Carter's POV (not edited)

I can't say I'm not happy school's out. The holidays may be stressful, but so is school, especially when everyone is going on break for a couple weeks. It's much more relaxing to be at home, prepping for the holidays. Even if my mom has been peeping over my shoulder for the last hour or so.

For my present for Kaillie, I decided to make a mini collage to go with the photo album I got her. The first picture I picked was one of the two of us on the bench where we met. My mom took it on the first day, excited for me to have another friend. I don't think Kaillie ever actually got that picture, so I'm glad she'll have it after I finish her gift.

My mom's brown hair kept brushing my shoulder as she leaned over to look at all the memories. "Aww you guys used to be so little," she gushes, reminiscing like she has been since I started putting the pictures together, and maybe even a bit before that.

"I know, Mom. But we're not anymore," I tell her, putting the picture in its place. I had decided that it belonged in the middle of the small collage, seeing how everything we had started that day, and has moved outward from then.

She gives me a peck on the cheek before she tells me, "But you'll always be my baby."

"I know that too, mom. Can you help me organize the pictures though?" My mom may or may not have helped me a little bit with the idea and the process. What can I say? She's willing to help and I needed some. Besides, she seems pretty happy to be peering over my shoulder as if she's supervising my little project. For the photo album, I'm arranging the pictures in chronological order, and I'm going to put captions in it that mention how our relationship has evolved over the years we have known each other. For the mini collage, it's just going to be some of the really good pictures, and they're not necessarily going to be the same photos as the ones in the album. All in all, there is a lot of printed pictures on the table, but it will all get organized eventually.

As she sits down beside me, she says, "Of course, hunny," with a soft smile. Soon after that, we're placing pictures and into their places like a factory line, and I just know that Kaillie is going to love it. At least, I definitely hope she is.

*~*~*

It is no longer afternoon. We've had small snacks and dinner in between creating this collage and the photo album. And I have to say, they look pretty damn good. We ended up getting a small canvas and gluing all the cutout pictures for the collage to it. The biggest one is the middle picture, of the first day we met, where we're sitting on the bench. Then, all the pictures around it are from all the best pictures of our memories. There are ones from before dances and semi formals, to ones our moms took as we played in the park, peacefully unaware. Then of course, there is different selfies that Kaillie either forced me to be in or I actually obliged. What can I say? I don't always want to have my picture taken, everyone has their moments. Among the selfies, there are even some I've taken. It's over ten years of memories here, on this piece of canvas and concealed within the pages of the Abby-approved photo album. All these pictures are glued down, almost like how they are set in stone, because memories are something permanent, that although they can be forgotten, their true essence can't usually be tainted.

Beside me, my mom is admiring our work as well. Leaning over, she tells me, "I think we did good!" in a very excited yet proud way.

"I think so too," I reply in awe, my mind is lost in a paradise of memories. The captions are still left to be done, but that is because there is no way I'm letting my mom help with those unless I really need her. She kisses me on the cheek, before walking into the living room to find Noah. It's almost his bedtime, after all.

The amount of memories is almost crazy to me. Just the simple fact there is so many. Plus, with my growing feelings for Kaillie in my mind, I just hope that nothing changes too much between us. I don't want these memories to be a thing of the past; in fact, I want there to be many more. Feeling tend to complicate things, and I guess what's I'm trying to say is I hope they don't become so overly complicated that there is an ending point, or a point of giving up. Cause I can't bare the thought of losing something as precious as this, as what we are. I just want to expand on everything we have now.

Breaking me out of my memory-filled mind, I hear some fast-moving feet, and suddenly, Noah is beside me. His hair is sticking out in all different directions, and I have a sneaky feeling he just ran away from mom. I swear, this kid has way too much energy to be going to bed soon. That's probably not a good sign. But soon enough, he calms down. He begins staring at the collage with me, as I shift my gaze back from him to my major accomplishment of the day. All there is leave to do is wrap it, really.

As he stares, it's like the world is pausing. His mind is trained on the piece of canvas, and he is completely zoned in. "I like it," he muses, as if he's judging a famous piece of art in a gallery. I can tell he recognizes the middle piece, as the original picture has its very own place in our house.

"I'm glad," I smile, even though it's not for him.

Almost as if he's in trance, he slowly points to a picture on the left hand side. "I think she'll really like that one," he remarks quietly. The picture is a selfie Kaillie took of the two of us, although it looks a bit like she forced me to be in it. She's looking over at me with a huge grin as I make a funny, uncooperative face at her. That's probably a representative of my face in half the selfies I'm a part of. In that specific selfie though, she looks like she's about to burst out laughing. Her grin is so big in the moment, you can just tell that it was a full of real happiness, he kind a person can't fake.

"I think so too, bud. But you know what else I think?" I look down at him, seeing his innocent brown eyes staring at me in question. Leaning down, I tell him, "that if you don't go upstairs and get ready for bed soon, Mom might come after you."

His eyes go wide with fear as he registers that piece of news. He starts running, shouting "Goodnight!" at me as he flies up the stairs, probably heading for the bathroom.

My mom walks through the doorway in front of me, kissing me on the cheek as she passes, while saying "Thanks, sweetheart, I'll be back soon." Then off she goes too, running up the stairs with more energy than I thought she had left for the day.

*~*~*

Half an hour later, my mom plops on the couch behind me with a sigh. "He has so much energy," she mumbles under her breath.

"That he does," I reply, "It must be a kid thing."

This earns a couple snickers from my mom, who looks over and tells me, "I don't remember you having that much energy when you were his age. And especially not right before bedtime." Despite the tired energy that she seemed to have, her eyes looked alight and ready. For what, I can't tell you, because I'm not even sure.

I laugh before stating, "That's probably debatable."

She nods in agreement before her expression turned serious. Here it comes, whatever it is. "Carter, do you ever miss your father?" Half a bubble of anger burst up in me at the mention of me father, but it died down quite quickly. Was she really asking if I need more than she can give me?

"Mom, I have you, I don't need my father," I tell her, knowing it's true. And after learning of their history, I don't even know how I would react to meeting Aaron Jacobs.

A conflicted expression crosses her face, as she says, "I realized how little you know about your father lately, and how I made the decision to not include him as a part of your life. I'm really sorry, Carter, that should have been your choice to make, not mine." Her brown eyes look right at my blue ones, making her message have even more of an impact.

"You just thought you were doing what was best for me while protecting yourself, there's nothing wrong with that, mom," I tell her, hoping to make her feel better. I don't know how different my life would be if I had my father in it, but I definitely don't think it would have ended up the same. "I wouldn't change anything about my life and the way it is now, Mom, don't worry," I hug her close to me, before changing the subject by saying, "Now let's watch some TV."

"I just wanted to make sure, that's all," she tells me, before settling in more. "Now, what do we want to watch?"

---

I can't believe the last time I updated was last year! Geez, seems like so long ago... Actually, not that all :P

What did you guys think of the chapter? What do you think of the collage and Carter's bonding time with his family? Obviously, there was no Kaillie in this one, sorry :P

So guys, on a more serious note, this book is getting close to the end, what do you guys think is going to happen next? I'd love to know what you think! I've got some stuff in store... So this was kinda like the calm before the storm ;) I hope you guys like it! :D

Till next time lovelies,

~Talia :)

P. S. If this chapter reminds you of a song I would love to know :P

P. S. Happy 2017 officially! I hope the first month was great, and the second one is turning out even better! And if it's not going well, I hope you know it'll get better :)