Stuck like glue

When Charlie spotted his parents, he stood up and ran as fast and as far as his little, chubby legs could take him before the car stopped and Jenny stepped out to lift him in her arms. As if he was trying to make up for the past week, as if he was afraid that she would leave again, that this was all just a very mean dream, he hugged Jenny as tightly as he could. Every time Jenny tried to hold him back a bit to see his cute faced that she had missed so much, he would quickly grab onto her neck again while hiding his tear filled eyes in her neck.

Jason, who watched this all go down felt very neglected by his son. So, he called out to him and said, "Hey buddy, no hug for daddy?". Though he spared a glance towards Jason after these words, not even Jason's extended arms and charming smile were able to get him to break free from Jenny. Remaining in a fixed position, he simply looked at Jason while he was resting his head on Jenny's shoulder. After calling out to him a few more times with words like, "Come on. Haven't you held onto mommy for long enough now?" and even putting on the victim role with his son by saying "Is mommy the only one you missed.", he was forced to give up. With a sigh Jason said, "There is no catching a break with you two is there. Just when the mother finally comes to me on her own, the child grows distant.", before he turned towards the already opened door of Prism mansion.

Hearing these loaded words, Jenny let out a chuckle as she looked at her defeated husband head inside. While stroking Charlie's back in comfort and kissing the back of his head and his cheeks in turns as she whispered "Don't mind daddy. He is just sulking.", she followed Jason inside with their angelic son in her arms. There she greeted Jason's grandparents and thanked them for taking care Charlie. "I hope he wasn't too much trouble." Jenny said as she ruffled her son's soft hairs, who was still stuck like glue to his mother. "Not at all. He has been an absolute delight. I only felt bad for him, because he was clearly missing you guys and there was nothing I could do to stop him from feeling that way. But I am confident that he too enjoyed his stay here, though he might have enjoyed it more if you guys had been here as well."

Jenny tried to check Charlie's state once more by pulling his face away from her chest and cupping it between her hands as she asked, "Is what nana said true? Did you behave like a good boy? Did you have fun?" But again he did not reply at all and just glued himself back to Jenny. Letting her familiar smell and her comforting heartbeat soothe him. "Leave him be dear. He must be so tired. He has been waiting for you guys since morning and hasn't stopped for even a second. Rushing each meal in order to return to his waiting post." Jenny chuckled softly as she continued to play with his soft hairs, which gave him a sense of comfort in its own way and even Jason's annoyance at his son's earlier behaviour disappeared after hearing those words. Letting out a soft, exhaled laugh before he landed a playful 'punch' on his bouncy cheeks. After seeing the pleading look in Charlie's eyes, telling him to not let go, Jason sacrificed one of his much larger fingers for him to hold onto so Charlie could feel close to both his mother and father after their long absence.

It wasn't until he had spent a good fifteen minutes not leaving Jenny's side and after his emotions had calmed down a bit, that Charlie was able to let go of Jenny for a short moment and head over to his father's side to give him a welcome back hug as well. Though not without glancing back every few seconds to keep an eye on his beloved mommy. Something which hadn't escaped Jason's attention. Allowing the boy to return to Jenny just a few minutes after leaving her arms. All that the boy needed to go back, was getting a dismissal from his father's arms by Jason maturely saying, "Thank you. It's okay now. You can go back. After you have properly calmed down, you can come back for a second round. At least you remembered to save daddy some face and didn't dismiss me completely." Sadly, these words didn't earn Jason much other than a nod and a dash back to his wife's side from his son, without even a moment's hesitation. Leaving Jason with nothing more than the option to look on with complicated feelings as this went down.

Jason had said those words with a wink to convince his son that he really didn't mind him wanting to be with his mother, as he could tell that this was not where he wanted to be at the moment. He told himself that he would have his time later with that son of his that so obviously preferred his mother. So, for now he shouldn't be holding grudges against either mother or child as both of them had deserved this moment. Their boy for giving them a week to themselves, allowing him to take his beloved mother away from him during these past few days, and Jenny for their amazing week away. Though he knew this, at times he felt that it this simple thing was becoming very difficult to do. Especially while watching him being so much more content from being in Jenny's arms than his own and claiming all of her that could be claimed at that moment. Leaving him with nothing but the feelings that had earned him his wife's nickname for him. A type of royalty he never wished to be.