Jayden stood at the bottom of the slide while Antonio and Riley climbed up the play structure. Because Riley was still recovering from her concussion, her head was a little more fragile than normal. Even a small bump could cause a huge problem. Both Antonio and Jayden had promised Kevin and Mia they would keep their daughter's head safe. Doing that meant someone needed to wait at the bottom of the slide so that when Riley came down, she didn't shoot out too far, fall in the sand, and hit her head.
"Coming down!" Antonio called and Riley let out a squeal of excitement as Antonio gave her the gentle push she needed to slide down. Riley was happy. The slide was long and it was twisted. She went around in circles before she reached the bottom and was caught by her other uncle. With his help, she jumped in the sand and got ready to climb up the play structure again, where Antonio was waiting for her by the ladder. She loved to climb that specific one out of the many others because it was pink.
Jayden smiled as he watched her and Antonio climb. They never went straight for the slide. There were other games to play on the play structure, like a giant board for tic-tac-toe, a steering wheel so that with the help of imagination, the playground could turn into a spaceship, as well as other colourful attractions that drew all kids in. Antonio played with her on any game she choose, and from what Jayden could hear, his imagination was just as fun and creative as Riley's. The two got along very well, and Antonio was amazing with the little girl.
As Jayden stood by the slide and watched his fiancé and his niece, a woman came over to him. She seemed a little shy at first, but when she spoke it was with confidence.
"You're good with your daughter. I wish my boyfriend was that great with kids."
Jayden looked to the woman and shrugged his shoulders, "My fiancé's the one who is great with kids. I just try not to get in his way."
"Well, you're doing a good job with her too, from what I can see. She's got to be really lucky to have parents like you."
"Uncles," Jayden corrected her, "But, thanks. That means a lot."
The woman said nothing more. She just gave Jayden a smile and walked back to the swing sets to play with her son.
"If you're done flirting," Antonio called, "Little Miss is ready for another trip down the slide."
Jayden looked up and nodded his head, "I'm ready, Riles. Come on down!"
"Catch me! I'm going super fast!" Riley cried as gave herself a push down the slide, zipping down as quickly as she could go. Jayden caught her right before she shot off the end and took her in his arms. She gave him a big hug.
"Today's my favourite day! Thank you, Uncle Jay-Jay!"
"Ready for ice-cream now?" Jayden asked as he put Riley back on her feet. She nodded her head and started racing off.
"Last one to the car doesn't get ice-cream!"
"I want ice-cream!" Antonio threw himself down the slide and pushed Jayden out of the way as he ran after Riley, "Wait up!"
Jayden chuckled and shook his head as he watched them retreat. He felt really good about today.
-Samurai-
Mike looked to his watch sadly and then glanced around the park again. Storm had disappeared from right under his and Emily's noses and there was no sign of her anywhere. Mike wasn't sure what had happened, but the footprints did have him concerned. Storm had never broken away from her leash before, and there was nothing to suggest she had slipped out of her collar. She couldn't have run away, even if she wanted to.
Emily grabbed his hand and hugged him, "I'm ready."
It had been hours since they had started their search. Mike had suggested they head home and make a few calls to the animal shelters and the pound to see if someone had found Storm, but Emily had refused. She believed they would find Storm, and that if they left the park they would lose her forever.
But she had lost faith. The hope she had that Storm would be found had dwindled down to nothing. She was asking Mike to take her home. He took her in his arms and nodded, "It's going to be okay. Storm's a tough girl. She'll be fine until we find her."
"What if she got hit by a car? Or someone bad found her?"
"Stay positive. She's not going to let someone hurt her."
"But the car."
"Traffic's not what it used to be," Mike and Emily walked to the street to head home and he pointed around, "Look, there's about half as many cars on the road as there were before the last battle. I think the odds of Storm being hit by a car are pretty slim."
"Slim?"
"Stay positive," Mike gave Emily a comforting squeeze and they walked the rest of the way home in silence. When they got inside, Mike pulled out his cell phone so he could call Serena and James and tell them the search was over for now. Emily walked to the living room, where Terran was playing on the carpet with Kate. Ji and Lauren were in the kitchen with tea ready for the worried couple. Kate was the first to see Emily holding the empty leash and looked slightly panicked. Serena and James had called her to babysit, but they never explained why. The empty leash and no dog running to the food bowl meant Storm hadn't come home.
"What happened?"
"She's gone," Emily dropped her crutched and fell into the couch, "Storm's gone."
"How did this happen?" Kate sat on the couch and set Terran on her lap, "You're always very careful with her."
"I kept her on the leash and everything. I even brought the long leash so she had a lot of room to play."
Mike finished his call with Serena and James and sighed, "There's no sign of her in the city. They asked around everywhere and checked a few places stray dogs like to hide but nothing."
"How do you think she… got loose?" Lauren asked. She brought over tea and gave it to Emily, who refused it. She felt sick to her stomach.
"We don't know," Mike shrugged. "One minute she was there, the next she wasn't."
Ji had taken the end of the leash in his hand to inspect it, "This doesn't seem broken to me. There's no way she could have unclipped herself. Unless she slipped out of her collar."
"She's still wearing her collar. Well, as far as we know she is," Emily muttered. "It wasn't at the park either. If she did run off, her collar is still around her neck."
"If she ran off?"
"Someone could have taken her," Mike shrugged his shoulders. Ji, Kate, and Lauren all gave him a curious look.
"Right out from under your nose? Without making a sound?" Lauren asked, "Storm's not exactly quiet."
"She cried for hours when she and I had to run away," Kate nodded in agreement with Lauren. "She didn't like leaving you behind, Em, and she made sure I knew that. It's a good thing we didn't bump into anyone. With the noises she made, they would have thought I was torturing the poor dog."
"She got away somehow," Emily snapped. She leaned over, picked up her crutches and stormed off, "I just want to find her!"
She went into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Lauren, Kate, Ji, and Mike looked to each other nervously, unsure what to do about Storm being absent. They couldn't snap their fingers and make her appear – even though they wanted to.
"I'll start calling shelters," Mike took out his cell phone again. Ji did the same with his.
"I'll call my friends."
"Are we ever going to meet your friends?" Mike asked while the phone rang. Ji smirked playfully.
"I'm sure you already have."
