With buried heads we both forget, all of the past and its regret.

With buried heads we both forget, all of the past and its regret. by pinklipstiiick featuring crop tops

"What do you think it'll be?" I tried again, my eyes bouncing back and forth between Gabe's pout and the piece of paper he held. For a Monday night, the Louvre was already packed, people passing by us in large groups but none of them holding the one person we were waiting for.

He sighed loudly and shrugged his tiny shoulders, folding the paper and shoving it into his pocket, "I don't know maman."

"What's the matter baby?" I asked and kissed his head, half expecting him to scold me for calling him a baby. He was already five years old and would always be my baby, but tell him that and he'll argue back.

"Is papa coming?" He asked and looked up at me with his green eyes wide.

"Hey," Ben said, his voice a little breathy as he walked over to where we were. When he got no answer from Gabe but just a glare, he blinked at me with his smile fading, "What's wrong?"

I sighed, nudging Gabe towards his father, "Did you swallow your tongue? Say hi to papa."

"No," He answered stubbornly, shaking his head and crossing his little arms against his chest, "You're late."

"I'm sorry," He ran his hands through his hair, sounding genuinely bad about it. His eyes flicked to me, letting me know that the apology was for me too, "I was working and wanted to call you but my phone died..."

"It's okay Ben, 20 minutes aren't that bad," I said with a reassuring smile on my face, never minding how my time was spent as long as it was with my son.

"I'm still sorry," He repeated, glancing at Gabe with worry showing on his handsome face. Gabe on the other hand wouldn't stop glaring. He lowered himself down to his height to look into his eyes, it had to be like looking into his own, "Will you forgive me? Please?"

Before he could talk, I caressed the top of my boys head, "Why don't you show papa what we got while waiting for him?"

He took the folded and creased piece of paper from the pocket of his hoodie, opening it up for his dad to see. "It's a map," He explained seriously, Ben's eyes dropping on it to study the colored lines that went from an illutration to another. There were pyramids, ships, vases, and, of course, mummies. The museum had a way about appealing to kids almost as much as Disneyland did. "We have to find a treasure!" He added, excitement showing in his voice.

"We will, we are a great team," Ben grinned at him, pressing a kiss on his nose and making him scrunch it up. When he did that? He reminded me a lot of myself when I was little.

Ben lifted himself up in a straighter position again, grabbing his free hand while I held Gabe's other. "We should have a name," I suggested, giving him an amused look before glancing down at our son.

Ben smirked wider as we started walking, still able to act like a family sometimes and I was thankful for that. "The cuties?" He raised one eyebrow at Gabe, knowing that he'd probably hate it.

"No. Maman is the only cutie since she's a girl," He shook his head stubbornly while I tried not to laugh at how adorable my baby was. "Plus I'm five which means that I'm a big boy now."

"But maman is old," Ben pointed out while I raised an eyebrow and shot him a look. "Isn't she too old to be a cutie?"

"You're older," I retorted.

He shrugged his broad shoulders, "Gabe already said that I can't be a cutie."

"You two will always be my cuties," I said, catching what I said only after saying it. Gabe lifted his head up to roll his eyes at me, shaking his little head. "No eye rolling."

"We need a better name... like Batroc's Brigade!"

"Wasn't Batroc a villan?" Ben asked Gabe who shrugged, always mixing up his superheroes and their villains since there were so damn many.

"I like his moustache," He giggled, looking up at me as I smiled at him. "Which way maman?"

I glanced down at the map I held in my other hand, "Ships. We should take a left up here."

He pouted, "Can we see the mummies first? I'm holding your hand and papa can protect us. You don't have to be scared."

"What if the mummies get papa first?" I widened my mouth as Ben laughed, Gabe shot his head in his direction.

"Are you afraid of mummies?"

Ben shook his head, "I'm not. I promise to fight off any mummies that get in our way of treasure."

"And you'll keep maman safe?" Gabe asked, holding his head high. "Because I'm not afraid. I can fight mummies."

"I'll keep maman safe if any mummies come to life," He grinned while I smirked at him, knowing the odds were very minimal. But if for some off reason there were a mummy attack on us? I'd be in good hands.

"Thank you," I said and bit my lip, glancing down at the map again. "Since we're going to see the mummies first, we'll need to walk to the end of this hallway and then go right."

"Good," Gabe smiled. "Papa, are you afraid of anything?" He asked while I looked back at Ben, remembering how fearless he was even as a kid. The only time I ever saw fear on his face was when he was six years old and Chloe held him down while I gave him his first kiss. It was a dare and I ran off crying to my mom afterwards because he told me he was going to die of cootie fever. Of course there was the time when we found out that I was pregnant, but we were young and in love then... we thought we could face anything together.

"No," He said quickly, glancing down at our son with a grin on his face. "I'm fearless," He added, making a silly face that made him chuckle. Watching the two of them? I felt complete. Of course life wasn't how I ever imagined it would be, but I was happy.

"Like a super hero!" He said in a high pitched voice as he took a jump forward, apparently thrilled by the idea.

"Hey silly boy, we have to go right," I tugged at his hand gently, my eyes on Ben as I struggled not to laugh.

Gabe nodded his head quickly, as if just remembering that. "Maman can I be a super hero?" He asked and I swear it killed me that he was so used to ask for our permission to do things that now he even asked when they were ridiculously silly ones.

"What do you think?" I raised one eyebrow at him, giving him the same amused look that his dad was giving him too. "You're a mini hero."

He widened his already big green eyes at me, his mouth forming a small o. I wanted to scoop him up and smother him with a million kisses, keeping him tiny and adorable for the rest of his life... or at least as long as possible. "We're a family of super heroes!!!" He whispered, looking as if that sudden discover was shocking him.

Ben and I exchanged looks, both of us breaking into a laugh as we made eye contact, and that three seconds where we weren't paying complete attention to our boy he freed his hands from ours and walked quickly into the room. I sighed but kept smiling as we followed him, shaking my head, "I have no idea of how he got so silly." I reached out to stop him just in time before he could press his hands against the glass case protecting the mummy.

"Maman!" He protested, shooting me a bad look.

Ben bent himself on one knee, leveling him and wrapping an arm around his tiny waist, "You can't be loud, or the mummy will wake up."

Gabe moved a little closer to his dad, looking slightly worried. "Okay," He whispered, staring at the stack of bones and cloth in front of him.

I slapped the back of Ben's head lightly, noticing the worried look on our boys face. "Do you want him to have nightmares?" I asked in a barely audible tone, making a face when he looked up at me. "Gabe, cutie, look! There's another one...and it's prettier!" I added in a soft voice, nodding at the coffin on our right which was colored in gold red and blue.

He followed me without blinking an eye, looking lost into the view. "Is it for a girl?!" He asked as he glanced up at me in a way that always made my heart tighten.

Ben got into a straighter position again and walking over to us, setting his hands on my shoulders as I set mine on Gabe's, all of us looking at the mummy number two. "What is it Gabe?" He asked, noticing how he was narrowing his eyes on the letters on the glass which explained that it was the coffin of a queen. Kindergarten had taught him the alphabet and a few basic words, but mostly he was more interested in playtime. We were encouraging him to read whenever he was at home and he was really good already.

"Reine, papa!" He said and grinned up at his dad, looking proud.

I grinned and leaned down to whisper loudly in his ear, "Tell papa in English."

"That mummy is a queen," He said and laughed lightly, turning back around to face the case. "She has a name too, but it's hard to read."

"Try," I encouraged him and got a sigh in return.

"If you try, I'll take you and maman to get gelato afterwards," Ben added.

Gabe crossed his arms over his chest and focused on the words beside the case, "Nef... Nefer." He sighed louder.

I smiled at him, "Sound it out. You're already halfway there."

"Nerfer-tee-tee," He said slowly and smiled up at his dad, grinning wide when he saw the pride on Ben's face. "Nefertiti," He repeated, almost singsong.

I moved my eyes from Ben's to Gabe's, kissing his cheek before standing up. "My baby is so smart," I said proudly, glad he didn't hear my words since he'd normally argue back that he was a big boy and not a baby.

"He is," Ben said from behind me. I leaned my back against his chest, watching Gabe who looked enamored by the mummy still. "You're not going to cry, are you?"

I tilted my head to the side and grinned at him, "No silly."

"I found my clue!!!" Gabe said loudly and I widened my eyes, looking back at him.

"Shh! You'll wake Nerfertiti up and she'll be mad."

"Kind of like maman gets when we wake her up," Ben said from behind me, making me think back to the last time he'd waken me up... from the naughty dream I was having about him. God, my skin had to be pink, my face bright red. Thank god he couldn't read my mind, my thoughts were back on how realistic the dream felt, how I couldn't have last even five more minutes without coming.

"I'm not that bad," I said and shot him a look, glancing away quickly. 

"I didn't say you are, I'm sure you're really good instead," He said casually, unable to bite my tongue.

"Ben," I said in a warning tone as I shot him a glance, my eyes a little wide and my cheeks getting a darker shade of pink.

He squeezed my shoulders in his hands before pulling away, "I was just saying." He winked at me to let me know that he was just messing with me then set his hand flat on Gabe's head, knowing that he hated that. He wanted to be as tall as Ben, if not taller. Being reminded of how tiny he was always made him grumpy... adorable, but grumpy. "What now little explorer."

"I'm not little," He protested and raised his hands, trying to slap Ben's away but he was faster. "Papa!" He snorted and shot him a glare, looking furious.

"Don't fight boys," I cut in, smirking wide at them as I reached for Gabe's hand and forced us to walk out the room, "We need to find the second clue!"

Gabe gave his father a triumphant look, sticking his tongue out and being a sassy little kid, "Papa is bad maman."

I glanced down at him and tried not to laugh, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip, "You two are just being silly."

"Guilty," Ben admitted, grinning at me as he slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. In situations like these it was easy for me to get carried away and feel as if we were a family. Of course we were, only it was different now.

"Papa can I have a ship?" Our son's small voice woke me up from my thoughts as we we walked into the room which had a huge ship inside.

He raised one eyebrow at him, still smirking, "What would you do with a ship?"

"I want to take maman all around the world," He said simply as he shrugged his tiny shoulders, acting all tough and proud when really, he was just adorable and it showed mostly when he said things like that. The love he had for me? I wished it'd never go away, that he'd never be ashamed to show it so openly. He was the cutest thing alive and made me melt. "You can come too but ask maman first," He added as an afterthought, killing me.

"Don't you want papa to come?" I grinned, looking down at him while struggling to make a serious face. It was hard to mask my emotions with him though, my face lit up always. "He's so strong and can help us if the ship has problems."

Gabe contemplated this and looked up at his dad with his face all serious, "Can you fix ships, papa?"

Ben nodded slowly, "I can. You'd be lucky to have me there." His eyes flashed past Gabe's, the two of us sharing a look. My boys were adorable, I was lucky.

"Good," Gabe agreed with us and walked over to the ship, searching every crevice of it for a clue.

I crossed my arms over my chest and kept an eye on him, feeling Ben standing close to me. His cologne filled the air, an intoxicating manly smell... he smelt really good. "I didn't know you were such a pro with ships," I bit my lip as I tilted my head in his direction.

"I'm a man of many talents," He shrugged with a serious look on his handsome face.

I let a quick breath escape me, knowing how much truth was in that statement. Ben was an amazing man, gorgeous and strong, one hell of a model and smart. He was epic in bed, had stamina and a flawless body that he knew how to use, would leave me sore for days... and most importantly? He was the best dad. Gabe was lucky. "You are," I agreed and grinned. "If something broke, would you be able to fix it?"

"Are you planning on buying him a ship anytime soon?"

I pursed my lips together and shook my head, "He asked you to buy him one, not me."

"I found it!!" Gabe's voice said loudly. "Papa, come see my clue!"

He walked over to our boy and looked down, a smile on his face since Gabe was being so adorable. He was always adorable to be honest, except for when he was tired and whined over everything but that was another story. "Show me!" He said with his same enthusiasm.

Gabe lifted his hand and opened it, revealing a piece of a puzzle. "I don't understand," He furrowed his eyebrows, fishing the one he had got at the mummy from his pocket and trying to put the two pieces together. "I think it's broken papa."

A smile played on my lips as I watched the two of them, the feeling of family overwhelming me and making my heart ache a little. "I think we still need two of those Gabe," I told him in an encouraging tone.

Ben turned his head in my direction, "Maman's right, where should we go next?" His eyes bounced between me and our kid, who was staring at me and waiting for an answer.

I grabbed the map and glanced at it before widening my eyes at him, knowing he wouldn't like the next room too much. Vases paled in comparison to huge ships and mummies. "The vases room," I said with as much excitement as I could muster.

He frowned, not looking impressed even a bit. "But that's boring," He protested, making Ben laugh.

"Do you want to find the treasure or not?" He raised one eyebrow at him, knowing how he could never give up. He was as stubborn as me, if not more so.

"We're half way there," I added as I tilted my head to the side and smiled at him, making him smile back at me.

"Okay." He agreed with a nod before lifting his hands towards his dad, "I'm tired papa."

"What happened with you being a big boy, uh?" He asked as he sighed, already bending to pick him up.

He wrapped his arm around Ben's shoulder, a triumphant look on his face, "I am! Just for a little papa, I promise."

"Afraid to get tired too?" I shot Ben an amused look, nudging his side with my bony elbow as I bit down on my lip.

"Nah," He grinned at me as we started walking again, passing in front of a never ending number of painting. My eyes moved from one to another, studying the details as quick as possible because unlike Gabe and his treasure hunt, I came for the actual art. "Do you still paint?" He asked quietly, knowing how passionate I used to be about art. Once upon a lifetime I thought it might even become my career one day, my own work displayed in a little gallery in London even. Of course, life happened. I had no regrets though, my son meant much more to me than any silly painting.

I parted my lips and tilted my head back in their direction as Gabe's face lit up a little. "She does! Maman painted my room and I helped," He stared up at his dad with a small pout. "I told you that already papa."

Ben cracked a grin and riffled a hand through his hair, getting a bigger pout out of him, "Are you an artist now?"

Gabe shrugged nonchalantly, artist never on his list of future occupations. Lately astronaut and male model topped that list, honestly he didn't see how different the two were and why I laughed every time he said he wanted to be both. "I'm good at coloring," He said seriously.

I grinned and nodded my head, "He is. He stays in the lines."

Ben let out another laugh, both of us looking at our son with nothing but admiration on our face. He was perfect and he brought us together in a way that no one else ever could, we were bonded over the love for our boy. "Such a talented boy we have," He said as we walked into the room of vases. It was literally just that: a room with vases.

"How about I look for the clue this time?" I stared up at Gabe then scanned the room, knowing his eyes were already doing the same. How he found the last two so easily? I was impressed.

"Look under the table maman," He pointed to the ground, expecting me to crawl.

I lifted an eyebrow at him then went back to searching, "The other two clues weren't on the ground silly boy."

"But I'm short! You're looking to high up," He groaned, wanting to be let down again.

"Found it!"I reached into a clear plastic vase thats soul purpose was to hold a scrap of paper. "Say please," I walked over to my boys and held it above both of their heads.

"Please can I have my clue?" He asked with his eyes on the prize, wrinkling his nose when I pressed a quick kiss against it then handed him the clue.

"Can you get back on your feet now?" Ben raised one eyebrow at him, watching him as he studied the piece of the puzzle in his hands.

"No," He said stubbornly and ignored his dad, setting the clues he had against Ben's hard chest and kept them pinned there with his fingers as he stared, looking lost into his thoughts.

I shot Ben a grin, rubbing Gabe's back as we started walking again, heading to the last stop of our treasure hunting. "Come on Gabe, dad's tired. We still have to find the last clue," I tried, knowing that he wouldn't give up since he loved the attention. I couldn't blame him for wanting a little extra since he wasn't used to getting both of his parents at the same time, it was like a special treat for him.

He ignored me and just shrugged, not even bothering to look at us, "Dad's never tired because he's a super hero."

"I have the feeling that this super hero thing will get me into trouble," Ben smirked at me as I dropped my hand way from our kid and slid it between his side and his elbow to wrap my fingers around his arm, that motion so natural that I barely noticed.

I tilted my head in their direction, my eyes bouncing between Gabe and his dad, the similarities between the two making me smile. Not only had we raised such a smart boy, but he was already so handsome too. "Oh really? I thought it was true that you're never tired," I joked, making a silly face. It was only after I said it that I thought about how wrong he might take it, how he used to boast about never getting tired when we'd have all day and night sex marathons. Sex was one thing we never had any problems with, except maybe the fact that we both hated condoms and it lead to an unexpected pregnancy when I was still in my fourth year of high school.

"Watch this," He grinned at me and poked Gabe's side to get his attention, "Hey little men, isn't maman a super heroine too?"

I furrowed my brows, looking at him as if she was trying to get where this was going. "Yes!" He said with a nod, smiling big at me.

"Does she get tired?" Ben went on, trying to keep a straight face even if it was hard. I couldn't contain my smile either.

"No, she can't!" He shook his head quickly, "She's super maman." 

Ben broke into a laugh at his words, both of us dying a little for how cute he was. "Good luck with never being tired now," He grinned wide at me.

I laughed and shook my head, "I'm tired a lot instead... I feel 50 instead of 23."

"Maman, you're 23?!" Gabe's eyes went wide as if he had just heard the most unbelievable thing on earth.

We walked into the room with pyramids, my eyes still on him as I nodded my head, "How old did you think I was silly boy?" I grinned at him, wanting to keep him tiny and innocent forever. The idea of him growing up as fast as Ben and I did scared me. I wanted to protect him from the world for forever.

He scrunched up his face in deep thought, "You look fifteen maman."

I laughed at that, throwing my head back a little as I leaned my body into Ben's side. "How old do I look?" He asked Gabe, grinning as his eyes kept bouncing back and forth between us. Others were in the room, admiring the pyramids or looking for clues, but it didn't stop us from being silly.

Gabe sighed and went back into his thoughts to choose an appropriate age for his father, "You're... fifteen too! Maybe sixteen."

"Good guess," Ben grinned and kissed the top of his head, adjusting him against his chest as his clues fell from his tiny hold. I let go of Ben's arm and bent down to gather them up, holding them in one hand as I looked around the room. "Are you going to help maman, or are you going to let her find the last clue?"

I looked back at Gabe with wide eyes and my mouth making a small O. He sighed against and wiggled in his dad's arms, "Let me down papa, I want to find it instead."

Ben grinned and let him go, his tiny body sliding down his dads as he set his feet back on the floor. "Let's see how long it's going to take you," He said as he ruffled his hair and got a silly smile back before he started to look around, looking like a cutie on a mission.

"I wish he could stay like this forever," I sighed from beside my ex, our eyes glued on our kid as he walked around the room, his hands on his hips and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Like this?" Ben asked, echoing my words while I felt his eyes on me.

I shrugged, not taking my eyes away from Gabe and smiling when he bumped into an another kid by walking backwards. "So little and innocent," I said and left it at that, not giving him any further explanation. It was crazy how it felt like I'd just given birth to him yesterday when really, five years had passed. He was growing up and really fast.

"I'm afraid that once he'll start school he won't be anymore instead."

"Life," I sighed and ran my hand through my long hair while I danced with the idea of having another baby one day. Right now, the idea sounded impossible... but in the future? I could see it happening. I always wanted a big family, I just never expected my life to take the direction it did.

Gabe found his last clue and his eyes lit up before moving to us, his smile big as he ran to us, "Mamam, I got it!!! Alone!" He said with pride, showing me the last piece of the puzzle.

"He'll always be your biggest fan," Ben pointed out in a quiet voice as he leaned into me a little and smiled. Then he widened his eyes at our cutie, "We'd better get your prize now!"

"And gelato!" He reminded his dad, grabbing my hand and making it obvious that he was done with the visit.

"And gelato," I agreed and leaned down to kiss his forehead, watching him wrinkle his nose in response.

"No kisses in public please," He whispered then glanced around us to make sure none of the other kids had seen it. My mouth fell open and Ben laughed from beside me. Gabe looked back at us and blushed a little, "No offense maman. Girl kisses are gross."

"I thought you said mine were okay," I faked a pout at him, a little hurt since I'd never get enough kisses from my boy, but also? He was so adorable, a bigger part of me was struggling not to laugh at how serious he was.

"We should be glad that he still feels that way since it's not going to last long," Ben said quietly to me and laughed, averting his eyes back to Gabe's. "One day, you'll be lucky if you can get a girl that looks even half as beautiful as your mom to kiss you."

He studied us and sighed, having enough of this conversation, "I just want gelato, not kisses."

"What about your prize?" I smiled back at him, his innocence reassuring.

"I do!!" He said with more excitement in his voice, giving my hand a tug as we started walking. "What do you think it'll be? A ship?!"

I peeked up at Ben, his smile contagious and making me grin, "I don't this it'll be a ship."

"Well I doubt it'll be a mummy!" He threw his free hand up in the air and huffed. "I don't want a vase."

"What was wrong with the room of vases?" Ben grinned as he looked over at me, "That was maman's favorite part."

Gabe lifted his head up in my direction, "Was it?"
I shook my head, "No, your papa's just a comedian."