Surprise

It dawned on Mia that she still hadn't spoken to Alex about their supposed trip.

The poor boy would be caught off guard.

The traveling plans required him to miss the last two weeks of school but since he was just in second grade, it wasn't too hard to have a conversation with his teacher to clear his schedule in secret.

Now all she had to do was tell him.

In the previous nights, over text, she had arranged the very last details with Yuzuru about her trip. Flight arrangements required her to move her vacation days a couple of days but it was fine with her firm and Mia didn't mind it either. It was a better option than taking away some precious time in Japan.

It was only when Alex was finishing his homework, 3 days before they were planning to leave that she broke the news.

"Alex" she called out, trying to get his attention.

"Yes, mommy?"

"You know how I'm on vacation time from work in a few days?"

"Yes! It's always fun when you don't have to work!"

His excitement surprised her but it only made her smile.

"So I was thinking that maybe we could do something fun."

"Like what?"

"Like seeing some different things and places. Would you be up for that?"

"But I have school."

"I already spoke with your teacher and she said it would be alright."

Her son grinned at that. For better or for worse, he loved when she allowed him to miss school. Well, maybe every kid was a bit like that, but she had noticed this in him very often.

"Where would we go?"

Mia was about to answer when her phone rang and broke her concentration. Yuzuru's name on the screen surprised her, they hadn't been calling after all.

"Sorry hun, let me just see if it's important."

Her main concern was that there was some kind of problem with the plans they had made and if there was, it was easier to deal with if Alex didn't know about it yet.

"Hey."

"Hey, gorgeous, how are you?"

"I'm ok, you?"

"All good."

Silence took upon them in the next seconds, making it all a bit awkward.

"Did you need something?" She ended up asking after she noticed he wasn't speaking anytime soon "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to check if you received everything in your email."

"Yes, but I texted you that I did." Mia didn't know what was going on, but it was clear that there was something. "Are you sure everything is fine?"

"Sorry, this is probably a bad time."

"No. Whatever it is I..."

"I just missed your voice, ok?" He interrupted her all of a sudden, his words hitting her at full strength. Mia didn't expect this, not in the slightest but a grin was quick to settle on her face.

It didn't matter how much they both tried to keep away, it just seemed impossible.

"I miss you too."

"It was a bad time, wasn't it?"

"No, I was just about to tell Alex about our travel plans"

"You haven't told him yet?"

"No. Want to help?"

"Sure, out me on speaker."

"Alex, there's someone for you on the phone, want to say hi?"

"Hello?" He said a bit uncertain, not knowing what to expect.

"Hey, Buddy."

"Yuzuru?!"

If Mia thought the kid looked excited before, it was nothing like after he heard Yuzuru's voice. It was probably partly her fault, she had promised her son that they would get a chance to speak and this was the first call that Alex had with Yuzu since he left.

It was almost selfish that she got to text the Japanese and not allow her son any contact in the process.

"It's nice to speak to you again."

"I wish I would see you" Alex said with a pout.

"Mia, can we video call?"

"Oh, yeah! Sure."

They quickly did the switch and in seconds they were both staring at the skater's face who looked as if he had just woken up after a rough night, clear dark circles on his eyes.

"This is better!" Alex quickly said making them both chuckle.

"So I think your mom was going to tell you some news."

"You know too?"

"Let's just say I tried to help a little bit."

Alex was clearly confused but he trusted the other two people, merely looking at his mom in search of answers.

"So you asked where we were going... Well, me and Yuzuru have been speaking about it for a while but I didn't want to give you too many hopes...Now that everything is settled, I can finally tell you. We are going to Japan."

"Japan?!"

The kid's wide eyes were unlike anything Mia had seen before on her son and he started jumping around the room when she finally revealed the big surprise.

"Are you happy?"

"Yes! We can see Yuzuru, right?"

"I think that can be arranged."

"And can I skate at the Sendai rink?"

"I don't know if..."

"Bring your skates, I will make it happen." Yuzuru quickly replied for her and she merely gave him a whispered thank you."

"It will be so much fun! I can't believe it!"

If Mia had anticipated this reaction from Alex, she would have said yes to Yuzuru right from the start. It seemed like she wasn't the only one excited about this.

After the big reveal was done and Yuzu and Alex had a few moments to speak while Mia cleaned up the kitchen, it was time for the boy's bedtime.

Weirdly enough, Mia didn't disconnect the call as she tucked her son into the bed, allowing him to say his goodbyes to Yuzuru before going to her bedroom with him still on the line.

"Mia?" He called out when he noticed her laying on the bed looking exhausted "Are you okay?"

"Long day but I'm happy."

"I'm glad. Thank you for letting me share this moment with Alex."

The way Yuzuru said it gave it far more meaning than she anticipated. He was thankful that she allowed this moment to happen while Mia was just glad that Alex had someone filling the gap in her son's life that had been there for so long.

"No, Yuzu. Thank you."