A/N This chapter is written from Kady's perspective on her day out with Mama and the Man.
Kady was buckled into her car seat in this large vehicle. It was bigger than the car her mama drove. Her mama got into the front seat and so did the Man. Kady was pretty sure she had seen this Man before. If she thought about it, she had seen him two times before.
Mama turned around and looked at her. "Are you alright, Kady? I hope you are comfortable in the back there. It is going to be a long drive." Kady kicked up her feet and grinned, happily. The Man turned around and looked at her, too. He reached back and grabbed one of her tiny hands.
"You are going to have a good time, Kady," he said.
"Yesh," Kady replied. "Good time." She understood what a good time was. It meant having fun.
As they set off on their road trip to the lake, the Man and Mama were talking. He could see that the Man liked Mama very much. He sometimes held her hand, while he drove. Kady started to feel really sleepy. It was true the drive was very long. She looked at her mama, whose already seemed to be taking her nap. The Man looked across at Mama and gently ruffled her hair.
"How ya doing there, Kady?" the Man asked. "You can take a nap. It will be a while before we get there. Your mom is already asleep." Kady's head started to nod and soon, she was off to Dreamland.
The next time Kady opened her eyes. She was being gently shaken awake by her mama, who was unbuckling her out of her car seat.
"We are here, Kady. At the restaurant. I am sure you are hungry, right now," Mama said. "I am famished, so you must be, too." The toddler struggled to get out of her seat. She was still feeling a bit sleepy.
"Gosh, Kady, you are getting so heavy," Mama said, as she tried to get Kady out of the car.
"I will take her," the Man said. He poked in his head and she was lifted into his strong arms. "My big girl." He gave her a kiss on her cheek. Kady was surprised that he kissed her. She did not know him that well. The Man was tall, so she was much higher in the air, than when Mama held her. She liked it a lot.
Together, the three of them went inside the restaurant, where a waitress showed them a table. They brought a high chair for Kady, for which she was grateful. She didn't like it when they put her on one of those low chairs. She couldn't see over the table. Mama and the Man ordered food from the waitress. Kady was hungry. She hoped they would bring food soon.
The waitress took a look at Kady and remarked what a beautiful girl she was. Mama and the Man both beamed when the waitress complimented her.
"Yes, she is," the Man said. "We both think so." He smiled at her and Kady knew that the Man liked her, too.
The food came quickly and Kady was very grateful. She was very hungry. She chewed on a French fry and got ketchup all around her mouth. The Man took a napkin and wiped all of the ketchup away.
"Now your face is all clean," he said. Lunch was not over, as the waitress brought over pieces of apple pie for everyone. Kady loved apple pie. She loved how warm and gooey the filling was. It was sweet and good. When she had polished off her piece of pie, The Man wiped her face, again. Mama took her to the restroom and by the time they got out, the Man was waiting for them to leave.
It was only a short ride in the car before they finally reached their destination. This was the lake. Kady had never seen anything like this in her life. There were many families there, some of them with children as young as Kady. This looked to be a great place. She hoped her mama would take her into the water. The Man laid out a large blanket on the ground.
"All three of us can easily fit on that blanket," Mama said, as she took a seat on the blanket.
"That's why I brought it," the Man said. He also took a seat and put Kady on to his lap. She leaned back and rested against him.
"Hey, you know what we can do. We can rent one of those rowboats and go out on the lake," Mama suggested. "I am sure Kady would enjoy that."
"So are you planning to make me work off that heavy lunch?" the Man said, grinning. "Yes, this little girl would love that. You know what I like about this place. No motorized watercraft. Only rowboats or canoes are allowed. It makes it safer for the kids, swimming in the water."
"Yup. I think I am going to ask that guy how much he rents his rowboats for," Mama said. She got up and asked the Man if he would be alright with Kady. He nodded, putting his arm around Kady. As Mama left, he watched as she headed down to the place where they were renting the boats.
The Man lay back on the blanket and put Kady right next to him.
"I don't know about you, Kady but that lunch has me terribly sleepy," the Man said. "I could take a nap, right here." Kady knew what he was talking about. She, too, was feeling sleepy. She snuggled against him and closed her eyes.
"Yes, you sleep, baby," the Man said, as Kady drifted off.
Kady was aware of some stirring next to her. She opened her eyes. She didn't know how long she was asleep. She sat up and saw that the Man and Mama were kissing.
"Hey, sleepyhead, you are up," Mama said. "Did you have a good nap?"
"Yesh," Kady said. She was still feeling a little sleepy, so she lay back down on the blanket. She listened to her Mama and the Man talking.
"I have something to show you," Mama said. She took out her phone and showed the Man a picture of him and Kady sleeping on the blanket.
"Oh my God, I look like a giant," the Man said. "Kady looks like a doll next to me."
"I thought it was the cutest thing ever," Mama said. "I will send it to you."
"Thanks," the Man said. "I was thinking about the Olivia situation. I think we need to do something about it."
"Yes," Mama said. "I was thinking that maybe, I can invite you over to Sunday lunch with all of the children. I know that Noel supports us, so that may be a help in changing her mind about you."
"Okay," the Man said. "I really want to try. I think Kady likes me,too." He gave the little girl a tickle on her tummy, which had her laughing.
"Yeah, me too. I like you a whole lot. Three out of four is not bad at all," Mama said. "We are good together."
Then, Kady saw it. From the corner of her eye, she saw a golden retriever puppy run in front of her. She got up, immediately. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life. She loved puppies. She got up and started chasing the dog and the boy, who owned it. The boy was older, probably around six years old.
Kady didn't hear at first but the Man was calling her name for her to come back. The boy with the dog turned around and looked at the toddler, who had been chasing him.
"Hey, baby. Your daddy is calling you," the boy said. "You better go back or your daddy will be real mad. You are too little to be out here by yourself."
"Daddy?" Kady repeated. She turned around and saw the Man calling her.
"Come on, Kady, you can't run away like that," the Man said. Then, it all finally clicked for Kady. That was the Man's name. His name was Daddy. Just like Mama's name was Mama, her brother was Noel and her sister was Livvy.
She started running towards the Man, screaming, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" She ran into his arms. He picked her up and swung her into the air.
Then, something happened. It looked like Daddy was crying. She wondered why. Maybe he had a boo-boo. She knew that boo-boos hurt a lot. Her mama always kissed them away when she had a boo-boo. She wiped the tears from his face and kissed him. That would make Daddy feel better.
Mama came up to them and asked him what was wrong. Daddy shook his head and told her that it was nothing. He just had a little bit of dust in his eye. He asked Mama if she wanted to go out on the lake. Mama said yes. They went to the boat rental place where they all put on hats and lifejackets. Daddy rowed the boat out in the middle of the lake. Kady looked over the side of the boat and she could see fish in the water. She had never seen fish so big. The fish she knew in Noel's aquarium were much smaller than this.
"Fish!" she screamed.
Daddy said that the fish was a trout. Mama held on to her as she leaned over. Kady put her hand in the water so she could call the fish to come closer. One fish came close enough and brushed against her hand. Kady shrieked in delight. It felt so weird and wonderful at the same time.
Eventually, they rowed back to shore and got back in the car to go home. Kady was so tired that she slept all of the way back into the city. She only woke up when Mama took her out of the car. They had stopped at a house, which was not their house. It looked different from their house.
"Just an ordinary contemporary house," Daddy said, as he opened the door to let them in. They walked around the house, as Daddy showed them all of the rooms.
They stopped at a bedroom, which was similar to Kady's bedroom at home. It was a nursery.
"Maybe we can leave Kady in here. She still looks very tired," Daddy suggested. Mama was sad as she looked at the nursery.
"Oh, Owen," she said. "You guys had done this up for your baby." The baby/ies that never came. Daddy nodded.
"Yeah," Daddy said. "We were excited the first time the in-vitro worked that we went overboard and bought everything and fixed up the nursery. Then, she lost it. Then, when she got pregnant the second time, she lost it, again. Melissa could barely come in here. We didn't touch the place and just left it."
Mama placed Kady in the crib. It was soft and comfortable. She was glad to rest. It was hard trying to sleep in her car seat. She closed her eyes, briefly. Mama and Daddy both gave her a kiss and left the room.
Kady lay there on the bed, drifting between being asleep and being awake. She could hear Mama and Daddy in the next room. They were giggling a lot, she thought. She wondered what they were doing. They were probably having a really good time. A good time meant they were having fun.
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I do appreciate them.
