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 sassy

Monday, May 27th; Night of Museums; enjoy a night of lights, guided lecture tours, concerts and even treasure hunts. Bring the family or bring a date... up to you.

I ran up the stairs two at time, trying to be as fast as I could and staring at the top of the staircase of the main entrance of the Louvre in an attempt to stot Gabe and Cami. We had been planning this night for quite a long time, both Cami and I agreeing that it was time for our son to start learning something about art and history but still in a fun way of course. Our little man had approved our choice in the moment when I had mentioned that there were mummies and a special tour in the basement, making it sound more like disneyland than a real museum.

As I stepped into the wide room I noticed my son's big green eyes immediatly and smiled, happy to get to spend some time with him. "Hey." I said, my voice a little breathy. When I got no answer from him but just a glare I blinked at Cami who was standing next to him, my smile fading, "What's wrong?"
She sighed, nudging Gabe towards me, "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." I ran my hands through my hair, feeling genuinely bad about it. In my defense, I had been on the set and I hadn't be able to do anything about it except for crossing the whole city in a hurry. I looked at Cami to let her know that the apology was for her too, "I was working and wanted to call you but my phone died..."
"It's okay Ben, 20 minutes aren't that bad." She said with a reassuring smile on her face and proving me once again that she was an exceptional woman.
"I'm still sorry." I repeated, now more worried about Gabe who was shooting me glares like it was raining. I lowered myself at his height to look into his eyes, it was a little like looking into my own, Cami was right about it. "Will you forgive me? Please?"
Before he could talk, supposing that he was about to, his mom caressed the top of his head, "Why don't you show papa what we got while waiting for him?" She suggested, saving me once again.
He took a folded and creased piece of paper from the pocket of his hoodie, opening it up for me. "It's a map." He explained seriously, my 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. "We have to find a treasure!" He added, excitement showing in his voice.
"We will, we are a great team." I grinned at him, pressing a kiss on his nose and making him scrunch it up. When he did that? He looked a lot like Cami when she was a kid. I lifted myself up in a straighter position again, grabbing his free hand while he held Cami's with his other.
"We should have a name." She suggested, giving me an amused look before glancing down at our son.
I smirked wider as we started walking, loving how, in a way, we could still act like a family sometimes, "The cuties?" I 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 keep myself from laughing. He had a point, but he was too adorable to be taken seriously. "Plus I'm five which means that I'm a big boy now."
"But maman is old," I pointed out while Cami raised an eyebrow and shot me a look. "Isn't she too old to be a cutie?"
"You're older," She retorted.
I shrugged my shoulders, "Gabe already said that I can't be a cutie."
"You two will always be my cuties," She said, surprising me a little but I didn't pay to attention to her words. Gabe lifted his head up to roll his eyes at her, shaking his little head. "No eye rolling."
"We need a better name... like Batroc's Brigade!"
"Wasn't Batroc a villan?" I 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 her as she smiled at him. "Which way maman?"
Cami glanced down at the map she held in her 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?" She widened her mouth as I laughed, Gabe shot his head in my direction.
"Are you afraid of mummies?"
I shook my head, trying to keep a straight face since he seemed to believe that a mummy attack could be imminent. "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," I grinned while Cami smirked at me, both of us amused by the subject. That was the great thing about having a kid, one with a great imagination too, we were never bored.
"Thank you," She said and bit her 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 Cami looked back at me, waiting for my answer.
"No." I said quickly, glancing down at my son with a grin on my face. Truth was I was afraid of plently of things, that carefree guy I used to be when I was a teen was long gone because being a father meant having a lot of resposibilities but mostly lot of worries. All about my perfect little man. "I'm fearless." I added making a silly face that made him chuckle.
"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." Cami tugged at his hand gently, her gorgeous dark eyes on me and I could tell it was taking everything in her not to laugh.
He nodded his head quickly, as if 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?" She raised one eyebrow at him, giving him the same amused look I was giving him too. "You're a mini hero."
He widened his already big green eyes at his mom, her mouth forming a small o, "We're a family of super heroes!!!" He whispered, looking as if that sudden discover was shocking him. Cami 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.
Cami sighed but kept smiling as we followed him, shaking her head, "I have no idea of how he got so silly." She pointed out, stopping him just in time before he could press his hands against the glass care protecting the mummy.
"Maman!" He protested, shooting her a bad look.
I bent myself on one knee, leveling him and wrapping my arm around his tiny waist, "You can't be loud, or the mummy will wake up." I said seriously and he got a little closer to me, looking slightly worried.
"Okay." He whispered, staring at the stack of bones and cloth in front of him, while Cami slapped the back of my head lightly.
"Do you want him to have nightmares?" She said in a barely audible tone, making a face when I looked up at her. Ops. "Gabe, cutie, look! There's another one...and it's prettier!" She added in her usual soft voice, nodding at the coffin on our right which was coloured in gold red and blue.
He followed her without blinking an eye, looking lost into the view, "Is it for a girl?!" He asked as he glanced up at her in a way that made my heart tighten. He was in complete adoration, he looked at her as if she was the sun, his eyes full of pure love.
I took a few seconds to watch them before getting in a straighter position again and walking over them, setting my hands on Cami's shoulders as she set them on Gabe's, all of us looking at the mummy number two. "What is it Gabe?" I asked, noticing how he was narrowing his eyes on the letters on the glass which explained that it was the coffin of a queen. I honestly had no idea if he could read them even a word of that, but I knew that both Cami and I were incouraging him to learn to read with our help.
"Reine, papa!" He said and grinned up at me, looking proud.
Cami 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," She encouraged him and got a sigh in return.
"If you try, I'll take you and maman to get gelato afterwards," I added, always knowing how to trick him into doing things. I had to say that he always tried really hard, I was already impressed enough that he could speak both English and French and I figured that reading them would be the next step.
Gabe crossed his arms over his chest and focused on the words beside the case, "Nef... Nefer." He sighed louder.
Cami smiled at him, "Sound it out. You're already halfway there."
"Nerfer-tee-tee," He said slowly and smiled up at me, grinning wide as I looked at him with proud. "Nefertiti," He repeated, almost singsong.
Cami moved my eyes from mine to Gabe's, kissing his cheek before standing up. "My baby is so smart," She said proudly and luckily he didn't hear her words since he'd normally argue back that he was a big boy and not a baby.
"He is," I said from behind her, my gaze bouncing between her and our son. She leaned her back against my chest, watching Gabe who looked enamored by the mummy still. "You're not going to cry, are you?"
She tilted her head to the side and grinned at me, "No silly."
"I found my clue!!!" Gabe said loudly and Cami widened her 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," I said from behind her, thinking about the last time I'd waken her up from a naughty dream that was about me and her wearing crotchless panties. How I wished I could know the details, but I was already lucky enough to have this much information. I was surprised too to be honest, both because she had told me and for the thing per se.
"I'm not that bad," She said and shot me a look, glancing away quickly.
"I didn't say you are, I'm sure you're really good instead." I said casually, unable to bite my tongue. I wasn't going to lie and said that since she had told me I hadn't thought about it, of course I did. I was just a man and she was a gorgeous sexy woman, plus I could still remember perfectly how she looked like when she was naked. On top of me.
"Ben." She said in a warning tone as she shot me a glance, her eyes a little wide and her cheeks getting a darker shade of pink.
I squeezed her shoulders in my hands before pulling away, "I was just saying." I winked at her to let her know I was just messing with her then set my hand flat on my son's head, knowing that he hated that, "What now little explorer."
"I'm not little." He protested and raised his hands, trying to slap mine away but I was faster. "Papa!" He snorted and shot me a glare, looking furious.
"Don't fight boys." Cami cut in, smirking wide at us as she reached for Gabe's hand and forced us to walk out the room, "We need to find the second clue!"
My son gave me a triumphant look, sticking his tongue out and being a sassy little kid, "Papa is bad maman."
She glanced down at him and I could see it was taking her everything not to laugh, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip, "You two are just being silly."
"Guilty." I admitted, grinning at her this time as I slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans. In situations like these it was easy for me to get carried away and feel as if we were a family, I didn't like holding myself back when I wanted to wrap my arm around her to pull her into a hug with no reason or when I wished I could take her hand in mine. It wasn't like I'd do it with an hidden agenda, but she was the mother of my kind and she was the only one who could understand how proud of happy I was when it came to our little Gabe.
"Papa can I have a ship?" Our son's small voice woke me up from my thoughts as I realized that we were walking into another room which had a huge ship inside.
I raised one eyebrow at him, still smirking, "What would you do with a ship?" I asked, curious to hear his answer because I knew it'd be a silly one.
"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. He loved his mom so much. "You can come too but ask maman first." He added as an afterthought, killing me.
"Don't you want papa to come?" Cami grinned, looking down at him while struggling to make a serious face and failing. Everytime she looked at him her whole face lit up, leaving me wonder if I did the same. "He's so strong and can help us if the ship has problems."
Gabe contemplated this and looked up at me with his face all serious, "Can you fix ships, papa?"
I nodded slowly, knowing that it wouldn't ever happen, "I can. You'd be lucky to have me there." My eyes flashed past Gabe's, the two of us sharing a look.
"Good," Gabe agreed with us and walked over to the ship, searching every crevice of it for a clue.
Cami crossed her arms over her chest and kept an eye on him, while I stood close to her. I tried to ignore how the air around her smelt like flowers and her, or how the clothes she had on fit her like a glove and followed her curves, or how her lips looked soft, but damn it was hard. Years spent building a friendship our of our love and I wasn't immune to her yet. "I didn't know you were such a pro with ships," She bit her lip as she tilted her head in my direction.
"I'm a man of many talents," I shrugged with a serious look on my face.
She let a quick breath escape her, probably sensing my lie even if I was just being silly. I was a good model, good in bed, but mostly a good father, which was all that mattered to me. "You are," She agreed and grinned. "If something broke, would you be able to fix it?"
"Are you planning on buying him a ship anytime soon?"
She pursed her lips together and shook her head, "He asked you to buy him one, not me."
"I found it!!" Gabe's voice said loudly. "Papa, come see my clue!"
I walked over him and looked down, a smile on my face since he 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!" I said with his same enthusiasm.
He lifted his hand and opened it, revealing a piece of a puzzle. "I don't understand." He furrowed his brows, 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."
"I think we still need two of those Gabe." Cami said from next to me, making me turn my head in her direction immediatly.
"Maman's right, where should we go next?" I asked as my eyes bounced between her and our kid, who was staring at her and waiting for an answer.
She grabbed the map and glanced at it before widening her eyes at him, "The vases room."
He frowned, not looking impressed even a bit. "But that's boring." He protested, making me laugh.
"Do you want to find the treasure or not?" I raised one eyebrow at him, knowing how he could never give up. Our little man was a stubborn boy, she got that from his mom.
"We're half way there." Cami added as she tilted her head to the side and smiled at him, making him smile back at her.
"Okay." He agreed with a nod before lifting his hands towards me, "I'm tired papa."
"What happened with you being a big boy, uh?" I asked as I sighed, but I was already bending to pick him up.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, a triumphant look on his face, "I am! Just for a little papa, I promise." He said in a tiny voice that always let him get his way with anything. What could I say in my defense? I loved him too much.
"Afraid to get tired too?" Cami shot me an amused look, nudging my side with her bony elbow as she bit down on her lip.
"Nah." I grinned at her as we started walking again, passing in front of a neverending number of painting. I noticed how her eyes moved from one to another, studying the details as quick as possible, and lightening up when she saw something she liked. "Do you still paint?" I asked quietly, knowing how passionate she used to be about art, and really talented too. I had always thought her drawings and paintings would end up in some gallery in London, but then life had happened and now we were both doing something really different from our initial plans.
Cami parted her lips and tilted her head back in our direction as Gabe's face lit up a little. "She does! Maman painted my room and I helped," He stared up at me with a small pout. "I told you that already papa."
I cracked a grin and riffled a hand through his hair, getting a bigger pout out of him, "Are you an artist now?"
He shrugged nonchalantly, maybe considering that option too. He had one million ideas about what he wanted to be and he changed his mind at least one time a day, as if there was no difference between being an austronaut and a model or anything else. "I'm good at coloring," He said seriously.
Cami grinned and nodded her head, "He is. He stays in the lines."
I 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," I said as we walked into the room of vases.
"How about I look for the clue this time?" His mom stared up at him then scanned the room, his eyes already doing the same while I let them do all the work. I was surprised that he had found the last two so easily, then again, he was a smart boy and never ceased to impress me.
"Look under the table maman," He pointed to the ground, expecting her to crawl.
She 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 too high up," He groaned, wanting to be let down again and giving me a heard time holding him.
"Found it!" Cami reached into a clear plastic vase thats soul purpose was to hold a scrap of paper. "Say please," She walked over to us and held it above both of our heads.
"Please can I have my clue?" He asked with his eyes on the prize, wrinkling his nose when she pressed a quick kiss against it then handed him the clue.
"Can you get back on your feet now?" I raised one eyebrow at him, watching him as he studied the piece of the puzzle in his hands. I didn't mind carrying him around, he weighed close to nothing, but he was right when he said he wasn't a baby anymore and I had to stop treating him like one. It was hard though, he was growing up so fast.
"No." He said stubbornly and ignored me, setting the clues he had against my chest and kept them pinned there with his fingers as he stared, looking lost into his thoughts.
Cami shot me a grin, rubbing his 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."
This time it was her time to be ignored as our son just shrugged, "Dad's never tired because he's a super hero." He said quietly, not even bothering to look at us.
"I have the feeling that this super hero thing will get me into trouble." I smirked at Cami as she dropped her hand way from our kid and slid it between my side and my elbow to wrap her fingers around my arm, that motion so natural that I barely noticed.
She tilted her head in my direction, her eyes bouncing between Gabe and me, "Oh really? I thought it was true that you're never tired." She joked, making a silly face.
I did my best not to think in which specific circumstance I had never been tired with her, instead I played along with her, "Watch this." I grinned at her and poked Gabe's side to get his attention, "Hey little men, isn't maman a super heroine too?"
Cami furrowed her brows, looking at him as if she was trying to get where this was going. "Yes!" He said with a nod, smiling big at her.
"Does she get tired?" I went on, trying to keep a straight face even if it was hard.
"No, she can't!" He shook his head quickly, "She's super maman."
I couldn't help but laugh at his words, dying a little for how cute he was. "Good luck with never being tired now." I grinned wide at her.
Cami laughed and shook her 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, her eyes still on him as she nodded her head, while I listened carefully, sure that something hilarious would come from this conversation. "How old did you think I was silly boy?" She grinned at him.
He scrunched up his face in deep thought, "You look fifteen maman."
Cami laughed at that, throwing her head back a little as she leaned her body into my side. "How old do I look?" I asked Gabe, grinning as my eyes kept bouncing back and forth between us. I didn't care if we were in a room full of people, in one of the biggest museums in the world, all I could focus on was Gabe, and Cami, and us just being silly.
Gabe sighed and went back into his thoughts to choose an appropriate age for me, "You're... fifteen too! Maybe sixteen."
"Good guess," I grinned and kissed the top of his head, adjusting him against my chest as his clues fell from his tiny hold.
Cami let go of my arm and bent down to gather them up, holding them in one hand as she looked around the room. "Are you going to help maman, or are you going to let her find the last clue?" She looked back at Gabe with wide eyes and hermouth making a small o.
He sighed against and wiggled in my arms, "Let me down papa, I want to find it instead."
I grinned and let him go, his tiny body sliding down mine as he set his feet back on the floor. "Let's see how long it's going to take you." I said as I 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." Cami sighed from next to me, our eyes glued on our kid as he walked around the room, his hands on his hips and his brows furrowed.
I glanced at her for a moment, raising one eyebrow, "Like this?" I asked, echoing her words and waiting for her answer.
She shrugged, not breaking taking her eyes away from Gabe and smiling when he bumped into an another kid by walking backwards. "So little and innocent." She said and left it at that, not giving me any further explanation.
I thought about her words, reflecting about how time seemed to run since we had had our son. The day he had been born? It seemed yesterday, 5 years had passed since then instead. "I'm afraid that once he'll start school he won't be anymore instead." I smiled at her.
"Life." She sighed and ran her hand through her long hair while I wondered if this desire of keeping our kid little would lead her to have another one. I knew she wanted another baby, it was just a matter of time before she'd meet someone and start a new family. I had to admit that Chloe was right about that and the thought left me unfomfortable.
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 her the last piece of the puzzle.
"He'll always be your biggest fan." I pointed out in a quiet voice as I leaned into Cami a little and smiled. Then I widened my eyes at my cutie, "We'd better get your prize now!"
"And gelato!" He reminded me, grabbing Cami's hand and making it obvious that he was done with the visit.
"And gelato," She 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. Cami's mouth fell open and I laughed from beside her. Gabe looked back at us and blushed a little, "No offense maman. Girl kisses are gross."
"I thought you said mine were okay," She faked a pout at him. She never had enough kisses or cuddles from him and I couldn't blame her, but at the same time I could see that she was struggling not to laugh. No wonder why Gabe was so cute, Cami was the same.
"We should be glad that he still feels that way since it's not going to last long," I said quietly to her and laughed, averting my 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?" His mom smiled back at him, his innocence reassuring.
"I do!!" He said with more excitement in his voice, giving her hand a tug as we started walking.
"What do you think it'll be? A ship?!" Cami peeked up at me while I smiled like an idiot, "I don't think 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?" I grinned as I looked over at her, "That was maman's favorite part."
Gabe lifted his head up in her direction, "Was it?"
She shook her head, "No, your papa's just a comedian."