All characters are mine, except Jane – she just came to visit…
Most likely a stand alone...
It was a perfect summer into fall day.
Jane scoped out the busy playground. Parents or nannies and their charges bustling all over – kids running between the swings, slides and sandboxes - seemed to be the most popular spots. She pushed the stroller to an empty bench set a little further away from the crowd, feeling as if all the parents were watching her.
She could do this.
"Okay, Katie, does this look good?" She rounded to the front of the stroller, squatting down in front of the little girl. Katherine Jane Weller had her daddy's blue eyes and grin and her mother's dark hair. Unfortunately, she would never know her mother. Ally had been killed in an FBI raid she never should have participated in, let alone, led. Katherine had come to live with Kurt and Jane, four months ago. With Sarah's help, Kurt and Jane had adapted to becoming instant full time parents. This was Jane's first outing without Kurt.
A smile greeted her. Shoving a goldfish cracker in her mouth, the toddler, pointed to the swing.
"Swing, huh?" Jane stood and removed the light jacket, revealing the massive array of tattoos covering her arms. "Okay, let's see what we can do."
Lifting the little girl out of the stroller, she turned and headed to the direction of the toddler swings.
She tried to ignore the stares of the other adults – stares from the children she could tolerate but the stares of the adults, set her on edge. Especially when the child in the swing next to the empty one was removed when she set Katie in it.
"It's time to leave," she heard the mother say to the baby and then watched her set the little girl down in the sandbox. Clearly, it was 'time to leave' the vicinity of what she deemed as a bad influence on her girl – Jane's presence. Jane wanted to tell her the tattoos were not contagious.
She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, revealing more of the bird tattoo on her neck. She should be used to it by now. Besides, she was here for Katie, not for parental approval – even if some small part of her wanted it. She gave Katie a little push setting the swing in motion.
Katie grabbed the rope on the corners of the toddler swing, squealing in delight.
Jane smiled. Was there anything more precious and enjoyable than the sound of a child's pure, joyous laughter?
"Mommy – she played with the markers, like I did!" Jane heard.
Small hands suddenly grabbed her left hand, pulling her arm lower to the ground.
"Cora Grace!" A woman followed, the little girl. "Let her go!"
Stunned, Jane straightened slightly, her hand still grasped by smaller hands attached to a child who was inspecting the honeycomb pattern intently.
"I am so sorry!" The woman apologized, red-faced, clearly embarrassed that her child would approach a total stranger, let alone impulsively grab them - kept her gaze locked on the little girl, who had yet to let go of Jane's hand. "Cora, I said let go."
"But –" the little girl protested.
"Now."
The little girl dropped her hand, pouting.
"It's fine," Jane started, glancing between the woman and Katie who was studying the little girl from the slowing swing. "She just startled me."
"No, she knows better." The woman turned her full attention to Jane.
Knowing she now had the mother's full attention, Jane braced herself. The woman would stutter and make some excuse to take her child and depart from Jane's presence. Jane gave Katie a small push.
"Hi," the woman held out her hand. "I'm Clara Jamison. This – as you heard – is Cora."
Jane stared at the woman a moment before hesitantly taking her hand. "Jane - this is Katie."
"Nice to meet you. Are you new to the area?" Clara asked.
Jane halted in responding. She expected the woman to collect her daughter and make a hasty exit. Instead it seemed that she was content where she was.
"Um – no – well – I haven't been to the park before – at least with Katie – um – it's a little complicated – her father and I are involved – that is I'm not Katie's mother – biological mother – um – " Jane stopped. She was messing this up.
"How long does it take for your marker to wash off?" Cora piped up, taking Jane's hand once again, studying the intricate tattoos on her arm.
"Cora – enough!" Clara's face reddened. Leave it to a child to address the pink elephant in the room.
"It's okay, really," Jane was quick to assure the woman. She lowered herself to the child's height so she could look her in the eye. "My ink doesn't wash off."
"Oh. Why?" Cora scrunched up her nose.
Sometimes the simplest answer was best. Jane smiled. "My ink is in my skin; it will not wash off."
Cora stared hard at Jane, then looked over her arms again. Meeting her gaze again, she smiled. "I think you are beautiful. Your eyes are the same color as the field at my Grandma's house."
"Thank – thank you," she stuttered. That was not what she expected.
Cora turned to her mother, who was smiling softly at her. "Can I play in the sandbox?"
"Yes, love – for a while." Clara glanced at Jane. "Maybe we can persuade our new friends to join us for lunch?"
Again, Jane stared, speechless.
"If you're not busy?" Clara added.
Please?" Cora added before running to the sandbox.
"Of course," she answered. This day was turning out interesting. Taking Katie from the swing, Jane, headed back to the bench where the stroller waited. Clara followed.
"I'm guessing you are often judged?" Clara asked, taking a seat next to her.
Jane dropped a kiss on Katie's downy head, settling her on her lap. "Is it that obvious?"
"Around here? Yes," she answered honestly, glancing back at Cora, scooping sand into a pail. "Mothers can be a vicious lot when they want."
Since coming out of that bag, Jane had forced herself to deal with the tattoos and the attention it drew. "So why not you? You didn't seem too bothered by my tattoos."
Clara looked back at her and smiled. "Once upon a time, I would have – and I did – I learned from it. When I was younger, I judged a man based upon the tattoos that covered him. Curious, I asked him what made him do such a thing. His response was brutal – because he didn't like himself during a bad time of his life. He was the nicest man I'd ever met – until my husband - that is. After meeting him, I was determined not to judge a book by its cover, so to speak."
Jane nodded. How many times had she wished she hadn't been judged based on her appearance? This was getting awkward. She needed to change the subject – get it off her. "Cora is beautiful. Children don't often compliment like that."
"She's learning to speak life, she explained. "Sometimes better than others – but still –"
"Speak life?" Confusion marred, Jane's brow. "I don't' understand."
The other woman's eyes lit up as she explained. It was clearly something she was excited about. "Speaking life is simply lifting up someone else's spirit with words. In Cora's case, she's learning to look for the beauty in others or things – gratitude - thankfulness. When she complimented you on your eyes, she saw your beautiful eyes – she saw beauty in your tattoos – she saw something about you that needed 'life' so she spoke to it."
Jane nodded, slightly understanding and storing this tidbit away. This was something she would like Katie to learn. "It's a beautiful thing. – speaking life."
Katie squirmed to get down, no longer content to sit and observe the activity around her. Jane fought to hold her as she spread out a blanket on the ground, to which Katie promptly crawled to the edge. Jane pursed her lips. Should she make her excuses and leave or ask Clara for help?
"You might as well let her investigate the grass; she won't be happy until she does." Clara moved from the bench to a corner of the blanket.
"It shows that much?" Jane asked, setting on the opposite corner.
"What? Your inexperience? Yes – but you're doing a wonderful job," Clara leaned forward to remove a blade of grass the little girl had moved to her mouth and turned her attention to the bucket of sand Cora had brought over, complementing her hard work in looking for the 'treasure' before sending said sand and bucket back to the appropriate place.
"I'm not sure how you can say that when I have no idea what I'm doing," Jane remarked.
"You will. Besides the love you have for that little girl is evident. Trust yourself," Clara advised. "So, will you join us for lunch?"
Jane smiled. It was a beautiful day.