"Papa! Papa!" The small boy ran up to his father, giggling excitedly. No older than four years old. He was in his green swim trunks, soaking wet, a big smile plastered on his face as he climbed onto his father's chair, dripping water on the taller man. "Come play with me! You can be the sea monster!" He lightly bounced up and down as his dad gave a small smile. 

"Okay, Jared, just give me a second!" He looked over at his wife, who was next to him on the chair right next to him. She was reading a book, looking up to smile at Jared and her husband.  They leaned in for a kiss, causing Jared to squeal and giggle loudly. 

"EWW!!" He giggled as he got out of his dad's lap. "You're in LOOOOOVE!!" He pretended to cover his face because of the kissing. His dad then stood up, scooped up Jared, and while Jared was chanting "CANNONBALL!!" He jumped into the pool, squeezing Jared tightly. Some of the other people gave a few weird looks before continuing their day. 

"JOSEPH—!" Mrs. Kleinman dropped her book on her lap and sighed with relief when she saw them above the surface, laughing loudly. She tried to keep an angry face, but ended up laughing too. "Don't scare me like that! You shouldn't be jumping with Jared like that, ay dios mio, you scare me every time we're here!"

Mr. Kleinman was still laughing with Jared. "Relax, Lupé!" He sat Jared down on the edge of the pool. "I won't let anything happen to Jared."

Jared turned around to face his mom, still smiling a childish innocent smile as wide as ever "Yeah, Mama!"  He pretended to flex his 'muscles'. "Me and Papa are BRAVE!" 

Rolling her eyes with a smile, Lupé got up and sat with Jared and her husband happily at the end of the pool, laughing and enjoying the moment. 

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"... and remember that time we tried to make cookies without Mama, but failed miserably?" Jared, now age thirteen, was sitting on the hospital bed with his dad. He was laughing softly as he told stories with his dad of their favorite memories. They had been talking for about an hour now, joking around and enjoying being together. "That's why we always need Mama's supervision, isn't it?" 

Mr. Kleinman nodded slightly, smiling up at Jared. 

Jared's face turned a little sad. "P-Papa...? Mama's been acting... differently since you've gotten worse.." he adjusted his glasses and held onto his dad's hand. "She's just been so out of it! We haven't really done anything together since, well, FOREVER!" he sighed.

"Well... we all grieve in our own ways..." Mr. Kleinman clasped his other and around Jared's, giving a small squeeze. It was almost hard for Jared to recognize him sometimes. He used to seem so happy, but lately...? It felt like his dad was only trying to keep it together and be happy for him and his mama... 

Jared bit his lower lip slightly. "Do you... do you think you'll be okay to come to my birthday next week...? Oh! Or I can just come here! We can ask if Mama can bring the cake here and we can talk again, just us!" He started to smile hopefully. "And maybe Mama will want to talk with all three of us this time, not just you or me alone..."

Mr. Kleinman tried to sit up, but couldn't very well, so Jared bent down and hugged him instead. "That sounds perfect..." he hugged Jared the best he could. "I love you, Jared... so much..."

"I love you too, Papa"

And that was the last time they saw each other in person... Mr. Kleinman passed away just two days after that visit..

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"Hey Papa...! How are you...? I know that's probably a kind of dumb question to be asking..." Jared sighed as he sat down in front of his dad's grave. "But I really hope you're doing okay, wherever you are now... Sorry that Mama couldn't come... again..." it'd been four years, Jared now being seventeen. Somehow, Mrs, Kleinman still couldn't bring herself to come to Mr. Kleinman's grave. "I've tried everything to get her to come with me and help her feel better, but she keeps on saying she doesn't need the help..." 

Jared have a small laugh, shaking his head, tears forming in his eyes. "Mama's really good at pretending to be okay outside of the house..!" He let out a small sob and clutched his sides. "We've b-been a real mess without you..." he tried to calm down and talk about something happier. "I finally got the guts to ask Evan out..!!" He tried to smile, as if his dad could see his sadness and he didn't want that. "He even said yes...!!"

He went on and on about all the amazing things that have happened; whatever Mr. Kleinman missed out on this whole year. He even spoke about the older memories from when he was still around.

"Don't worry, you'll have your usually place on the Ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos.." he took off his glasses and wiped away his tears, then put them back on and checked the time on his watch. Dammit. He had to be home soon. Not like his mom would notice anyway, but the moment she realized how late it would be when Jared was home she'd freak out. 

"Well, I have to go..." he lightly rubbed the top of the grave stone, about to start sobbing again. 

"I love you so much... and I miss you..."

A/N: I'm sorry, I tried making this good. I hope I did a good job—