"Mom!"
Cassie turned around from where she had been discussing the horrifying school lunches with a woman- who looked to be about twice her age- to see Danny run up to her, hand clasped with another girl.
"This is my friend," He said, grabbing onto her jeans. "Her name is Mia."
Cassie knelt down, giving an apologetic smile to the other parent, "Hello, Mia."
Mia almost immediately burst into tears, and Cassie struggled to think about what to do. Danny had always been an energetic, excitable child and rarely cried, even when he was a baby.
"Mom, you upset her!" Danny scolded, giving Mia a hug.
"Where are Mia's parents?" She asked, biting her lip. She didn't want to be responsible for someone else's kid, especially since she could barely take care of her own if it weren't for Tim's financial support.
"Her Dad was talking with Dad so we walked over here. Dad's boring."
Well. Cassie couldn't really argue there. "Okay, well, let's go take Mia back to her Dad, I'm sure he's wondering where you are. And I'm sure Tim wants to know where you are too."
Danny groaned. "I don't wanna go to Dad's this week. He just has work and Bart spends most of the time with me."
"You have to go to your Dad's, that was the agreement. Besides, he tries very hard to spend time with you."
Danny rolled his eyes, looking like he was considering running away- with Mia in tow.
"Ok, Mia, where's your Dad?" Cassie asked, pulling Danny along before he could get any ideas.
"Near the library."
Cassie eventually found her way to the library, surprised by the huge clot of parents and children. "Do you see your Dad?"
Mia let go of Danny's hand, rushing off to a tall, thin, Hispanic man. He immediately picked her up to hug her.
"Should we go say hi?" Danny finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence (and staring) they had been in.
"Is your Dad still here?" She asked. Perfect way to slide in and not look like a crazy twenty four year old kidnapper. Though Bart would probably throw her under the bus if he was here-
"Yeah, him and Uncle Jay were." Danny looked around.
"Jay's here?" Cassie asked, following Danny when he pulled on her hand. He stopped when he finally found Jason and Tim.
He immediately ran up to Jason, hugging him around his legs. "Uncle Jay, can I spend the night at your house?"
"The baby will keep you awake," Jay warned.
"I don't care. I love him sooo much that he'll stay asleep so that I can sleep."
Jason looked over to Tim who shrugged. "Okay. But it's peanut butter and jelly for dinner."
"Yay! My favorite!" Danny yelled, crawling onto Jason's shoulders.
"We eat a lot of PB and J," Cassie whispered. "And oranges. He loves oranges."
Danny crawled off Jason's shoulders and into Cassie's arms when he heard Jason's phone start ringing. "Mom, I'm hungry."
Cassie rolled her eyes, searching through her purse. He was always hungry it seemed. "Sorry, I don't have anything, you ate the animal crackers earlier."
He sighed, but straightened up when Mia came over, looking frighteningly pale from being around people she didn't know. She looked a heartbeat away from running back to her father and hiding her face. "Uhm here," She said, shoving something into his hands and hiding.
Jason covered his mouth to keep from laughing. Danny looked at the gifts. There was a multicolored tissue paper flower which he immediately gave to Tim to hold, and a ziploc bag of sugar cookies frosted yellow with black icing smiley faces. "Oh, I love them, thank you, Mia."
"You're welcome," She said from where she was hiding behind her father's legs.
"She's adorable," Cassie said, catching a glimpse of Mia again before she pulled her hood up.
"I'm sorry, I have a two month old at home. Not cute enough for you?" Jason asked.
Cassie decided to ignore him. "Who did her hair?"
"I did," He said. "My sister taught me how to."
Cassie eyed Mia again, this time sneaking a glance at his hand. No ring. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Jaime."
"I'm Cassie," She said, giving him a smile.
Jay clapped her on the shoulders. "Well, I'm ready to go home, and Timmy needs to drive me. Let's go, Danny."
"You're Danny's mom, right?" Jaime asked, picking Mia up when she started tugging on his jeans.
"Yes," She said, smiling. "What about you, was Mia's mom not able to make it?"
"Oh, her," Jaime said, shrugging. "I'm a single dad, Traci wasn't too keen on becoming a parent."
"Oh," Cassie said, trying to look as heartbroken as possible for him.
"No matter, I only need Mia," He said, giving her a kiss. "Wanna make cookies when we get home?"
"Yes," Mia whispered against his shirt.
Cassie checked her phone, noticing the time. "Yikes, I should head home. My mom's coming into town."
"Bye," Mia called, waving.
"Wait," Jaime said, catching her by the shoulder. He blushed and removed it. "Would you like to go out sometime?"
She smiled. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
