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2 years later

"Wally, what are you doing?"

He looked up at Lia, then silently showed her his sketch book.

She tilted her head at the colorful drawing.

"It's a rainbow house," she smiled.

"No, it's a crayon house." Wally said sternly. "I want to make it."

Lia said down next to him curious. "How?"

He gave her a look. "With crayons of course."

"Of course," She nodded. That was obvious. "But … why?"

Wally gave her a sly smile. "because the math teacher said I can't."

Lia mirrored his devious smile. "So, how do we get enough crayons?"

"I'm sure my aunt as an idea on how to get them," Wally said matter-of-factly.

Lia made a face at him. "Why would she know that?"

Wally smiled. "Because she awesome."

They were walking home from school, their knitted-together hands swinging back and forth between them.

Lia had to agree. Iris was pretty awesome. She had taken them to the news station once and got them each a soda.

"I'll ask her during dinner." Wally said.

"Can I come to?" Lia asked, she liked Wally's house a lot better than hers.

"Sure," he smiled.

As their houses came into view so did a woman with red hair.

"Aunty Iris!" Wally said and ran to her. He didn't let go off Lia's hand, but she somehow kept his pace.

Only a few steps from his aunt did Wally let go off Lia, and his aunt bend down to hug the seven-year-old.

"Hey, little guy." The woman smiled and looked at the little girl standing a few feet from them, so still she could be a statue. "Hello."

"Aunty, we are blocking the street." Wally said.

"Oh," his aunt broke off the hug and stepped to the side.

Behind her stood a tall blond man, he gave them an odd smile.

"Oh, there you are Wally," his mother said from the front. "I was getting worried." Then she notices Iris. "Oh, hello Iris I didn't know you had arrived yet."

"Yeah, we just arrived and saw Wally coming home, so we'd figured we'd wait for him."

Wally looked at the tall, blond man out of the corner of his eye, who was still standing there, looking at them with that odd smile. He must be waiting for them to go inside.

"Mom, can Lia eat with us?" He asked.

His mom made an odd expression and looked at Iris. "Well, I sup..."

Suddenly Lia's mother appeared. "Ahh, Lia I was worried, come inside..."

"Oh … Wally just asked if she could join us for dinner." Mary said.

"I'm sorry," Lia's mother apologized. "But … you know … my husband … maybe tomorrow..."

Mary smiled and nodded. It had been two years and she had neither seen Clara husband even once nor learned what he did for a living.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, why don't they have a sleepover?" She asked.

Both children lit up.

"Can we mom?" Lia begged.

Her mother looked tortured but smiled. "We'll talk to your dad about it."

Then both her and Lia went into their house.

Then Wally's mother suddenly turned to the tall, blond man. "I'm sorry for the disruption, you must be Barry." She said and held out her hand.

He took her hand with a smile. "No problem, you must be Mary."

His mom nodded and gestured to Wally. "And I'm sure you've meet my son. Now, let's get inside. I hope you guys are hungry I've made a lot food this evening."

Wally was conflicted. On one hand he was excited about the sleepover he was going to have with Lia tomorrow. On the other hand, he was very perplexed about this blond man called Barry.

Next day

There was a knock at the door. Wally jumped down from his chair and headed towards it.

Lia was standing outside with a tiny suitcase in one hand and a teddy bear in the other.

"Is it Lia?" His mother asked from the kitchen.

"Yes," He answered over the shoulder.

"Mom bought us candy for tonight." He smiled.

Lia lit up at the word candy.

"Well," Lia's mother said and put a hand on her daughter's head. "I'll pick you up some time tomorrow."

"Don't worry I can just climb the fence when I want to go home." Lia smiled up at her mother.

The woman's eyes grew wider. She was clearly considering whether the little girl was kidding or not.

"We'll see you tomorrow." Wally's mother said with a smile, as she appeared in the doorway.

Lia's mother smiled and turned around, as Mary let the little girl in and closed the door behind them.

She gave Lia a look. "You really like causing trouble for your mother, don't you?"

Lia just gave her a big smile.

"So did you ask your aunt?" Lia asked and popped a piece of candy in her mouth.

"Yeah," Wally said, as his hand dove into the bowl of candy, while his eyes were glued to the TV. "She said, she'll look into it." He put a piece of candy in his mouth. "She said, that if we could do it, maybe it'll be news."

Lia jumped. "We're gonna be on the news."

Wally smiled. "If we can build it, yeah."

Lia took his hand and knitted their fingers together. "Of course, we can." She smiled brightly.

Then a loud noise from the TV directed their attention back to the cartoon they were watching.

"Time for bed," his dad said.

"But we're still watching TV," Wally whined and looked up at his dad with big eyes.

"Bedtime." His dad repeated. This time with a sterner tone.

Wally sighed but turned off the TV. Then he and Lia got ready for bed, getting into their pajamas, brushed their teeth, and lied down on the mattresses his mom had put on the floor of his room and closed their eyes as his dad closed the door.

About two seconds went by.

"You're still awake?" Wally whispered.

"Of course," Lia whispered with a smile.

They giggled to each other. Like they had somehow tricked Wally's dad by still being awake.

"I like it here," Lia suddenly said.

Wally smiled. "I like it here too."

"I wish my family was just like you," Lia whispered.

"Your mom is nice," Wally said.

"Yeah, but you don't know my dad..."

"No … No, I don't," Wally agreed. "You know that tall, blond man from yesterday?"

Lia remembered and nodded.

"Turns out he's my aunt's new boyfriend," Wally whispered.

"So, he's gonna be your uncle?"

Wally nodded.

"That sucks," Lia said.

"Yeah..." Wally said.

There was quiet for a little while.

"Look, Wally!" Lia suddenly sat up. "The stars are out."

Wally sat up and look at the window over his bed. The stars were out indeed.

"Come," he said and got up from the mattress and crawled up on his bed. Lia followed him.

"Look at that one," Wally's finger drew across the window following a string of stars. "That's Orion's belt." He continued to draw invisible lines on the window. "And connecting that to these stars makes Orion."

"Who's Orion?" Lia asked, fascinated.

"A man that was turned into stars," Wally explained. "There are all these stars that together make pictures."

"Like the cloud animals in the sky?" Lia asked.

Wally smiled. "Yeah …" He was cold, so he pulled the blanket on his bed over both of them. "Apparently people used them to find their way in the dark."

"Ahh. Then what about that one?" Lia asked and pointed to a star moving down the window.

"That's a shooting star," Wally said excited. "Hurry and make a wish."

Lia looked at Wally out of the corner, his eyes almost glittered in the light from stars.

"Then … I wish I could be with you forever," she said and cuddled up closer to him.

Wally looked at her. "That sounds good, but … I don't think you're supposed to say it out loud."

Lia snored lightly. She was already asleep.

Wally leaned his head on hers and tugged the blanket closer around them.

Two weeks later

As the two children neared their houses a red-haired woman came into view.

"Aunty Iris?" Wally asked confused. His mom hadn't told him she would come by.

"Hello, you two." She smiled. "I have something for you."

Both children eyed the blond man standing by her with skepticism. He smiled and waved at them.

"What is it?" Wally asked his aunt.

"Well, you wanted to build a house out of crayons, right?"

Both children nodded emphatically.

His aunt pointed to the truck behind her. The blond man pulled up the back door of the truck, revealing thousands of multi-colored crayons.

"If you can build it, we'll make a story out of it." She smiled at the two of them.

"Thank you, aunty Iris," Wally said and hugged her.

"You should thank Barry, it's him who got all the crayons." His aunt explained.

He looked at the blond man. "Thanks, Barry," he said less than enthusiastic.

Three weeks later

There was a knock at the door.

Mary opened and smiled at Clara. "They're in the backyard."

Clara smiled. "I had a feeling she way was here."

"Come in and have a cup of tea," Mary said and opened the door wider.

"Oh, no … my husband isn't home right now." Clara was already turning around.

Mary was starting to get concerned about her friend.

"I'm sure he won't mind you going to your neighbor's house for a cup of tea, while he's away working."

Clara stopped and then nodded. A small smile appeared on her face. "You know, I think you're right."

The two children were inside a white tent, Wally's father had set up so wind and rain wouldn't bother them, while they were building.

"They've been at it since they came home from school," Mary said, as she poured tea for Clara.

Both of them watched as Wally instructed Lia on which crayon to put were and build his side of the crayon house at the same time. Wally had wanted to use super glue but had reconsidered and instead, they used glue sticks.

Clara smiled at them. "Aren't they just adorable together."

"You should have seen them at the sleepover," Mary said while sipping her tea. "They were cuddled up together on Wally's bed."

"Ahh," her friend sighed. "I hope they stay close forever."

"That would be nice," Mary said and put the cup to her lips. "Look, they're almost finished."

The next day

The boy pulled his aunt through the house. Lia followed close behind them.

"Look, Look!" The boy said excited and pointed.

The woman looked out into the backyard.

There stood a colorful, little house. It was as big as the children were tall, they must have stood on their toes to even try and finish the roof.

She smiled down at the two of them, who looked at her excited with anticipation. "It's great."

Both of them broke into a wide smile.

"Are we going to be on the news?" The girl asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, we'll..."

"Wow, that's impressive?" Aunty Iris's boyfriend Barry came out into the backyard. "You two did that all by yourselves? That's some impressive engineering."

The two kids' demeanor changed.

"Thank you," Wally said with a hint of unfriendliness.

The two adults shared a look, as Wally's parents and Lia's mother joined them in the backyard.

"What were you about to say, aunty?" Wally asked.

She smiled at the two kids again. "Let's get a picture of our house with the two of you and we'll come over tomorrow after school and record the story, sounds good."

The two of them smiled widely at each other and nodded.

"Good, so let's go take the picture." Wally's aunt smiled.

The two children ran towards their little house and posed in front of it.

Iris snapped a couple of pictures of them pointing towards the house and some silly poses.

"Good, I think that's it." She smiled.

Wally smiled at Lia "We're going to be on the news."

"Yeah," Lia said and suddenly stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck.

Iris quickly snapped another picture.

The two kids let go of each other.

"Mom, is it snack time yet?" Wally asked.

"Yes," said his mom. "Let's get inside."

"Look at them," Iris said and showed Lia's mother the last picture, as they made their way back into the house.

In the picture, both children were smiling at each other and had their arms around each other.

Lia's mother sighed lovingly. "Aren't they just adorable?"

Iris returned the smile. "They sure are, they look like a tiny couple."

"Who's just bought their first crayon house," Lia's mother laughed. She was happy that they had moved here. She had found a friend and over the past year, she was finally starting to feel like a normal person again, like … before she married Lia's father. She was starting to laugh again and feel like her own person. Like she didn't need his permission.

"Well," Iris said and looked into the kitchen, where both children were sitting beside each other waiting for Mary to make them a snack. "You never know what will happen in a few years."

Please tell me what you think.

With any luck, the next chapter will be out next Friday.