April's face immediately shifted into a bright smile. "Alex is amazing! He's super cool! He can jump and flip and hang on monkey bars foreeeever! He's really smart too! He explains what Miss Blumgren says even better than she does! And did you know? His favorite color is pink! It's girly, but he says he likes it because real guys like pink! And, and he's also really good at drawing too! He says it's not good, but it's like mommy's paintings and everything! Also he makes me super happy and he's like a real life superhero! Ooh, and his Auntie is super nice too!"
Serena's expression relaxed into a warm smile as she heard her daughter ramble on about her best friend. "That's good to hear, Sweetie. I'm glad you have such a good friend."
"Me too!" April let out a toothy smile. "Alex is the bestest friend! Oh! I mean, the best friend!" She paused, hesitating. Then she said, "...Do you think I could visit Alex's house sometimes, Mommy? Or maybe he could visit our house to play?"
Serena tensed. "...I don't think he can visit our house, Sweetie. But..." She paused, thinking. "...If his aunt says it's okay, you can visit."
"Ooh! Can I have a sleepover too? You said that I can have a sleepover when I made friends, right Mommy? You promised!"
Serena hesitated. Then she said, "Mommy will think about it. I need to talk to Alex's Aunt first. Maybe tomorrow?"
"Promise?"
"Promise." Serena smiled. "Now... Mommy's tired. So how about we go eat at a restaurant tonight?"
"YEEES!" April clapped her hands and said, "I want Jack-in-the-box!"
Serena chuckled. "Okay, Sweetie. Let's go get some burgers."
After that, Serena drove towards the nearest Jack-in-the-box.
She wanted to go to the drivethru, but April convinced her mother to eat inside.
And the moment they entered...
"Huh?" Alex tilted his head. "...April?"
April let out a loud gasp and then ran over to hug Alex. "ALEEEEX!"
"W-Wait! Gah!"
Serena slowly blinked, still processing the situation. Then she noticed a beautiful young Asian woman with wavy black hair standing next to 'Alex.'
Wearing a stylish leopard print blouse and jean skirts, along with tall black tights and leather boots, the Asian woman oozed confidence. After letting out an amused smile at the situation with Alex and April, she strode over to
Serena and held out a hand. "I'm Yue Wu, Alex's aunt... Well, practically his mom at this rate anyway. You must be April's mother."
"A-Ah." Serena nodded and quickly shook Yue's hand. "Y-Yes. I'm Serena. Serena Rose..."
===
Fate was funny.
The one day Auntie Yue was antsy because of her period and insisted on going to Jack-in-the-box for a shake, we ran into April and her... mom?
I shifted April to the side, pointedly ignoring how she was clinging to my arm and chatting about meeting me again. Instead, I stared at the young woman who couldn't be a year older than Auntie Yue.
'That's April's Mom?'
I'd never gotten a proper look at April's mother since she always left so quickly.
I'd seen their car and her mom from a distance, but I'd always thought she was older.
But from up close... April's mom couldn't be more than 18, if that.
Ah, I guess the stress lines and fatigue radiating from her was why I thought she was older.
...Wait.
But then, if I did the math...
...Oh.
Oh, fuck me.
Okay, things making quite a bit more sense.
In the worst ways of making sense, but MANY unexplained questions were suddenly answered right now.
Auntie Yue seemed to have parsed the situation as fast as I did since she immediately pulled April's mom... Serena, I guess from her introduction.
Anyway, Auntie Yue dragged Serena to the teller and insisted on getting food for us all. Meanwhile, she shooed me away to get a booth for us.
While Auntie Yue was handling that, I walked April over to a booth in the back and plopped down in a seat next to her. "You must be super lucky to run into me like this, April."
"I know!" April let out a wide smile. "I was just talking about you and then BAM! You're here!" She giggled and hugged me again. "I'm so happy!"
I hesitated and then awkwardly hugged her back. "Uh... me too?"
April smiled and said, "This is super cool! Mommy said if your Aunt is okay I can have a sleepover with you! We can read and chat and play games and talk all night!"
I slowly blinked, parsing April's words. "...What?"
April flinched. "O-Oh. Did... you not want to...?"
"No, no. I'm fine with it!" I quickly interjected to make sure she didn't get the wrong idea. "I was just surprised. You want to have a sleepover? ...With me?"
"Yes!" April quickly nodded and said, "You're my best friend! Best friends have sleepovers! That's what the other girls say!"
"That's... But I'm a boy, so we can't..." I started to try and explain it. But seeing the earnest expression in April's eyes, I decided it was a lost cause. So instead, I just smiled and said, "...Yeah, we'll make it work. I guess."
"Yay!"
I kept chatting with April, distracting her by keeping her attention on me.
...Mostly because I could see Serena starting to cry into Auntie Yue's arms and saying 'thank you' over and over again for some reason. And also causing a scene.
...Man.
Was I like... always a main character in my past life? And did I just miss literally ALL the event flags? Because like, what the fuck.
===
After ten minutes or so of chatting about random things with April, Auntie Yue and April's Mom walked over.
April immediately noticed that her mom had been crying and said, "Mommy? Why were you crying?"
Serena let out a relieved laugh and wiped her red eyes, putting on a bright smile. "I'm just happy, Sweetie." She scooped April up into her arms and then sat on the booth opposite me.
Meanwhile, Auntie Yue slid into the now open seat beside me. She noticed my questioning look and ruffled my hair before saying, "Don't worry about it, Little Fatty."
April overheard and tilted her head. "Little Fatty? But Alex isn't fat!"
Auntie Yue laughed and said, "It's just a nickname, April."
April puffed her cheek. "It sounds mean though!"
Serena smiled, idly fixing April's hair.
Right. So I guess we're just moving on from the sudden event flag into a sitcom bit. Alright.
Might as well not question it.
Changing the subject...
I looked at Auntie Yue and said, "Did you already order, Big Sis?"
"Mmhm." Auntie Yue nodded. "I got a vanilla shake for me, your ridiculous order of four boxes of chicken nuggets as usual, and then a kid's meal and burger meal for April and her mom."
April gasped, immediately looking at Auntie Yue. "You got me food? Mommy let you?!" She looked at her mom next and said, "But Mommy, you said to never take food from strangers!"
Serena's ears turned red and said, "And you shouldn't. But Miss Wu isn't really a stranger at this point."
Aaand that was an event flag.