Clifford's late. It's already half past 11 and he still hasn't shown up. I've glanced out the front window three times to check and see if I can spot his mother's car easing down the driveway, but the results are negative each time.

"Perhaps he got sick. Little kids do that." I think to myself.

I wait for Mrs. Mershire to call and let me know that I'll be having the day off due to Clifford's sudden illness, but the phone remains silent.

"Maybe their car broke down."

That ends up being my top reason of why they haven't shown up yet and I stick with it, heading into the kitchen to join Xalale for breakfast.

"Still not here." I sigh, pulling out a box of cereal.

I'm surprisingly in good spirits today. I woke up in a positive mood feeling like something good may come my way today. Though probably not the most accurate feeling since that's exactly how I felt the day I fell down that portal.

Even Xalale woke up less irritable and in an improved mood. That night out under the stars must've been what we needed.

"Clifford's okay, but I hope he doesn't come today, I mean, I need a break from babysitting." I take the milk out and use the last of it for my cereal. "I just hope everything's fine with him."

Xalale hasn't said much on this topic, he's more interested in the Rubix cube I showed him. I told him it was impossible to solve- I've been trying to solve it since I was thirteen- and I believe he's determined to prove me wrong.

"I think, if I do have the day off, that I'll head down to town and buy some more milk. In fact, I'll buy some other groceries while I'm at it."

Settling down to consume my breakfast, the familiar sound of tires against gravel interrupts me. I don't get up until I hear a car door slam close and a knock on the door. Before I hurry to get the door, I look back at Xalale, who's in deep concentration with that Rubix cube and whisper, "Hide."

Unlocking the locks, I swing open the door, pasting on my sugary babysitter face, ready to greet the late Mershires.

Strangely enough, I'm not greeted by Mrs. Mershire's high pitched voice, but instead, Clifford's long face as he pushes past me into the house, not even looking back at his mother who remains in the car. She gives me a rather brusque wave while quickly flooring it out of the driveway, causing gravel to fly as she backs up hastily.

"Not in a good mood today," I observe to myself, closing the door.

Walking into the family room, the TV has already been turned on with a crossed armed Clifford watching with a sour expression on his face.

"Well this is...unusual, especially for Clifford."

Of course the one day Xalale- the person most apt to be in foul moods- is acting normal, Clifford- the happy-go-lucky one- is in the worst mood.

I stand back, staring at him for a minute or so, not disturbing his apparent sulking state. After a bit he takes notice and for a brief second the sour look on his face fades away but is quickly replaced with an annoyed one. This takes me aback more than it upsets me and now I can't help but speak up.

"Hey Clifford. What's with the sour puss attitude today?" I ask gently, approaching the couch.

He grunts keeping his eyes on the screen.

"You seem upset. Anything the matter?"

This time, he does give a verbal response, but it's a grumpy mumble.

"No, I'm fine."

I can't tell if he's breathing heavy because he's angry or close to tears. This has definitely put me in a situation that's out of my comfort zone. I rarely ever have to deal with kids as bad tempered like this. Sure they could throw their tantrums, but they were never so quiet about what was upsetting them- they would make sure you knew what upset them by screaming it in your ear like you were hard of hearing. Clifford never struck me as the type of kid that would shut down when upset.

I stare, helplessly, at him trying to figure out what to say or do to comfort him. I'm only distracted when something pokes me in my elbow.

"What are you looking at?" Xalale asks me, handing me an object I absentmindedly accept.

I frown and resume watching Clifford, with his back towards us.

"What's wrong?" He notices my expression.

Lowering my voice, I jerk my head at Clifford, "I dunno. He's acting weird today."

He directs his attention to the eight year old, blankly staring at the screen. Xalale looks at Clifford for a moment then back at me.

"Because he's quiet for once? I find this an issue not to vex yourself over."

I shake my head, "No that's the problem, he's quiet. He came in like that, but he won't tell me what's wrong."

He's not understanding it- I can tell by the bored expression on his face. Of course he wouldn't get it.

"Maybe I should ask-"

Suddenly, Clifford gets to his feet, pushing past us both like we're nothing more than ghosts.

I glance at Xalale, who I believe is starting to understand where I'm coming from in my worrying, then hurry to the front door.

I'm outside looking around for the curly haired boy when I spot him marching towards the woods.

"Clifford."

He doesn't answer to my call so I begin to follow him up the slight hill into the woods.

It's a sad sight to see. Me huffing and puffing just chasing an eight year old who isn't even going that fast in the first place. But he's definitely trying to avoid and get away from me.

"Clifford. Wait, don't go any further, you'll get lost."

Still, he stomps on, not heeding my calls until finally he stops and whirls around to look back at me.

"Leave me alone."

He starts up again, hurrying a bit quicker through the woods. I struggle to keep up the deeper we go due to the tangles and snags along the way. My hair must get caught in every low down branch and bush along the way, slowing me down.

"Clifford," I call, now desperately, "Stop going. You're going to get hurt."

Ignoring me still, he now takes off into a full sprint. I know it would be a challenge to catch up to him, but I have to try and so I push myself harder, knocking into branches and running through the transparent spiderwebs blocking my path, but eventually I have to slow down to regain my breath.

"Clifford!"

He keeps on going, ignoring me still. Sighing in defeat, I wipe my face, desperate on how to reach him now until I feel a quick breeze past me.

I hadn't noticed Xalale following me the entire time until now as he runs past me, quickly catching up to Clifford with ease. Clifford's no match and happens to lose his footing on one of the many roots, giving Xalale enough time to hold onto him before he can slip away again.

Making my way to them, I see Clifford trying his hardest to free himself from Xalale's grip, but to no avail.

"Calm down." Xalale hisses to him.

Out of breath and out of fight, the boy collapses on the forest floor, panting heavily. Almost as heavily as me, but not quite.

I kneel down in front of him with concerned eyes.

"Clifford, what's the matter with you?"

Not lifting his eyes off the ground, he mutters something under his breath.

"You can talk to me." I coax gently.

Shaking his head miserably, he speaks softly. So soft, I have to strain to hear what he says.

"You don't get it."

"I don't get what?"

"You don't get it."

"Well, I won't get it if you don't explain it to me. What's on your mind?"

Again, he just shakes his head muttering indecipherable things to himself, sounding like a schizophrenic.

"What?"

Unexpectedly, he breaks down, crying like it was his last day on earth. He faces the ground as he sobs, letting out an occasional loudmouth wail, then taking breathless intakes to refill his meter before letting it all out again.

I think it takes both of us by surprise- me and Xalale. I watch, again helpless on how to handle this situation, while Xalale backs off with a slightly bewildered expression on his face. He keeps looking at me as if to suggest I should be assisting the situation, but I'm, now, way out of my comfort zone.

"Clifford?" I try getting his attention, but he's still bawling.

I give Xalale a look of my own as if to say, "I've done all I can do." He now seems mildly annoyed with the situation at hand.

So finally, I decide to do what I always do when put in a difficult situation such as this. I look back in my own life to see how others comforted me when I was down. Mostly my thoughts go to my mother who was my main comforter in tough times.

I'm an idiot. The first thing my mom does when I'm really upset is wrap her arm around me and pull me in for a tight hug.

That's exactly what I do. Kneeling down to his spot on the ground, I pull him close.

At first, I think I've only worsen the situation because his wailing increases for a minute, but soon his sobs die down to muted, brief sniveling then gradually fade away.

I'm sure the front of my flannel is soaked with tears and snot, but I grit my teeth and ignore it, holding the sniffling boy close until he finally pulls back a little.

Wiping away the remaining tears and mucus running down his blotchy, reddened face, he stares at the ground.

"Feeling better now?" I ask gently.

He glances up at me for a second then looks down again, but answers softly, "Yeah."

I tilt my head thoughtfully, not wanting to push him, but I am curious as to what upset him so much.

"What was that all about?"

"You wouldn't get it."

"Why not?"

He shrugs in place of a response.

I keep trying to look him in the eyes to show my genuine concern, but he's avoiding looking up. Finally, I guide his head up by my finger so he's looking at me.

"Hey. You can trust me. It's better to share how you feel rather than keep it bottled up inside. Even if you feel like no one will understand."

Keeping eye contact with me for a second, he looks away but holds his head up making it easier for me to hear him.

"It's about my mom." He begins.

"What about her?" I recall how upset and flustered she seemed herself this morning.

"The reason we were late today was because we had a fight about Dean."

"Dean?"

"He's my mom's boyfriend apparently. She just told me about him today." He takes a brief glance up at the sky then stares out at the forest as he continues. "She was talking about how we should move out to Texas to live with him and visit his family. I don't want to meet him or his stupid family out in Texas. I don't even wanna move!"

He's becoming upset again- I can tell by his quivering lip and shaky voice.

"You've never met him before?" I ask, trying to avoid another breakdown.

"No. I told you, she told me about him today."

"Maybe you should meet him first before jumping to conclusions," I say positively.

He wipes his dripping nose.

"I already know I won't like him."

"Why?"

"Because he won't like me."

"How do you know that?"

He growls in frustration now, pulling back even further from me.

"See, I told you won't get it. He won't like me, I know it."

At this point, I'm not sure what else to do but be patient with him and try to calm him down again.

"I just want to know how you know he won't like you."

He slumps against the base of a tree, plucking at a lone patch of craggy grass- his anger drifting away.

"Because. I'm not his kid and he's not my dad."

Now I'm at a complete loss of what to say to him. How does anyone respond to that? He's right, I can't understand, I'm not in the same boat.

A few stilled moments of silence goes by uninterrupted until a voice behind Clifford speaks up.

"Where's your father?"

I always seem to forget Xalale exist whenever things like this occur. He's leaning against the same tree as Clifford, looking down at him.

Clifford doesn't look up at him when responding flatly.

"He's dead."

Xalale glances at me, clearly knowing that was the wrong question to ask at this moment, but I couldn't fault him- he didn't know.

"My mom doesn't care about me either." He says looking wistfully at the ground.

"Now I know that's a lie," I reply. "Your mother loves you."

"Then how come she wants to move us down to Texas? She doesn't care how I feel about this. If she did, she wouldn't even suggest it. I love Cauldron. I'm staying here if she leaves for Texas."

Frowning, I open my mouth to say something but when nothing comes out I close it. Finally, I find the right words.

"I think right now," I begin slowly. "Both you and your mother are confused about how you feel."

Confused by this, Clifford looks up at me with a questioning expression.

I explain myself.

"This is new for the both of you. It's been so long since your mother has had someone she loves like she did your father. It's been a while since she's been in love so it's overwhelming and exhilarating for her. You get what I'm saying?"

He doesn't look so sure.

"I think so...but she got angry 'cuz of what I said about Dean not going to like me."

"She's not angry with you, it's just what you said that upset her- the possibility of it. Every mother wants the man she loves to love their children like their own. I think your mom's scared of the possibility because it means that the man she's fallen for isn't going to work with her life and she'll have to let him go because she loves you more. But heartbreak hurts; the heart is a fragile thing."

I hope I wasn't too poetic for him- that maybe he'll understand.

"I don't get love." He says.

"Neither do I," I admit shrugging.

He stares up at the treetops, thinking about what I just said- hopefully- and mauling it over in his mind. After a moment he speaks up still staring up at the sky.

"So what do I do?"

"Talk to her. Almost every major war or riff in a relationship can be avoided with simple communication. Tell her how you feel. That you don't wanna leave Cauldron, why you're scared that Dean won't like you, and she'll listen and understand."

His attention falls on me. The tears have finally dried in his eyes and he's beginning to look more like himself.

"Are you sure? She won't get mad at me, will she?"

I give him a reassuring smile. "Just talk calmly to her and neither of you should get angry."

He ponders this then glances back at Xalale, who's been quietly observing this discussion.

"Does that work with your mom?"

From the bitter expression on his face, I can already tell the answer to that question. Now it seemed it was Clifford's turn to ask the wrong question, but he doesn't know the severity of Xalale and Aelita's relationship.

Oddly enough, though, he masked this bitter expression with a blasé one when answering.

"When I was younger it worked well enough."

"What about now? Does it work for you now?"

Clifford would never be able to tell, but I can. The hatred in his eyes gives him away, but fortunately, Xalale has a very convincing pokerface.

"I haven't seen my mother in years."

This piques Clifford's interest.

"Really?"

It seems everything Xalale does or says causes Clifford to become curious with him.

He turns around to face Xalale better, his eyes filled with puzzlement. He's starting to look more like his old self.

I can tell Xalale isn't as comfortable with the topic of this conversation, but it's getting Clifford's mind away from his household problems which is nice to see. When he glances at me, I give him a small nod, hoping he'll understand why I'm asking him to talk about something unenjoyable for him.

I don't know if he fully understands my reasoning, but he sighs and stares off.

"Yes, she left."

"Why?" Clifford's starting to sound more like himself, as well.

"I don't know." He's getting agitated.

"What's she like? Your mom?"

"She used to be kind."

Tilting his head, Clifford asks, "Used to? Well, what's she like now?"

"She left so I haven't seen her in a while."

"Oh."

Thankfully, Clifford drops the subject and gets to his feet, brushing off his pants. Suddenly his eyes go wide in awe and he's staring at my hand.

"Do you solve that?" He asks me, still staring.

Confused, I'm about to ask him what he means, but then I realize he's talking about the Rubix cube that I carried out here- I forgot all about it.

"Oh, no, Xalale-"

Surprise and shock finally catch up to me and now I'm the one staring at the solved cube. I didn't even notice he had solved it.

"How did you do this?" I ask him, surprised.

He shrugs, but I notice the faintest curve of a smile on his face.

Clifford looks at him too, snatching the cube from my hands to inspect it before looking back at him again.

"You solved this!? How?"

This time, he looks in our direction and replies nonchalantly, "It wasn't very hard. Mallory made it out to be impossible, but again, I've proven her wrong."

"Oh," I smile, putting my hands on my hips. "Someone sounding a bit smug about their accomplishment? I only gave you it to keep you distracted for a little bit. I mean a five year old can solve it."

Clifford shakes his head like a dummy, eyes still wide.

"I couldn't."

I sigh. This kid never helps my case does he?

"Can you teach me how to solve it?" Clifford asks him.

"Perhaps."

Clifford brightens up at this and jumps up and down like most little kids when they're excited.

"Let's go back to the house then." He beams already turning to head back.

"Wait," I remember something I need to do. "We need to head into town- I need to buy some groceries."

That's also when I remember the unpleasant experience of bringing Xalale into town and how everyone acted. I'm not sure either of us want to go through that again.

"But maybe...Xalale you should probably stay at the house with Clifford. I'll go down by myself."

Xalale seems fine with this arrangement- though probably not for long seeing how he'll be left alone with Clifford. But Clifford, on the other hand, deflates at this.

"Aw, I wanna go to town too!"

I don't feel like hearing him whine and gripe about this so I sigh and say, "Alright, you can come, Xalale will just stay behind on his own."

Again, Xalale seems fine with this, it's Clifford causing the fuss.

"But I wanted to show him something in town. He has to be there in person to see it. Why don't we all just go into town?"

Massaging my temples, I exhale.

"Why not a different time? Why can't he stay home and we just go? It'll make everything easier."

"Because, I wanna show him something."

"Clifford-"

He turns to Xalale with puppy dog eyes.

"Don't you wanna see what I have to show you? It'll be cool, I promise. I'm a boy scout so I don't lie."

I scoff at that but wait for Xalale to turn down the offer so me and Clifford can get going.

"Fine."

"Wait what?"

 I look at him with irritation and confusion. Why does he want to come along? What's gotten into him?

"See, Mal, he said yes, now let's get going."

The wind in his sails, Clifford darts past me back towards the house.

I'm still in shock that he agreed to come. He stops beside me.

"What?" He's looking at me.

I look at him with a mix of bewilderment and annoyance, especially when I notice the smirk on his face.

"You're unbelievable sometimes."

He shrugs and begins walking back to the house.

For some reason, I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. Sighing yet again, I follow him back to the house, hoping that this trip doesn't go awry.