"Max!" Kenzie squeals, out of the car before Rilla even managed to kill the engine after putting it into park.
"She meets him once, and suddenly I am chopped liver?" Ken asked Rilla amused.
"Welcome to parenthood, one minute you are their saviour and the next you are useless and old," Rilla tells him stretching after the long drive.
"How was the trip?" Ken asks making conversation.
"Good actually, some of my siblings and their kids were there. We spent most of our days at the beach also saw some friends from high school." She told him as he opens the door to his condo for her. "She missed you," Rilla tells him quietly. "She asked more about you than she demanded updates about then Dr. Fluff and Chesh."
"Did she?" Ken smiles looking at their daughter was still chasing his dog.
"She did," Rilla nods her head and grabs one of the bags as he grabs the other for her. They walk up to his condo and he whistles for Max.
"I got you something," Kenzie bounds into the house with Max and goes for the backpack he brought in for her.
She hands him a slightly mangled gift bag.
"You didn't have to," Ken says but sits down at the small table he owned and opened the bag.
Saltwater taffy, a plush lobster that had PEI stitched into one of the sides and a bag of seashells with a vial of red sand.
"I picked you the prettiest shells, and some of the red sand is from Ingleside. Where mom grew up and where I lived when I was little." Kenzie told him.
"I will cherish them," Ken says hugging her softly before she nudged him so she could go sit on the floor with Max. He shook his head and chuckled softly to himself. "The two of you have the spare room for tonight and I can order some pizza if you're hungry, or if you're both not too tired we can venture out for some food?
"As long as I don't have to drive, I'm good with either option," Rilla tells him. "Honestly going out might actually calm her down a bit after spending the past two days in the car."
"Do you like our necklaces?" Kenzie breaks into their conversation holding up her little heart with two ruby-coloured stones that moved freely in its little cage. "Grammy and Grampa picked them out for us."
"They are very lovely," Ken says, he had noticed earlier that matching pendants.
"Hers is just silver with crystals right now," Rilla says when Kenzie leaves them once more. "I wouldn't trust her with anything valuable."
"So the earring I was thinking about for Christmas?" Ken says chuckling. "Not a good idea just yet?"
"Earrings are fine if the value of them doesn't make you want to groan when she loses on by springtime," Rilla tells him patting his arm before excusing herself to use his washroom.
They are up early on the days they spend in Toronto. The mornings were quick and out of the door after breakfast, taking the subway places. All dressed in some sort of shorts, tee-shirt and walking shoes and stopping at Starbucks for coffee and a washroom they headed towards the Tower and then the aquarium hoping to beat some of the lines to get up to the top of the CN Tower.
"You are more welcome to go up, but I am staying down here in the ground." Rilla shakes her head firmly at the entrance of the CN tower.
"But mom!"
"No butts you know I don't like heights," Rilla shakes her head. "I will gladly sit with my coffee on ground level."
"You climbed the tower at the castle yesterday!" Kenzie whines.
"Well, that tower didn't have a glass floor! And not nearly that high," Rilla says shaking her head. "You're not changing my mind and if you continue to try I will ground you for the rest of the week," Rilla warns her.
Most of the time it's like they are more like friends than mother and daughter, but the more defiant Kenzie gets the mother side of Rilla came out. She only allowed so much before it'll she cut it off he learned over his time with them.
"Are you sure?" Ken says wary of leaving her by herself but Rilla waves him off and finds a bench to sit on. She pulls out her phone and finds someone to call while they stand in line for the elevator that brings them up to the observation deck.
Kenzie is bouncing on her heels and dashes around
The ride up to the observation deck is quiet as Kenzie starred out the glass, nose smashed against it.
She skips off as soon as the door opens and he found himself calling after her. He follows her around. Nodding and smiling to some of the older couples who smiled or commented at her energy.
"Ken, Ken? Dad?" Kenzie calls out across the room. "We need a photo together," she calls out. It throughs him off at first, being referred to as Dad to friends, but being called it was two different things and apparently, they were suddenly at the second one already.
She jumps on his back without much warning, he barely has time to catch one of her legs. Her smaller head rests on his shoulder, arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders and he manages with one hand to capture of the of them with the Toronto skyline behind them.
"Who's on your shirt Dad?" She asks him afterwards when they meet up with her mother once more. "They look like that band Uncle Walter likes."
"Poets of the Fall," Rilla mentions without a beat, not mentioning the Dad thing at all, but she was smiling ear to ear in the summer heat.
"You know of them?" Ken asks surprised.
"Walter likes them, he actually went somewhere once to see them at some festival in Europe," Rilla explains. "They are a great band, I'm more surprised you know them."
"At the end of one of my deployments, instead of flying back here when we stopped in Britain. I got permission to have some vacation. So I spent it going up to The Netherlands and then Nordic countries before returning home." Ken explains.
They grab a bit to eat before heading to the aquarium, filling up their water bottles with cold water before they go explore the aquarium and cool off in the air-conditioned building.
"Don't tell her but she has been here before," Rilla says quietly chuckling. When we moved back when she was little, Walter came out with us and we took her here since she was obsessed with Nemo at the time. She slept most of the way through the exhibit but she woke up to see Nemo, it will be interesting to see if she remember it or not in some form?" Rilla tells him. "Also, be strong and please don't buy her every plush in the gift shop."
"Duly noted," Ken chuckled. "Am I that bad?"
"No, no, just cautioning you for the inevitable puppy eyes," Rilla explains. "One day, I'm going to be around to save you."
Ken nods, picking up on the subtle hint that she won't always be around for his visits and he wasn't sure what he thought about that at this moment.
"I know this place!" Kenzie shrieks. "I thought I dreamed of this place?" She turns to face her mother, hands on her hips.
"You were four, Uncle Walter took us here when you were little," Rilla explains. "You slept most of the exhibit."
They make their way back to union station to catch the subway back to his place. His heart grew heavy knowing they were leaving in the morning.
He stops briefly for a moment feeling as if someone is staring at him. He reaches for Kenzie, hand on her shoulder to keep her close, Rilla stops and gives him a strange look. He sees her for a moment, at the front doors of union station. Of all the days, of all the people he knew in the city.
"Who was that?" Kenzie asks as they enter the station.
"Just someone I once knew," Ken tells her guiding her out the door.
"You dated her?" Kenzie asks simply.
"We were married for a few years," Ken says honestly after looking at Rilla who just shrugs as if she's telling him to decide for himself. "We are in the process of getting a divorce, which happened long before I found out about you," Ken reassures her pushing her gently towards their entrance, tapping his metro card, and putting tickets in for Rilla and Kenzie at the same time.
"Is that why you and mom won't go out with each other?" Kenzie asks rather badly.
"Kenzie," Rilla groans in the stairwell that leads to their train landing. "We've been through this all before."
"I just don't understand it, you're single, he's single. I'm here because of both of you and you both just ignore it all. You spend all night with Fred, but you won't even give him chance."
"Hey, hey," Rilla jumps into action, trying to defuse the ticking time bomb before it explodes. Pulls her off to the side once they are off the stairs.
He doesn't hear what she says, he's unsure if Rilla wants him to bear witness of it. In the end Kenzie nods and sniffles. They catch the train and she curls up next to him as Rilla sits next to them. She falls asleep, her legs across his lap. Her hair is a mess of tangles around her and his arms.
Rilla just smiles at him, neither of them approaching the subject just yet.