“This is evil!!!”
“…Charlotte? Isn’t this a bit too hot?”
“This!”
“…Really?”
“Yep!!”
I had two pieces of clothing in my hands.
They were quite different in style.
One side was a bright and pretty dress, and the other side was a hoodie that had a graffiti-like vibe.
It really was the epitome of the word ‘colorful.’
I was overwhelmed by how extravagant it looked.
It was designed with red, blue, yellow, green, and pink splatters on a black background.
Really… It looked like some street graffiti art.
The problem was that Charlotte had picked that outfit.
“…Well, it can’t be helped.”
Yeah… I had no choice.
Considering Charlotte’s personality, if I didn’t let her wear this… she would definitely throw a tantrum and cry.
Reluctantly, I ended up making Charlotte wear the strangely designed hoodie.
Why she wanted to wear such a design when there was a normal and pretty dress was baffling.
“…Lindera?”
“Yes.”
“…Is that even clothing?”
“…I don’t know.”
I had no idea.
Honestly, I wished she would just wear the dress, but she was so into this hoodie.
I had no choice but to let her wear it.
Truly, I couldn’t escape that situation.
Children’s tastes are… quite strange, I thought.
“Charlotte, do you like it?”
“I love it!”
“…Well, as long as you like it.”
“Yep?”
Corbin seemed to have given up halfway.
He already knew Charlotte’s personality pretty well.
“It’s pretty!”
“Pretty?”
“Yep!”
Well, since Charlotte liked it, I just thought it was okay.
In fact, since Charlotte was so cute and pretty, it wasn’t quite mismatched.
The only problem was that the style was too over the top.
“What are you going to wear?”
“I’m just going to dress comfortably like usual.”
“Is that so? I was worried you might dress strangely like Charlotte.”
“…You don’t usually wear like that.”
“That’s true.”
Anyway, unlike the extravagantly dressed Charlotte, we dressed normally and set off to watch a movie together.
Charlotte seemed really happy about going to watch a movie, whatever that was.
She had never watched one until now.
To be honest, we weren’t quite sure what the movie was about—it was a children’s film.
But we said it was popular among babies these days.
So we decided to just go for it.
“Boop~”
While in the car, we briefly saw the trailer for today’s movie, but… it looked like something for babies.
I had the feeling that elementary school kids wouldn’t really watch it.
Of course, it was fine for our Charlotte because she was just a baby.
*
“Boop!!!!!”
“Hehehehe!!!!”
“Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Daddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“…….”
We arrived at the movie theater, and after checking our tickets, we headed straight into the screening room.
Was it meant for actual kids?
The seats were decorated in various colors like red, yellow, and blue, and the walls were colorful as well, just like kids would love.
But the most shocking thing was…
“…So loud…”
The interior of the screening room was so noisy that Charlotte seemed startled.
Usually, theaters are quiet to help focus on the film, but not here.
Really… it seemed like there were only babies around.
Parents were trying to calm their kids down, but the noise remained.
Well, since advertisements weren’t playing yet…?
“…Let’s just sit down.”
“…Right.”
“So loud…”
“Charlotte, it’ll be quiet soon, so just hang in there, okay?”
“Okay…”
It was ridiculous in many ways, but I thought it would be okay soon.
After all, when Charlotte concentrated, she could be super quiet.
Whenever I turned on the TV at home, she would be quiet during those times too.
I thought once the movie started… it would be better then.
“Boop!!!”
“Do you want popcorn?”
“…Hmm.”
It should be fine right?
“Mommy… I spilled this…”
“Oh no!!!”
“Boop!!!!”
“……..”
Hmm.
One thing’s for sure, I thought we needed to take Charlotte out for a moment.
It’d be good to go out for a quick bathroom break and grab a blanket or something.
It seemed best to take Corbin with me and come back just before the movie started.
Definitely.
“It’s so loud…”
“Um… I think it’ll be quiet soon.”
“Really?”
“Yep. You hope so too, right Charlotte?”
“Yep!”
After stepping outside, Corbin was trying to calm Charlotte down, and I got another drink from the vending machine inside.
There was no ice, but it was fine since I was the one drinking it.
We’d already prepared drinks for both of them, right?
“Well… it’s louder than I expected.”
“I didn’t think it’d be this loud either.”
“Since there are only babies here, and with the other kids making noise, maybe that’s why the others are joining in?”
“…Well, at least I think it’ll get a bit better when the movie starts.”
“…That’s a relief.”
“…Yeah.”
We were pretty taken aback by how different it was from what we expected.
While we knew it’d be loud, we hadn’t anticipated it would be this chaotic.
It wasn’t just noisy from the kids chattering; there were way more crying babies than I imagined.
Our Charlotte didn’t seem too bothered yet, but… it was a bit tough.
As I told Corbin, I hoped it would improve soon.
In any case, Charlotte was sitting and resting for a bit in my arms.
The fortunate thing was that at least the lounge outside the screening room was relatively quiet?
“Mommy.”
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s this?”
“Hmm? It’s just a blanket. Similar to the one you cover with when sleeping?”
“I want this too!”
“Do you want to cover up?”
“Yep!”
Charlotte pointed at the blanket I was holding.
To be honest, I didn’t think she needed to cover with a blanket while watching a movie.
But considering I was wearing a skirt and Charlotte was in pants…
Well, if she wanted to do it, I could just grab another one.
“Lindera, I think it’s almost time.”
“Oh, Charlotte?”
“Yep?”
“Shall we go back in now?”
“It’s loud…!”
“I think it’ll be quieter now. Do you really not want to go back in?”
“It’s too loud!”
Maybe it was because the previous screening room was too loud.
Charlotte suddenly started refusing to go back.
I understood her; it was loud.
But these were tickets given by the boss.
“Um… then it seems like Charlotte won’t be able to watch the movie…?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“…Really?”
“If you don’t go in, you won’t be able to watch it.”
“Then I’ll go out…”
Well, it was understandable that Charlotte, curious as she was, would find an unfamiliar movie quite strange.
There was no issue there.
-Thud!!!
“…?”
As soon as we entered the screening room, I realized it was different.
First, the ads were playing, and unlike earlier, it was quiet.
Of course, there were murmurs, but compared to earlier chaos… it was really quiet.
“…Let’s take a seat.”
…As I quietly walked up the stairs to take a seat, I realized why the kids inside were so quiet.
Most of the kids had their eyes glued to the screen.
The ad currently playing featured a cute character talking away on its own.
“………”
I guess it really is because they’re kids…?
The scene was so different from the previous chaotic one.
While I was relieved, I was also surprised at how different it was.
Where did all those loud kids go?
“……..”
Well, something good is better than nothing.
Yeah, I decided not to think too much.
Charlotte sat down, covered herself with the blanket, and focused on the ad featuring the characters.
If it’s cute, then that’s all that matters.
-Now with Kong, let’s learn what to do in case of a fire!
“…….”
As I watched the character explaining safety rules, which seemed like something kids would really like, I turned my gaze back to Charlotte.
Since adults already knew all of this.
“Wow…”
Charlotte had her mouth wide open, fixated on that character.
To be honest, there wasn’t much difference from animation on TV.
The main differences were that the screen was big and the sound was a bit more lively…?
But despite those differences, the kids were focusing hard.
Could it really be that interesting…?
“Um.”
“Lindera, do you want popcorn?”
“Yes.”
Anyway, we waited while sharing popcorn.
I didn’t really care about the safety rules or the ads, and honestly, I didn’t really care about the movie’s content either.
As we waited like that, the lights in the screening room dimmed, and the screen faded out, signaling the start of the movie.
-Bam bam.
-Bam bam.
-Bam bam!
-Bam bam bam~!
With a lively instrumental sound, the intro began, and Corbin and I sat quietly, munching on popcorn.
Of course, Charlotte sitting next to us…
“Bam-ba-ra… Bam-ba…”
Was quietly humming along with the instrumental.
Maybe it was because we had to be quiet before arriving at the theater?
With the sound she was making, it was so cute that it seemed like you wouldn’t even hear it unless you were sitting right next to her.
After all, in a kids-only theater, making some noise wasn’t a problem.
As long as it wasn’t like before, with crying or shouting.
-Hello! My name is!
After the lively intro finished, a character appeared, introducing itself energetically.
…I saw that kids these days really like characters like this.
While Corbin and I may not care, the kids were watching with great concentration.
“Wow…”
Just like the other kids, Charlotte was intently watching with wide eyes, amazed.
At least it felt like we were using the tickets the boss gave us well.
Not five minutes into the movie, and Charlotte was mesmerized by it.
I should probably send a thank-you text again.
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