"Mommy, can I play one of those games with all the lights?"
"No Sophia, this is a casino and you have to be an adult to play those games. This hotel has an arcade though and you can play games there."
"Why are we at a hotel with a casino again?"
"Because this is the place that grammy and grampy chose for us to meet them. Their house is too far away for a day trip, so this is half way. Grammy and Grampy love to play the slots, and this way we can eat all our favorite foods at the buffet."
"So I get arcade games AND a buffet?"
"Plus the pools and hot tubs little girl. You can practice being a mermaid."
"YES!"
Carol had not seen Sophia so happy in quite awhile. Her little girl had been a loner out of necessity when they were with Ed. Since they had left a year ago, she had been gradually coming out of her shell. Ed moving half way across the country a month ago had help immensely. Now her little girl was like a social butterfly just coming out of her cocoon. Other than Carl and a couple girls at school she hadn't opened herself up to new friendships. This was starting to change though, and Carol could not be happier.
They checked into the hotel suite that her parents had rented for them. She was surprised that they had upgraded their room from a standard room to a two bedroom suite complete with kitchen and jacuzzi. She guessed it made sense though. When her mother had broached the idea of the mini-vacation, she had made a point of telling Carol that the purpose was to celebrate Ed leaving the state. In her mom's mind, she was always sure Ed would make an appearance. His relocation to New York state for work made her finally breathe a bit. Definitely a cause for celebration.
"Can we go to the pool right away?" asked Sophia while hopping up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Let's unpack first. Grammy and Grampy are at the spa until 4:00. It's only 1:00 now. So you will have more than two hours to get your mermaid groove on.
They quickly unpacked. Carol allowed Sophia to jump up and down on her bed as much as she wanted. She was reveling in the fact that nobody was there to yell at them both for such childish behavior. Carol thought she had a lot of making up of Sophia's childhood to do. They had never been allowed to do some things with Ed around. Sophia had never been to a movie, been to the zoo, went to a sleepover or countless other things. Who cared if Carol was overcompensating? Her little girl deserved all she could give her and all that she missed up until the age of 6.
Six years Sophia had lived under Ed's thumb. It took Ed finally hitting her little girl for Carol to pack up and move away. Restraining orders and divorce decree didn't make them completely safe. Ed still made appearances. It wasn't until he was offered a promotion that required the move to New York that he had left them alone. She supposed the secretary he had been fucking moving up with him helped matters too. She sincerely was worried for the woman, but would never waste her time voicing it.
Carol had Sophia get into her new swimsuit that had Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and Scuttle on it. It had a cute red tutu type ruffle skirt on it, and Sophia loved it. They wrapped themselves in their Sarongs and headed downstairs to the pool. It was early in the day – just after early check in time, and the pool was deserted. Carol felt bad that there were no other kids there right now for Sophia to tag along and play with, but knew that Sophia was fine on her own as well. Carol settled into one of the beach chairs of the indoor pool area and watched her little girl practicing her best mermaid poses in the shallow end of the pool.
She opened her book and picked up the story where she had last left it. The heroine in the story was just getting sassy with the handsome neighbor. Great though Carol. I am not in the mood for some cheesy romance. She had picked the book because while it had some romance undertones, it was about a woman's self discovery. That is something that Carol could empathize with enormously. She was trying to find herself as well. She could remember who she used to be prior to Ed. She could remember who she was while she was with Ed. Where she was now? Well, she supposed it was somewhere else . . . somewhere she had not figured out yet.
She used to be somewhat of a wild child. She would try anything once, and never doubted her choices. She was not a slut in any way, but had discovered the pleasure of sex with two men prior to meeting Ed in her sophmore year in college. Since Ed? She could not convince herself to put herself out there. She still had her super short hair. Ed had forced her to shave off her curls once she got pregnant with Sophia. For over 7 years she had that hair. Just a couple months ago she gave herself permission to grow her curls back. Her auburn hair was now more gray than her natural color, but the curls were definitely making a reappearance. They were now just starting to cover her ears and curl around the back of them. She longed for the shoulder length mane she previously had. She was even considering dying the color back to her natural color. The gray made her feel old, even though she was only 27, she knew he looked older. Just last week she had braved the mall and made appearances in stores Ed would have beaten her for even browsing in. Now she had a closet full of skinny jeans, tanks, and fun lingerie. Not like she had a man to show them off to, but just wearing them had started to build her self confidence back up.
She was shaken from her reverie when she heard the safety gate to the pool open. In bounded a little girl maybe 3 or 4 years old with long blonde hair who was sporting water wings. Behind her followed the most gorgeous piece of manhood she had ever seen. She tried not to stare as he followed the little girl who was wearing a tiny little Sponge Bob tankini. She was so cute. She assumed the man was her father due to the similarities between them. He had darker blonde hair, but they both had piercing blue eyes and a similar facial structure.
"Ella, don't just jump in without me. I have to set our stuff down first."
The man and the little girl (Ella she thought she heard) set their stuff down a couple chairs away from where Carol and Sophia had their bags. Carol looked up and smiled at the little girl who met her eyes and smiled shyly.
"I like your water wings" Carol said to her. "My little girl is in their swimming by herself. I am sure she would like to have somebody to play with if you want to."
The little girl smiled. "Can I go play daddy?"
"Sure squirt. You go on ahead since you have your wings on. I will be in shortly."
Ella smiled and took off to the pool steps. Carol and the man watched, and both smiled when the two girls immediately started talking to each other."
"Thanks for that" he said. "She is pretty social with people she knows but can be closed off around strangers. I am surprised she is talking to your little girl already."
"No problem" Carol said. "My little girl is the same way. My name is Carol by the way."
"Hi Carol. My little girl is Ella. I'm Daryl. Daryl Dixon. Nice to meet you."