Unconditional Love

The five-year-old Liam noticed a commotion in the house next to them. The curious little guy was playing when he saw a truck and men lifting furniture. They are unloading, taking the furniture from the truck and taking it to the house. He was watching innocently and thought that there were new neighbors. He felt excited thinking that there might be a kid in the neighborhood that would become his playmate. He hurriedly ran back to his own house to ask his mother. Maybe she has an idea about the new neighbor. Liam has been bored all his life. He never had a playmate, as all the tenants of the apartment that they are renting are adults sharing a room in a certain unit. He was the only child there. The homeowner never accepts a whole family renter except them as his father is his good friend. He knew that there was little chance that there would be a kid in the new neighbor, but deep inside, Liam was hoping for the best. “Mommy! Mommy!” the little person shouted at the top of his lungs. “What seems to be an emergency honey? Slow down or you’ll stumble.” his sweet mother reminded little Liam. “There are newcomers. I saw men and a truck loaded with stuff and they were from the unit next to us.”, Informing his mother while catching his own breath. “Oh, it must be the Harpers,” his mother uttered. “Is there a kid?” Liam hoped, though he knew that the homeowner never accepted family tenants. “Yes, they also have a son the same as your age.” she said while pinching her son’s chubby cheeks gently. “Wow, really Mommy! At last my wish came true. I now have a playmate,” he said happily. “Yup, so now tidy up. Look at you, bathing in sweat. Let’s get yourself a bath. Let’s go now and shower. Make sure you are clean upon meeting your new friend, otherwise he will avoid you because you are dirty and smelly.” said his mother and suddenly attacked him with both her hands to tickle her son. “Mommy, mommy stop!” said Liam, trying to avoid his mother’s fingers while laughing. “No, I won’t until you get those chubby legs of yours to make their way to the bathroom.” said his mother. “Fine, fine, I’m going.” Liam said, defeated. Amy can’t stop smiling while looking at her cute son. She wonders why the homeowner suddenly changes his qualifications of his tenants. They have been living in this apartment for two years now and their landlord only accepts renters who are single. He will not accept family, especially with kids, except them, because the landlord is showing his gratitude when her husband returns his bag which he left in his cab. The bag had a lot of money which is his rent collection that he was about to deposit in the bank. As a payback for his honesty and kindness, the man offered him to rent his property as the family has nowhere to go because the apartment that they are currently renting will soon be turned over to the new owner. Her loving husband is a simple Uber driver while she is a full-time housewife whose job is to take care of the two important male creatures in her life. Her husband was the best. She thanked God each and every day that she had him as her husband. When Liam came into their lives, everything was perfect and Amy could not ask for more but to keep them both healthy and keep them away from danger, especially because her husband made a living in the streets. He is exposed to danger from vehicular accidents and that’s why she always prays to keep him safe. She then followed her son to the bathroom. She tip toed making sure that she would not make a sound so that her son would not know she was watching him. Liam does not want her around while he is taking a bath or changing his clothes because she will see him naked and it is inappropriate. She always gets scolded by her little man because of this. He would always educate her about manners and respect. He would then emphasize how rude she is by walking inside his room without knocking first and asking for permission to come inside. He would often ask her to leave him alone if he was taking a bath and not to attend to him since he was naked, but Amy is hesitant to leave a five-year-old alone in the shower. Accidents happen and she is aware that Liam is still young though he thinks otherwise. He is a very intelligent kid, he acts and thinks like a matured adult. Both her and her husband are proud to have a clever child. But of course, there are disadvantages and one of those is her problem right now. “Mom, I’m done! Towel please, I forgot to bring it with me.” Liam shouted. “Did you rinse your hair thoroughly and your body?” she asked. “Mom, close your eyes!” Liam said in horror as his mother was staring at his body. He immediately turned his back to her and reached out his right hand, motioning his mother to hand the towel. “I’m sorry baby, but I’ve seen that already.” keeping herself from laughing, Amy said while handling the towel to Liam, who was freaking out. “My God Mom. Where are your manners?” he said. “Come on, stop acting up. Let me wrap your body in a towel, otherwise you’ll get a cold,” she said. The little boy sighed while shaking his head, which made Amy smile. Her little bundle of joy is growing up so fast and his way of thinking is growing faster. After getting Liam dressed, there was a long argument. Of course, since Liam insisted on getting dressed by himself, he kept on telling his mother that he could do it alone. After their argumentation that almost took forever, they checked the next unit as per Liam’s request. It was quiet and it seemed like no one was inside. “Mommy, can we knock on the door to make sure?” Liam asked. “I don’t think that is a good idea, son. We might interrupt something or, you know, violate their privacy perhaps.” Amy replied. “Don’t worry, we will meet them soon,” she said. “Okay.” Liam said with a sad face. “Don’t worry baby, they are just next to us. We can come anytime and make friends with them.” she comforted her son. Liam is a smart kid and one word is enough for him. He is also considerate and he never demands something that he knows his parents could not afford to buy. The mother and son were about to go back to their own apartment unit when they saw a woman and a boy hand in hand and heading to the unit beside them. Amy smiled and the woman reciprocated while turning the keys to the door on their own unit. The child next to her was tugging on her shirt and never dared to look at them. “Hi, good afternoon.” Amy greeted them respectfully. “Hello, good morning.” the woman replied. “You must be the new tenant?” she asked. “Yes.” the woman replied and smiled. “By the way, my name is Amy and this is my son Liam. Nice to meet you.” she reaches her hand to offer the woman a handshake. “Likewise. I’m Leah and this is my son Brent,” she replied. “Hi Brent, hi Aunt Leah. We are happy to have you as our neighbor.” Liam gracefully said, which made the two women laugh. The kid named Brent did not say a thing. He was just looking at the ground and seemed that he did not hear anything. He was aloof and shy, the jolly Liam thought. Maybe his mother taught him not to trust strangers right away from the first meeting. “Brent, Liam says hi.” his mother said. But Brent just nods, so his mother feels awkward and embarrassed about the way her son behaves. She gave the woman and her son a loop sided smile. “I am really sorry. He is not in the mood. You know he never wanted to move out of our old apartment." she apologized. “It is fine. We understand,” Amy said. “Brent, I have awesome toys that I could share with you. Let’s play sometimes.” Liam offered. But Brent again did not reply. It is as if Liam was talking to a statue. Even at his young age, Liam understood that Brent was sad about leaving his old house, so Liam did not take it personally that Brent was ignoring him. He knows that Brent is not a bad kid. He behaves that way not because he is a menace, but because he is sad about leaving his old home. Liam concluded that maybe he had his very close friend over there and he would be separated from them. That would make him very sad too if he was in Brent’s shoes. Maybe he has a favorite place in the house that he can no longer be there, maybe he has a favorite park nearby that he can no longer visit or maybe he has a favorite playground that he can no longer go to play. Liam felt bad for all the possibilities that ran through his innocent mind, so he said to himself that he would never give up. One day he and Brent will be good friends. He really liked him, he was happy to meet Brent and his innocent mind was not aware that it was more than that. It was something else. The joy that his heart felt was not just because he would be able to get rid of boredom since he already has a fellow kid in the neighborhood that he could play with. His young and naïve brain did not know but his young heart did. He felt the happiness that he never felt before upon meeting Brent, meeting his first love. =Sarsi=