy said over the shuffling of clothes, “her grandma is going to be here. She HAS to be in an outfit that she bought for her. And a new one at that.”
M bounced the bed a bit. Mags giggled and ceased her progress in crawling to him. She eagerly awaited for him to do it again. “I guess that makes sense.” M pressed down on the mattress again. Mags squealed and sat up to clap.
Billy came out of the closet with a few outfit choices and flowery headbands in hand. He held up a lacy pale orange dress matched with a pink headband.
M shook his head. “I’m not too good with this, but wouldn't the lilac one look better?”
Billy stared down at the headbands, then rolled his eyes as he held up the lilac one. “Oh you mean purple. Took me a sec. Yeah that would go better huh.” He set his choices down on the bed and kneeled down on the floor. “C’mere baby girl.”
Mags looked at Billy, then at M. She excitedly yelled out some gibberish and hit at the bed. Billy pushed down on the bed as M had done and bounced her to him, and she would not stop giggling. He set her up on the edge of the bed and kept one hand planted firmly on her to keep her in place. She squirmed around, upset that she was no longer being bounced. “See what you did?" Billy squinted at M all accusing-like. "Can you keep a hold of her while I dress her?”
“Haha, sure.” M said, amused by the whole situation. It wasn’t his fault she reacted so cutely. M picked her up with various locomotive sounds and set her on his lap while Billy changed her clothes. She fidgeted. M shook his leg up and down to keep her mildly entertained, but it didn’t help matters when Billy tried to get the headband over her bobbing curls.
Then there was a knock on the door.
Billy panicked. His eyes locked on the direction of the door and all his movements ceased.

M all of a sudden felt very uneasy. He wondered if he should be scared. He began to look for a proper place to hide Mags as Billy hopped up from his kneeling position.
Billy tossed the headband onto the bed and took for the bedroom door. “You got this, right?” he called over his shoulder.
And before he knew it, the only ones left in the room were M, Mags, and an elastic-lilac-head-accessory-contraption he had no idea how to fasten. He gently placed Mags down on the bed beside him, and knelt in front of her. With one hand anchoring her to the bed by her chubby, face-kicking legs, his other hand struggled to keep the headband in place. This would have all been perfectly possible if babies weren’t prone to thinking everything was a game. Every time M was close to sliding the headband right behind her ears, Mags plopped herself flat down onto the mattress and made it pop off again. It was like the hardest mini-game ever invented; the kind that is more frustrating than it is fun.
“Stay...still…” He grunted through gritted teeth. At this point he really just wanted to fling the damn headband clear across the room like a rubber band. How the hell did people get these things to stay in place?
He propped her up again and finally fit it snugly around her little curls. A nod of satisfaction soon followed as he picked her up at the sound of pleasantries being exchanged in the living room.
“Where’s the baby?”
He heard a matured, warm, motherly voice inquire.
“Don’t be silly,” Billy stalled, “I’m right here.”
M pressed the 'A’ button to open the door. He entered the living room holding Mags somewhat awkwardly, trying not to disturb the new outfit.
The headband shot right off.
Mags began to cry.
M twitched and held back his urge to immediately fetch it and burn it. He passed her off to Billy as he conceded defeat and picked up her headband.
“Guess I should’ve told you where the hairpins were.” Billy mused.
“There she is!” Ms. Reyna cooed at Mags as she began to calm down in Billy’s arms.
She was a rather short mother, compared to Billy. She was thin, just like him, but had wider hips and worn-in smile lines. It was almost as if she was his older sister rather than his mother, and it was evident by her face-framing curls where Mags had inherited her own. The curls must have skipped a generation.
“And you must be M.” She hugged M. He wasn’t quite used to the sudden affection, but he couldn’t say he minded it. She turned her attention back to her granddaughter. “She looks so cute in that outfit, so perfect on her. Hi, precious.” With a soft pet of Mags’ curls and a kiss to her forehead, she took a step back and surveyed her surroundings. “I see she is keeping you busy.”
M took a look around the place as well. And there was the all-purpose cleaner still out on top of the kitchen counter among the mess. Crap. “Yes ma’am, sorry I couldn’t tidy up more before your arrival.”
Billy’s mom waved M off like he was being silly. “Oh it’s quite all right. Cleanliness is a priority, but it isn’t your first right now. Trust me, my house was much dirtier when Billy was a baby. I felt sorry for those poor babysitters.” She sighed, almost a bit wistfully at the memory, it seemed. “Oh!” She exclaimed and grabbed for the purse on her shoulder that was half the size of her. “I have some things for you boys.”
M tried not to snicker as she rustled around in her bag, passing bigger items off for Billy to hold with one hand as Mags grew more restless in his other by the second. He relieved Billy of Mags as Ms. Reyna continued to unload.
“Here’s some cookies, to celebrate your move,” she piled them on top of the pile, “and plug blocks, and corner guards. Because if she is anything like her daddy she’ll get bloodied and bruised on a daily basis.”
M saw Billy cringe at the thought. Mags wasn’t even really crawling yet. She’d have to be pretty talented to hurt herself at this point. Ah well, you can never be too careful, right? He chalked it up to her being a worried grandparent.
Ms. Reyna shoveled her belongings back into her purse and headed over to the couch.
M passed Mags back over to Billy and ran ahead of her to brush off all the baby toys before she tried to sit. “May I get you anything, Ms. Reyna? A beer, maybe?”
Billy slapped his free palm against his forehead after he set down his mother’s gifts. What? Rule one of hospitality etiquette: Always Offer Beer First.
Ms. Reyna let out a nervous laugh as she took her seat, but seemed flattered nonetheless. “I’ll take some tea if it’s no trouble.”
“Um.” M didn’t drink tea. M didn’t even have a kettle for hot water. He looked around the kitchen anyway. Who knew, Ema might have picked one up on one of her many trips to the store for household items he never knew he needed and probably didn’t really need.
Nope. Well. Way to fail as a host. Again. “Sorry,” he began.
“Oh no, it’s fine. I’ll just have a glass of water then.”
M felt terrible as he poured a cup for her and brought it over.
Billy situated himself on the couch next to his mother. Mags reached out for her and Billy obliged as he passed her over to his mother’s awaiting lap.
She easily restrained the baby with only one hand free. M was thoroughly impressed, if not a bit jealous.
M suddenly felt like a third wheel. Or was it fourth wheel? Wouldn't that be a car? That saying was so weird. Anyway, he figured they needed some privacy, so he started to head to the bedroom, or anywhere as long as it was somewhere out of the way.
“M, you take a seat too.”
Her voice made him stop dead in his tracks and he felt obligated to obey. How did moms do that? He felt like a kid again, being scolded by his own mother. Without a second thought he snatched a chair from the table and brought it over.
Ms. Reyna took a sip from her glass and played with a subdued Mags’ head of curls. “All things considered, you both have done well with the space.”
The boys both smiled. M would like to see anyone else successfully combine a living room and a bedroom all-in-one so seamlessly. It was medal-worthy for sure.
Ms. Reyna turned toward Billy. “I am so proud of you for moving out, finally."
Billy nodded. “Thanks. Couldn’t have done it without your help, of course.”
“But don’t overstay your welcome. I’m sure M needs to focus on his studies.”
M wanted to interject. It really wasn’t a problem, but he didn’t want to interrupt or seem rude. The last thing he wanted to do was to leave a bad first impression.
“And,” she bit her lip to keep herself from tearing up, “you know you are always welcome back home.”
“Mom. Don’t worry about me, you’ve done that long enough. I got this. Me an' Mags are gonna be fine. You need to worry about yourself now. Live your own life.” He took in a deep breath and seemed proud of himself for what he just said.
Oh no. Mother/son moment alert. Awkwardness intensifies. Cue heartfelt music swell.

Billy continued. "Like spa days with your girlfriends or whatever it is you kids do." The music fell flat.
She sipped for a while at her water. M wondered if she was going to breathe some time soon. “Well, as long as you know,” She said, finally, probably choosing to ignore his last comment. “So. Are you seeing anyone?”
Right on to the next subject. Blunt and to the point.
Billy visibly gulped. He slowly shook his head from side to side.
Ms. Reyna frowned.
M felt really uncomfortable for Billy. Was his mother always like this? M’s mom never inquired about his love life.
“Midget’s been out of the picture for at least a good year now, yes? The only good thing that came out of that girl was Mags." Sting. "It’s about time you started looking for someone again. I have a co-worker of mine, she’s a cute little thing. I told her about you and she seems interested, especially after I showed her your picture.”
“Mom-” Billy flushed a slight pink.
“I’m just throwing it out there! Get out there. I’ll watch the baby for you. Just, please don’t do what I did. I don't want you to raise her alone.”
“You couldn’t help what you did. And you raised me perfectly fine.” Billy countered.
“But you can’t deny two parents would've been nice, rather than a different babysitter every week."
Billy frowned. They were definitely related.
M sat there and mulled it all over. He vaguely remembered hearing things about this Midget chick from high-school. Eh, they weren't exactly good things. From what he recalled, she was Gale's friend just like Billy. Despite slowly putting the pieces back together, he still couldn't place her face exactly. Didn't she always deny having a boyfriend, or something like that? So confusing. So had they gone out, or not?

"There are plenty of suitors that would love to have a man like you." This seemed true. He seemed like such an upstanding guy. So why did Midget leave him and their daughter? M rubbed at his face as if doing so would allow him to comprehend information. His eyebrows hurt.
With one final sip of her water, Ms. Reyna stretched and passed Mags back to Billy. "Looks like it’s her nap time. Well, I'll be off then. I just wanted to stop by before I head off to the office."
M offered to take her glass to the kitchen for her.
Billy put Mags down for her nap, and joined M in escorting Ms. Reyna to the door.
"Be thinking about what I said," the way she spoke seemed vague enough, but it came out almost like a warning as she hugged her son. "It was good meeting you, M." She gave M a quick hug then said, "if you boys ever need anything, just call me."
Okay this whole thing just raised more questions. Like, what was the deal with Midget? How could she leave them behind? Wait, where was she now? Why wasn't she with them? Why did Ms. Reyna invite M to sit in on their conversation? Why was any of this his business?
Billy cast M a weathered glance. Looked like M wasn't the only one that suddenly felt exhausted.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Okay so the place wasn't exactly the cleanest it had ever been.
It might've had the faint residual smell of diapers. And there were still some of Mags' things scattered here and there.
But hey! Their toilet was the most sparkling shining perfection this side of the city. M even debated setting up some scented candles.
Surely Ms. Reyna, Billy's mom, would understand though. About the state of the apartment, not the lack of scented candles. Although those still seemed like a pretty good idea. "We have time, don't we?"
“For what?” Billy was in the midst of wiping off Mags’ face after her breakfast as M shuffled through the cleaners below the kitchen sink.
He didn’t know what half of them were for; Ema bought him a separate cleaner for each and every surface in the apartment. He finally came across a multi-purpose cleaner that he had bought back when he moved in to the place last year and set it on top of the counter. “To tidy up a bit.”
Billy shrugged. Then he settled his gaze on Mags. Suddenly his eyes got wide and he motioned for M to follow him as he lifted Mags up from her high-chair and scurried in the direction of the bedroom. “Hurry,” he beckoned.
“What’s wrong, what did you see? Should I be worried?” He followed Billy into the bedroom and stopped mid-track as Billy set her down on the bed.
“Watch her real quick would you?”
M sat down next to her and patted his lap.
Billy ran into the closet.
All M could hear was the sound of hangers as they slid across the cold, cheap metal bars that economy apartments provided. “What are you doing? Did you lose something in there?”
“No,” Billy said over the shuffling of clothes, “her grandma is going to be here. She HAS to be in an outfit that she bought for her. And a new one at that.”
M bounced the bed a bit. Mags giggled and ceased her progress in crawling to him. She eagerly awaited for him to do it again. “I guess that makes sense.” M pressed down on the mattress again. Mags squealed and sat up to clap.
Billy came out of the closet with a few outfit choices and flowery headbands in hand. He held up a lacy pale orange dress matched with a pink headband.
M shook his head. “I’m not too good with this, but wouldn't the lilac one look better?”
Billy stared down at the headbands, then rolled his eyes as he held up the lilac one. “Oh you mean purple. Took me a sec. Yeah that would go better huh.” He set his choices down on the bed and kneeled down on the floor. “C’mere baby girl.”
Mags looked at Billy, then at M. She excitedly yelled out some gibberish and hit at the bed. Billy pushed down on the bed as M had done and bounced her to him, and she would not stop giggling. He set her up on the edge of the bed and kept one hand planted firmly on her to keep her in place. She squirmed around, upset that she was no longer being bounced. “See what you did?" Billy squinted at M all accusing-like. "Can you keep a hold of her while I dress her?”
“Haha, sure.” M said, amused by the whole situation. It wasn’t his fault she reacted so cutely. M picked her up with various locomotive sounds and set her on his lap while Billy changed her clothes. She fidgeted. M shook his leg up and down to keep her mildly entertained, but it didn’t help matters when Billy tried to get the headband over her bobbing curls.
Then there was a knock on the door.
Billy panicked. His eyes locked on the direction of the door and all his movements ceased.

M all of a sudden felt very uneasy. He wondered if he should be scared. He began to look for a proper place to hide Mags as Billy hopped up from his kneeling position.
Billy tossed the headband onto the bed and took for the bedroom door. “You got this, right?” he called over his shoulder.
And before he knew it, the only ones left in the room were M, Mags, and an elastic-lilac-head-accessory-contraption he had no idea how to fasten. He gently placed Mags down on the bed beside him, and knelt in front of her. With one hand anchoring her to the bed by her chubby, face-kicking legs, his other hand struggled to keep the headband in place. This would have all been perfectly possible if babies weren’t prone to thinking everything was a game. Every time M was close to sliding the headband right behind her ears, Mags plopped herself flat down onto the mattress and made it pop off again. It was like the hardest mini-game ever invented; the kind that is more frustrating than it is fun.
“Stay...still…” He grunted through gritted teeth. At this point he really just wanted to fling the damn headband clear across the room like a rubber band. How the hell did people get these things to stay in place?
He propped her up again and finally fit it snugly around her little curls. A nod of satisfaction soon followed as he picked her up at the sound of pleasantries being exchanged in the living room.
“Where’s the baby?”
He heard a matured, warm, motherly voice inquire.
“Don’t be silly,” Billy stalled, “I’m right here.”
M pressed the 'A’ button to open the door. He entered the living room holding Mags somewhat awkwardly, trying not to disturb the new outfit.
The headband shot right off.
Mags began to cry.
M twitched and held back his urge to immediately fetch it and burn it. He passed her off to Billy as he conceded defeat and picked up her headband.
“Guess I should’ve told you where the hairpins were.” Billy mused.
“There she is!” Ms. Reyna cooed at Mags as she began to calm down in Billy’s arms.
She was a rather short mother, compared to Billy. She was thin, just like him, but had wider hips and worn-in smile lines. It was almost as if she was his older sister rather than his mother, and it was evident by her face-framing curls where Mags had inherited her own. The curls must have skipped a generation.
“And you must be M.” She hugged M. He wasn’t quite used to the sudden affection, but he couldn’t say he minded it. She turned her attention back to her granddaughter. “She looks so cute in that outfit, so perfect on her. Hi, precious.” With a soft pet of Mags’ curls and a kiss to her forehead, she took a step back and surveyed her surroundings. “I see she is keeping you busy.”
M took a look around the place as well. And there was the all-purpose cleaner still out on top of the kitchen counter among the mess. Crap. “Yes ma’am, sorry I couldn’t tidy up more before your arrival.”
Billy’s mom waved M off like he was being silly. “Oh it’s quite all right. Cleanliness is a priority, but it isn’t your first right now. Trust me, my house was much dirtier when Billy was a baby. I felt sorry for those poor babysitters.” She sighed, almost a bit wistfully at the memory, it seemed. “Oh!” She exclaimed and grabbed for the purse on her shoulder that was half the size of her. “I have some things for you boys.”
M tried not to snicker as she rustled around in her bag, passing bigger items off for Billy to hold with one hand as Mags grew more restless in his other by the second. He relieved Billy of Mags as Ms. Reyna continued to unload.
“Here’s some cookies, to celebrate your move,” she piled them on top of the pile, “and plug blocks, and corner guards. Because if she is anything like her daddy she’ll get bloodied and bruised on a daily basis.”
M saw Billy cringe at the thought. Mags wasn’t even really crawling yet. She’d have to be pretty talented to hurt herself at this point. Ah well, you can never be too careful, right? He chalked it up to her being a worried grandparent.
Ms. Reyna shoveled her belongings back into her purse and headed over to the couch.
M passed Mags back over to Billy and ran ahead of her to brush off all the baby toys before she tried to sit. “May I get you anything, Ms. Reyna? A beer, maybe?”
Billy slapped his free palm against his forehead after he set down his mother’s gifts. What? Rule one of hospitality etiquette: Always Offer Beer First.
Ms. Reyna let out a nervous laugh as she took her seat, but seemed flattered nonetheless. “I’ll take some tea if it’s no trouble.”
“Um.” M didn’t drink tea. M didn’t even have a kettle for hot water. He looked around the kitchen anyway. Who knew, Ema might have picked one up on one of her many trips to the store for household items he never knew he needed and probably didn’t really need.
Nope. Well. Way to fail as a host. Again. “Sorry,” he began.
“Oh no, it’s fine. I’ll just have a glass of water then.”
M felt terrible as he poured a cup for her and brought it over.
Billy situated himself on the couch next to his mother. Mags reached out for her and Billy obliged as he passed her over to his mother’s awaiting lap.
She easily restrained the baby with only one hand free. M was thoroughly impressed, if not a bit jealous.
M suddenly felt like a third wheel. Or was it fourth wheel? Wouldn't that be a car? That saying was so weird. Anyway, he figured they needed some privacy, so he started to head to the bedroom, or anywhere as long as it was somewhere out of the way.
“M, you take a seat too.”
Her voice made him stop dead in his tracks and he felt obligated to obey. How did moms do that? He felt like a kid again, being scolded by his own mother. Without a second thought he snatched a chair from the table and brought it over.
Ms. Reyna took a sip from her glass and played with a subdued Mags’ head of curls. “All things considered, you both have done well with the space.”
The boys both smiled. M would like to see anyone else successfully combine a living room and a bedroom all-in-one so seamlessly. It was medal-worthy for sure.
Ms. Reyna turned toward Billy. “I am so proud of you for moving out, finally."
Billy nodded. “Thanks. Couldn’t have done it without your help, of course.”
“But don’t overstay your welcome. I’m sure M needs to focus on his studies.”
M wanted to interject. It really wasn’t a problem, but he didn’t want to interrupt or seem rude. The last thing he wanted to do was to leave a bad first impression.
“And,” she bit her lip to keep herself from tearing up, “you know you are always welcome back home.”
“Mom. Don’t worry about me, you’ve done that long enough. I got this. Me an' Mags are gonna be fine. You need to worry about yourself now. Live your own life.” He took in a deep breath and seemed proud of himself for what he just said.
Oh no. Mother/son moment alert. Awkwardness intensifies. Cue heartfelt music swell.

Billy continued. "Like spa days with your girlfriends or whatever it is you kids do." The music fell flat.
She sipped for a while at her water. M wondered if she was going to breathe some time soon. “Well, as long as you know,” She said, finally, probably choosing to ignore his last comment. “So. Are you seeing anyone?”
Right on to the next subject. Blunt and to the point.
Billy visibly gulped. He slowly shook his head from side to side.
Ms. Reyna frowned.
M felt really uncomfortable for Billy. Was his mother always like this? M’s mom never inquired about his love life.
“Midget’s been out of the picture for at least a good year now, yes? The only good thing that came out of that girl was Mags." Sting. "It’s about time you started looking for someone again. I have a co-worker of mine, she’s a cute little thing. I told her about you and she seems interested, especially after I showed her your picture.”
“Mom-” Billy flushed a slight pink.
“I’m just throwing it out there! Get out there. I’ll watch the baby for you. Just, please don’t do what I did. I don't want you to raise her alone.”
“You couldn’t help what you did. And you raised me perfectly fine.” Billy countered.
“But you can’t deny two parents would've been nice, rather than a different babysitter every week."
Billy frowned. They were definitely related.
M sat there and mulled it all over. He vaguely remembered hearing things about this Midget chick from high-school. Eh, they weren't exactly good things. From what he recalled, she was Gale's friend just like Billy. Despite slowly putting the pieces back together, he still couldn't place her face exactly. Didn't she always deny having a boyfriend, or something like that? So confusing. So had they gone out, or not?

"There are plenty of suitors that would love to have a man like you." This seemed true. He seemed like such an upstanding guy. So why did Midget leave him and their daughter? M rubbed at his face as if doing so would allow him to comprehend information. His eyebrows hurt.
With one final sip of her water, Ms. Reyna stretched and passed Mags back to Billy. "Looks like it’s her nap time. Well, I'll be off then. I just wanted to stop by before I head off to the office."
M offered to take her glass to the kitchen for her.
Billy put Mags down for her nap, and joined M in escorting Ms. Reyna to the door.
"Be thinking about what I said," the way she spoke seemed vague enough, but it came out almost like a warning as she hugged her son. "It was good meeting you, M." She gave M a quick hug then said, "if you boys ever need anything, just call me."
Okay this whole thing just raised more questions. Like, what was the deal with Midget? How could she leave them behind? Wait, where was she now? Why wasn't she with them? Why did Ms. Reyna invite M to sit in on their conversation? Why was any of this his business?
Billy cast M a weathered glance. Looked like M wasn't the only one that suddenly felt exhausted.