Old F(r)iends...

I'm currently working on another story, this one of greater length but less meaning. It's based around a kid/man(depending on the chapter) named Kadota Haave. There are many Star Wars references spread throughout the story so far(see if you can find the one in this excerpt...). The storyline might be obvious to some people. I've been reading a lot of Richard Matheson's stories lately, so I'm sorta following that kind of line, as much as I try to avoid being influenced by other authors.
This section will, eventually, have a poetic message tied to it that links the chapters together and allows the story to flow a bit better. The title of this chapter implies something that happened before and happens later. In time, that's explained.

This needs revised, and it will be, again, in time, but I'd like to know if this is interesting at all? This isn't the main plot, just an introduction into the third chapter. The dog is a Pyrenees puppy named Teekay(was going to be named Leia, but Teekay seems to fit better). That will be expanded upon later.

So yeah, criticism and comments are always appreciated.

Old F(r)iends, Like Old Habits, Die Hard

1993

  On an exceptionally cold morning in December, a small, giggling child exuberantly bolted down the hall and into the living room. An exhausted, scruffy adult staggered behind, trying clumsily to navigate the narrow passageways. He growled at his plight; the walls were barely far enough apart for him to walk between, let alone run. In an effort to miss stepping on the dog, he stumbled and fell, hitting the ground heavily with his shoulder. The animal scurried away without care. The man looked up and saw the laughing kid watch him then turn the corner into the open room ahead. He stood and brushed the dirt particles and dog hair from his shirt and slacks.

  “He gets that from you, you know!” the man jokingly shouted over his shoulder towards the who was woman poking her head out of a doorway at the end of the hall.

  The woman laughed, “Nonsense,” she replied, “Come here, Sauro! Come to mommy!”

  The child reappeared from the living room in a blur, swerving just in time to escape the clutches of his father, and ran into his mother's waiting arms.

  “It's all in the delivery, Kad,” she said as she cheerfully swooped the child into her arms with a “swoosh”.

  Kadota folded his arms across his chest, “I tried that.”

  “Well odds are that you wer--”

  “You know what. . . Don't. Don't do that,” he interrupted.

  Puzzled, she inquired, “Don't do what?”

  “I don't want to know what the 'odds' are. You know how much I hate that.”

  She shook her head and patted her son's back, “Well, in that case, it's likely that you were angry when you said it. Sauro's a very sensitive child. He can tell when someone's even the slightest bit annoyed.”

  “Well can't he tell that running from me just makes it worse?”

  “He's barely three, cut him some slack.”

  “Wha—But—. . . You're the one that said he's psychic!”

  “Oh, shush. That's not what I said and you know it,” she shut the door in his face.

  He scoffed, “How dare you!” he shouted from the opposite side of the door, “You can't just shut me out like this.”

  The door opened. “Apparently not,” she said.

  Sauro pleaded for his father's attention.

  “Yeah, little buddy?” he asked as he knelt next to his son.

  “Mommy's right.”

  He roared, threw his arms up in the air and stormed out of the room and towards his bedroom. Nola could do little to refrain from bursting out in uncontrollable laughter. He had to admit to himself, as aggravating as it could sometimes be to have such an unruly child, his son's comments usually lightened the mood. As disobedient, with him at least, as his son was, he wouldn't change a thing about him. He was perfect, just like his mother. Life was perfect.

  He put his suit jacket on and slipped his work shoes over his socks and tied them, just as he'd watched his father do when he was younger. Memories of helping his father get ready for work always seemed to flood his mind when he was getting ready to leave. Comfortable memories; ones that made him feel like a little kid again. Those days were far behind him now. He was an adult now, responsibilities of his own, a family to support, and everyday issues he'd never imagined would coincide with raising a child. He had become his father in some many ways, yet so very different in others. He would never leave Nola. He made a lifelong vow to her and he intended to keep it.

  He went back to Sauro's room and hugged his son and kissed his wife as he did every day before departing.

  “Love you,” she said.

  He repeated her words back to her and walked towards the front door. He opened it and a flurry of icy wind and snow burned his cheeks and speckled his coat with white, glowing flakes.

  “Hun,” his wife called to him before he left, “you're forgetting your hat,” she said as she placed it gently on top of his golden hair and brushed the snow off his shoulders.

  “Thanks, Nola,” he said with a smile, enjoying the relaxing warmth of house more than before after he stepping into the cold and knowing he'd again return to it. H gave her another kiss on the cheek before marching back out into the cold.

  Yes, life was perfect.