louiewells

[louiewells]

"Hear from Sal all the time, we share a genetic spawn," Louie answers as she picks up several toys from the floor that had been left abandoned by her son when his father had shown up earlier that morning to take him for the weekend.

The sight of him giggling at the screen door was so cute that Louie didn't have the heart to nag him about putting his toys away before he left.

The caveat her brother tacks on make her frown as she places the toys in the storage box, standing up to her full height then and placing her hands on her hips while she cocks her head to the side in inquisition.

"A little bit sometimes if he hangs around after drop-offs. Why -- is there something I should know?"

@buddywellls

closed for: @louiewells

where: louie's

"You heard much from Sal?" Buddy asks from where he's sat on his sister's couch, shooting for casual in his questioning but not quite pulling it off given he didn't usually care to ask much about Gus' father other than whether or not he had him when Buddy wanted to spend time with him.

"Non-Gus things, I mean."

[louiewells]

"You're brave -- I could never dream of doing two under two for the cost of diapers alone. I don't even know if I would think about having another one until Gus was in kindergarten. Then again, I'm not getting any younger and it's not as if many men are jumping at the chance to have a kid with me -- I kinda just got lucky with the one I got, to be honest."

Louie scrunches her nose a little.

"While the idea is adorable, I don't think that would necessarily be sanitary. Not for public consumption, at least. But maybe you could do kids baking classes some day -- I know Gus would go crazy for it if you did."

@thelizaxevans

Liza snorted softly at the teasing reply but honestly? It tracked. "Pretty much, yeah. My husband and my aunt and..pretty much my whole family have been on me about getting off my feet and resting, but I can't help it. It's something I love to do, and it helps clear my head and calm me, which is definitely needed now with the impending two under two." Every time she thought about it she had a small wave of anxiety.

"Definitely sugar. My daughter has a sweet tooth like mine already too, so I have little doubts my son will potentially be the same. So don't be surprised if you see toddlers behind the counter at the bakery soon enough."

[louiewells]

"Who would raise questions about an adorable little boy in a top hat? Aside from the obvious question of 'how the hell is that little boy so adorable'? Which I find myself asking myself every day."

In spite of the complications between his parents, which Louie thinks they did a good job at managing between the two of them, she couldn't help but think every day how lucky she was to be his mom -- and how he had come into the world at exactly the right time.

With her phone tucked out of sight, Louie tries her best to switch over her thinking towards enjoying the evening -- and not being miserable company to the man who had brought her.

"I don't know, you tell me what the must-dos are," she taunts with a soft laugh.

"You're the one who's done this before, not me."

@salvadorcavendish

"I do give you credit for that," Sal promises. Louie not dialling those digits was nothing short of miraculous and miracles were worth acknowledging.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth at the imagine, something he was able to envision easily because of their son's nature.

( He loved to be included in anything, matching suits would have been no different. )

"He would more than likely like it too much so in the long run we've kind of saved ourselves a battle. How many occasions are there for wearing something like that without raising some questions?"

With the babysitter unbothered by any excess calls or questions, he attempts to distract her from their son and all that inescapable guilt that came with being somewhere together without him.

"Have you got any prom must-dos you were hoping to tick off tonight?"

@louiewells

[louiewells]

"Why the hell would he think that he could fix it? Isn't he the one who broke it in the first place?" Louie scoffs with a furrow in her brow -- seeming far less willing to be forgiving in spite of the fact that she knows it isn't her place to make that call.

"I mean -- do you think he could fix it? Is there something you'd want him to do to prove it to you?"

@aylinxc-s

Aylin scoffs a laugh. "Something like that, yeah." If Kodi was trying to prove anything else, he was failing miserably.

Louie's reaction isn't disimilar to Aylin's own when she had to once again, ask her lawyer for an update, only to find there was none.

"I think he thinks he can fix this." A notion that would have been admirable, if it wasn't so foolish. "It's exhausting."

( @louiewells )

[louiewells]

V. What's their biggest pet peeve?

"People who litter and pollute. Also, single-use plastics."

[louiewells]

Cherry 🌸:What is your favourite type of weather?

"I love overcast days when everything just smells wet. California winter, basically."

[louiewells]

"What's wrong with a fern? Ferns are beautiful," Louie argues defensively, but her voice even.

"Maybe something native. Like California lilac," she pauses a moment before she explains her specificity.

"Native plants. They're better for pollinators. Maybe you could do an arrangement of them or a raised wildflower bed or something. Save the bees."

@kalanixhale

"A fern? I'm thinking about something that'll brighten the place up! Something nice and colorful. That would be good, don't you think?"

"I mean, yes... but that doesn't mean we can't have pretty things as decorations, too!"

@louiewells

[louiewells]

"We can stay here longer if you want, I don't mind," Louie says with a shrug as she looks up at the fish swimming overhead.

"When I'm here with Gus we usually stand in this spot for about thirty minutes. Minimum. You actually sound a lot like he does when he sees the stingrays, too."

@lucydriscoll

Starter: Open @aurorabaystarter (Feel free to assume connections!) Where: Aquatica

Lucy sits on a bench in the middle of the shark tunnel, looking directly up a large stingray that shared the tank gently swim over her. Delighted, she looks like a kid in a candy store watching the cartilaginous fish mosey on by.

"Look how massive it is!" She turns to her company beside her, palms clasping together im the midst of her glee. "Okay, okay, I promise we can keep moving on now. I just wanted to see the Stingray go over one more time."

[louiewells]

"No, I know I shouldn't call her," Louie says in reference to the babysitter, shaking her head as she snaps her purse closed.

"I just think I should get some credit for not calling her, in spite of how badly I want to."

She had to admit that it would probably be good for both of them when he went to preschool -- maybe she was too much of a clingy mother.

"God, he would love a top hat," Louie laughs through a pout at the cuteness of the mental image.

"Can you imagine him in a little suit to match yours?"

@salvadorcavendish

"It's not that you shouldn't call her," Sal says delicately, like he's trying to navigate something that had a risk of going sideways. It was rare that both of them were somewhere without their son, more so that it was somewhere their first and first (Louie's siblings) choices for babysitters were also present, "It's just that I don't know if she'll have anything new to tell you in the thirty minutes since we left."

He felt the same guilt that she did at the sight of Gus' disappointed little face.

"I know but even for all our jokes about him being a tiny little old man, I don't think we could have got him passed the twenty-ones and over rule they have going on in here. Even in a comically large top hat that he wouldn't keep on indoors because 'dats rude'."

@louiewells

[louiewells]

"I wasn't really a school dance type of girl, if you can believe that," Louie jokes sheepishly; sure that the fact wouldn't have come as much of a shock.

She'd had a pretty small group of friends in high school -- mostly people who were in science clubs like her. The social parts hadn't really held much priority for her.

But she would have gone to prom with a certain person if he'd asked.

"Oh, I know he's fine," Louie assures herself, echoing his sentiment with a nod.

"Honestly, he's probably the one keeping the babysitter in line."

At his question, Louie looks over her shoulder to see if Sal is anywhere in the immediate vicinity.

"Oh, date is a strong word. We just came together," she answers, putting on a smile.

"But yes, I would love to dance."

@santiagodeleons

"You didn't go to your prom? If it was anything like mine, wasn't all it was cracked up to be."

Not that he can recall too many specifics about his own, sans for the girl he went with and how the night ended.

He smiles faintly at the mention of Louie's son who he had always known to be equal parts sweet and wickedly smart.

( Much like his mother. )

"I'm sure he's just fine," He tells her, hoping an external voice might manage to give her a break from all those worries he imagines parents contend with when their children were out of sight but never out of mind, "You think your date'll mind if I ask you for a dance?"

@louiewells

[louiewells]

"Well, that short of a memory span is actually concerning."

Louie looks around for a moment as if there's some sort of hidden camera or if she's being pranked.

"Okay, don't take any offense to me saying this but at this point I feel I do have to ask...How many drinks have you had tonight?"

@gwen-moreno

"That was like fifty years ago. I barely remember what I ate yesterday. So I definitely forgot this place." It would probably help more if Gwen was actually paying any attention to where she was going besides taking random hallways which were eventually leading her into circles. "In general terms, a sea witch is someone who takes away all the fun and steals princes. And there could be one around who might try to take mine." @louiewells

[louiewells]

📲 – the last texts our muses sent + buddy!

Louie: I've got a 3 year old telling me he needs to see you tomorrow because 'Summer is for the boys' Louie: Is this your doing or is it his father? Louie: And also can you hang out with him tomorrow? @buddywellls

[louiewells]

"Jokes on you -- I didn't even have a cell phone at my prom," Louie retorts, sheepishly clicking the button on the side of the device to make the screen go dark.

"I also didn't go to prom. But that's besides the point," she says with a wave of her hand and a soft laugh.

"I'm trying really hard not to be one of those neurotic mothers I always swore I wouldn't be like. I shouldn't even be worried about him -- he's the least worry-worthy kid in the world."

@santiagodeleons

closed for: @louiewells

where: prim and proper swap the o and the i and just keep 1 word

"Are you going to be checking that thing all night?" Santiago asks as he sidles up to Louie and the phone he had spotted in her hand for a third time that night, "That's not very prom-spirited of you."

[louiewells]

"How are you lost? Didn't you go to high school here?" Louie questions with a raised brow before adding.

"What the hell do you mean 'sea witch'?"

@gwen-moreno

open starter for: @aurorabaystarter

location: anywhere on school grounds

"Hey!" Gwen called out as she finally spotted someone. "Have you seen Harris around? I think I'm lost. I gotta find him before the sea witch does."

[louiewells]

starter for: @salvadorcavendish location: under the sea prom

"I know I shouldn't call the sitter," Louie scolds herself before Sal has the chance to, placing the phone back into her purse.

(It didn't go with her dress at all -- it was a miracle enough that she was in one.)

"He just looked so disappointed when he realized he wasn't coming with us -- it killed me."

[louiewells]

Elderflower - Who or what does your muse have a soft spot for?

"I'm pretty notorious for letting my baby brother get away with murder." @buddywellls

[louiewells]

♣ + sal!

"Oh my god. You're never going to believe this -- It's the most awful news: Gideon took pancakes off the menu at the diner. Yes, every single one. Every flavor. Mmmhm. And all because he heard that a little boy named Gus didn't want to brush his teeth. I know. I know. It's so sad. I hope that little boy named Gus goes to the bathroom as fast as he can and lets his mama brush his teeth with no fussing so Gideon will put all the pancakes back on the menu again. Especially the banana ones." @salvadorcavendish