"Hey, kiddo, welcome back. Did you have a good day at school?"
The lack of a response told the father of two all he needed to know. The opossum turned in his seat to look over at the boy, who dumped his bag by the door and kicked off his shoes before making his way to the couch, flopping himself down beside his dad. For a moment he said nothing, before he leant to the side and pressed into his father's larger frame, turning his head slightly to bury part of his face up against his chest. Unlike most opossums, the boy's face was dark-furred compared to light, but his expression was easy to read despite that. The older opossum put an arm around him and squeezed.
"Talk to me, Pally."
The boy, Paladio, refused, and the sniffle that followed broke his father's heart. He squeezed the boy tightly against his body and the cub pressed up to him, enjoying his warm and comfort. For a moment neither of them said anything, before the usual words escaped the man's lips.
"You want a grilled cheese?"
The 6-year-old slowly nodded and, with a fond smile, the man shifted and put an arm under his body, grunting as he stood, lifting the cub with him. Paladio squirmed at first to find purchase before he hooked his arms around his father's neck and scooted around the back, clinging to him from behind and crawling up him like a young opossum would do with their mother...if she were still around. It didn't help to be bitter.
Kaarlo walked his way across the room towards the kitchen without even flinching from the extra weight; he did it so often that it had become a ritual for them. Unlike Paladio's other brother, the young opossum was still just a baby, effectively, and needed comfort from time to time. Whenever he was sad, a grilled cheese was just the trick to cheer him up, and every time Kaarlo made one, his son wanted to watch, and clung to him desperately as he did so. Now in the kitchen, the older opossum got the pan ready with a little bit of butter, before retrieving the bags of grated cheese from the fridge alongside the bread and starting to prep.
The key to a good grilled cheese was the melt. Everyone enjoyed their differently, and Kaarlo prided himself in knowing his kids inside and out; he had gotten the perfect melt to crisp ratio down for Pally, the most impossibly perfect blend of stretch and chewy, melty goodness that brightened his day, consistently. He slickened up one side of each slide of bread with the best salted butter his slightly-higher-than-average salary could buy, before he flipped them over on the place and topped each one with two different types of cheese; mostly cheddar-based, but one had a smoky flavour to it that Pally loved.
He placed the two slices on the pan and adjusted himself slightly as the younger opossum tightened his grip around his father's neck, hooking his feet around his sides. The man stood there in his jeans and T-Shirt as he watched the butter bubble and sizzle on contact with the hot pan, and on the upper side the cheese started to sag and soften, melting down against the bread. It was a fine art, knowing when the merge both slices together, but Kaarlo considered himself an expert; after a couple of minutes, he used the spatula on hand to easily turn one melted slice onto the other, revealing a golden brown underside.
Out the corner of his eye, Kaarlo could see his son's nose twitching at the end of his long snout, taking in the smell of the food, and he cuddled against his father's neck as Kaarlo pushed the spatula down on the bread to keep it together and slide it around the pan a little, to soak up some of the butter. He'd give it another 30 seconds before it'd be done.
"Thank you, daddy..." Paladio murmured, nuzzling the adult's neck affectionately. "Is Evan home yet?"
"Evander? No, he's away at a friends until late." That 15-year-old was as rebellious as Kaarlo was in his youth; though a bad idea, the opossum often let him have his way when it came to friends in the hopes that their influence would mould him into a better person. It was hard to tell if it was working.
"Can we watch cartoons?"
"That depends. Do you want to talk about what upset you at school today?"
The silence that followed said it all, and Kaarlo sighed as he lifted the pan and stepped back, turning a little towards the table in the middle of the small kitchen-- he didn't want his son burning his tail on the open flame, so he didn't move too much, and easily managed to get the grilled cheese onto the awaiting plate in his twisted position. When he was done, he set the pan back down on the stove and turned off the flame, placing the spatula aside so he could lift the plate. He carried it back to the living room and when he approached the couch, the boy loosened his grip from around his neck and put his feet on the cushions, before sitting down.
"So..." Kaarlo began, flopping down and putting the grilled sandwich in the boy's lap. "Let's hear it, champ."
Once again he was met with silence, but it was justified this time, as the opossum didn't hesitate to tuck into his food. He took a large bite and then lifted his head, smacking his lips and chewing loudly and open-mouthedly on the food. Opossums didn't have good teeth, so it was more like he was squishing it against the roof of his mouth, but his delight in the taste was all over his face. Kaarlo let him have a moment to eat before he'd press again, but Paladio spoke up before he could interject.
"Jake was being mean again," He explained at first, and Kaarlo recognised the name as Pally's on and off friend and, frankly, a bully. "He said my mom didn't want me and she hates me."
"He said that?" Kaarlo's voice hardened a little and his son openly sniffled a bit, his eyes sparkling with moisture. He swallowed down his bite of grilled cheese before looking up at his eye with his bright, beady eyes.
"Does mom hate me?" He asked quietly, barely above a whisper, and Kaarloe immediately leant down to kiss his son on the forehead, putting an arm around him and hugging him tight.
"No, of course not," His voice was shaky, and he willed himself to steady. "I'm sure she loves you very much. Your mom just...you know how you and Jake don't get along sometimes?"
Paladio nodded, taking another tentative bite of his food.
"It's like that for me and your mom. Sometimes we just...don't like each other." He sighed.
"S...So Mom left because of you?" It was clear his question wasn't malicious, but Kaarlo couldn't help but to feel hurt. He tried not to let it get to him-- the kid was only 6, he didn't understand the nuances of why a relationship just doesn't work out, nor does he understand his mother's issues with mental health. Kaarlo couldn't bear to tell his son that she left because she couldn't handle having kids and cracked under the pressure.
"It was no one's doing."
"Is she coming back?"
"I...don't know." He didn't have the right answers for him. All he wanted to do was support him and be his dad. The opossum boy was quiet for a moment as he chewed his food, and after a tense few moments the man pulled back to examine his son's face. He still looked upset, but it was hard to tell if he was upset at him. Clearing his throat, Kaarlo slowly turned and grabbed the remote, switching it over to his son's usual cartoon channel. He sat there for a moment as his mind swirled with thoughts, before he felt a mass against his side. He lifted his arm, and the cub scooted up against him, hugging his side. Kaarlo instinctively put his hand around the cub's shoulder and he felt the boy melt against him, exhaling deeply.
"I love you, daddy." The 6-year-old said between his chewing, and Kaarlo's insides twisted with love and a painful, but happy ache.
"I love you too, more than anything in the world." The cheese wasn't the only thing that had melted that afternoon; Kaarlo was pretty sure his heart was a puddle in his stomach right now.
