"How come you"ve become the flirt, now?" Jimmy asked her pleasantly, quietly letting her go, "Isn"t that my department?"Miya eyed him defiantly, her voice haughty.
"You aren"t very good at it, either way Jimmy."
Jim smirked. Really, now?
"It still took you ages to catch on I was flirting with you."
"That"s because you are no good."
"Really, missus?"
Jimmy would have grabbed her and pulled her into a hug again, or maybe kissed the girl hard, when he heard the slight sound of footsteps. Jim immediately panicked. He quickly let go of Miya"s hand and turned around, his suspicion confirmed when he saw the soft, ball like child come rushing towards them like a gust of wind.
"Mommy!" Ben cried out loud.
Albeit Jimmy heard the little guy call out to his mommy, but his mind didn"t register the words. In fact, he worried in his head if Ben had seen them doing anything inappropriate. Freaking out, Jim intercepted the small child"s path, and before Ben could reach Miya, he bent down and picked up the kid midway.
Ben was surprised, because he had wanted to go to mommy.
Jimmy smiled nervously at the boy, holding him up like a football.
"Hey, chap!" he greeted the child hurriedly, at which Ben was first confused, but then he smiled back.
He didn"t mind meeting Jimmy either!
"h.e.l.lo!" the boy chirped too.
Jim had no idea how to hold him, so he simply lifted him higher and placed the child swiftly onto his shoulders, giving him a piggyback ride. Ben shrieked at the sudden act, then excitedly held onto Jim"s hair.
He was sitting so high up!
This was exactly like when they had been at the beach!
Jim chuckled at the enthusiastic expression on the boy"s face.
"If only your mother was half that responsive, champ," Jim sighed lazily, which somehow made the boy giggle. Jim smirked too, unexpectedly delighted by that soft sound of laughter. He raised up a hand and the two boys high fived.
Miya huffed, ready to roll her eyes.
She crossed both her hands over her chest, and stood firmly before the two. It didn"t go down well with her when the boys suddenly ganged up against her. At all!
Why did she have to be bullied?!
Indignant, Miya stared at Jim.
"I think Ben came to see me. Didn"t you hear him call for his mommy?" she frowned, "Give me my son!"
Jim smirked cheekily.
"Take him then, my dear tall one. No one"s in your way, except my handsome face, and lofty stature, of course."
Miya looked annoyedly at Jim, and shot him an exasperated look.
"Handsome face, really?" The stature thing she could understand, he was obviously making fun of her height. Which p.i.s.sed her off anyway, but how did the face come into the picture?
This man was really stupid!
Jim nodded.
"You"re under the constant danger of swooning, just looking at me, dear. That"s a hurdle in your path to getting to Ben!"
Ben laughed at Jimmy"s words again. Miya rolled her eyes.
Then simply remarking, "Shut up!", she spread out her hands and smiled at her baby.
"Come here, Benny baby. Mommy missed you!"
Albeit Ben was seated firmly on Jimmy"s shoulders, his small legs wrapped around his neck, when he saw his mother"s bright smile, his face lit up like the sun. He beamed at her, and was ready to let go of Jim"s hair and shift to his mommy"s embrace instead.
When suddenly, Jim turned around, bent a bit and hugged Miya himself.
"Ah truce!" the giant man announced, quickly letting go of the girl after a short embrace, "Your mommy hugged me, champ. It means she accepts defeat!"
While Ben laughed again, Miya was for a second disoriented, then she shrugged and concentrated on Jimmy"s blabber. She was immediately so annoyed, she felt like hitting him right then.
Why wouldn"t this man let her have her baby?!
She really wanted to hug her boy!
But before she could say anything, Ben grinned widely, and told Jim in a soft voice, "I want to hug mommy too, Jimmy. Can you put me down?"
Awh. Not fair!
How did this mother and son get to be this cute?
When Jimmy heard Ben"s the words, he almost sighed at the charm in the boy"s voice. How come he hadn"t noticed it before? Ben"s words made tables turn, at least when it came to Miya and him both.
Jim chuckled at the thought.
Well, looked like the prank was over. He wasn"t going to deny the kid"s his request to hug mommy, just to pick on the wife.
"Alright bud," Jim declared again, "If that"s what you want! Jimmy shall put you down."
Just as Jim was ready to help the boy get off his shoulders, an idea played into his head. He stood up again, and kept both hands on his waist. Then grinning slyly, he remarked, "Unless your mommy makes some effort to reach you, kid! It"s like playing a game. If she touches a strand of your hair, I"ll hand you over to her!"
Miya stomped her foot in obvious agitation.
"Ben is seated too high!" she retorted angrily, "And I"m not playing any game. Put him down, now!" She had had enough.
Jim smirked.
"No!" he said, "Change in rules then. If you can touch Ben anyhow, I"ll hand him over to you. Come on, Miya! It"ll be fun! It"s like the game of cops and robbers. Of course, you"re the robber here. I"m too cool to play that."
Miya rolled her eyes.
"You"re the one kidnapping my baby gem. He"s your loot. That makes you the robber. And as much as I think the police are garbage, I"ll play the cop."
Viola! That meant Miya had agreed!
Jimmy grinned broadly, nodding ardently at the proposed condition.
Miya grimaced.
"There"s another condition," she said, "I win if I can touch Ben or smack your nose."
Jim"s jaw dropped. What!
Well… he was ready to accept that challenge!
Jimmy straightened up, looming over the missus like an overbearing cloud, his face proud, as if to say, "You will never touch my nose!"
The game begun.