Camping Tip Number Three: "Everything but the Kitchen Sink"
"Which side do you want this on?" Luka asked as he headed toward the apartment door with the car seat. "Behind me or behind you?" Abby looked up from the cooler she was packing with sandwiches, water bottles and fruit.
"Does it matter?" she asked. Luka sighed heavily.
"I have to use the other side of the seat for supplies."
"You mean I'm not going to be able to sit in back to entertain her if she gets fussy?"
"She's not going to get fussy..." he groaned. Abby cast an apprehensive glance toward the little girl sitting in the high chair next to her. Lauren smiled up at her angelically and held up a small rubber duck that she'd been playing with. She dropped the duck over the edge of the tray and leaned over to watch it fall.
"Uh...uh...ooooooo," she said. Abby bent down to pick the toy up and put it back on the tray. Lauren promptly pushed it over the side again.
"Uh...Luka," she warned. Luka sighed.
"She'll be fine..." he said firmly. "She'll probably sleep most of the way." Abby shrugged as she absently picked up the duck again.
"Behind you then, I guess," she said. "Might be easier to reach her." Luka left with the car seat and an armload of sleeping bags and pillows. Abby sat in a chair and surveyed the little girl sitting next to her.
"You had a good night's sleep, right?" she asked as she swept Lauren's long dark hair into a ponytail on top of her head. "You've had a bath and clean diapers...a little snack...courtesy of Mom's Milk Bar..." Lauren leaned forward and batted her long eye lashes at her mother.
"Naw...those Lukalashes work on Dads, not Moms," Abby warned. Lauren sat back and grinned, flashing a deep dimple in her cheek...another trait from her father.
"Uppp...uppppp...puuppppp..." she mumbled as she pushed on the tray of the high chair.
"Good idea," Abby nodded. "I'll let you get a little exercise before strapping you in again." She undid the straps of the high chair and lifted Lauren free. She sat her in the middle of the livingroom where she could keep an eye on her and finish packing their lunch.
Abby pushed some of the buttons on Luka's stereo and grinned as strains of the Wiggles came through the speakers. Lauren clapped her hands and held them up as Abby pulled the little girl to her feet and they 'danced' together. Abby laughed as Lauren giggled and stamped her feet. Luka opened the apartment door and stopped when he saw them. He grinned. It was so much fun to see Abby so lighthearted. The change in her had been so incredible since Lauren had been born. He'd worried about depression. Sometimes he felt like he saw a glimmer of that occasionally but she seemed determined to have a different kind of relationship with her daughter than she'd had with her own mother. Luka crossed the room to the cooler Abby had been packing.
"Is this ready to go?" he asked above the din. Abby nodded as her lips moved to the song coming from the stereo. He winked at her and snapped the cooler shut. She swept Lauren up in her arms and twirled around to the music. Lauren squealed and grabbed her mother's face. She planted a sloppy wet kiss on Abby's nose. Luka grinned at them and carried the cooler and yet another bag of items out to their car.
Abby settled Lauren in the middle of the livingroom with a small basket of toys to keep her occupied. She made a quick check through the apartment rooms, grabbed a jacket and extra pair of shoes from Lauren's dresser and locked the window in their bedroom. She looked down at the street below and rolled her eyes when she saw Luka strapping something to the top of the car. A hotel would have been SO much easier!
Luka was waiting for her when she came down the steps from their bedrooms. He had Lauren under one arm and the basket of toys in the other.
"Ready?" he asked. Abby sighed and nodded. She locked the door behind them and followed him out to the street. The doorman was standing near their car and opened the door for her. Abby surveyed all of the things inside the car and on top of the car. Luka fastened Lauren into her car seat and shut the door. He looked at Abby as she put her hands on her hips and scratched his chin.
"Don''t think you might have forgotten anything, have you?" she asked as she shook her head. Luka grinned.
"If I did we can find a store when we get there."
"It's kind of embarrassing," she added as she wrinkled her nose. Luka sighed and drummed his fingers on the hood of the car.
"Ready?" he asked. She sighed and nodded as she climbed into the front seat. She fastened her seat belt as Luka started the engine. Then he stopped. She undid the seat belt and then ran back into the building. Luka shook his head impatiently as he waited. The doorman laughed as she hurried back out with the Wiggles CD in her hand.
"Now we can go!" she laughed as she redid her seat belt. She waved to the doorman as Luka pulled the car away from the curb and into the slow moving traffic.
