The walk to the park was an easy one, mostly because it was so nice outside. John had told Amanda that it was the last week in March, but it felt more like late April or early May. It was the kind of weather that you could wear a t-shirt in and be totally comfortable, or a sweatshirt and not be too hot. It felt like the mid 60's, and there was a lot of sunshine. Amanda wanted to lie down in a warm patch of it and stay there for several hours, basking in its warmth.

That was what John had in mind. John had packed lunch in a literal picnic basket, and carried other necessities in an old, grey backpack slung over his shoulders. Included among these was a small umbrella in case it rained later, but John was skeptical that it would.

Amanda carried her supplies in another backpack that was dark blue and borrowed from John. It wasn't heavy, but she was glad when they had reached the place John designated for her to put it down.

The park was a large grassy area with occasional benches and a torn tent under which sat long tables and fold out chairs. On the opposite side was a playground, currently in use by several children who couldn't have been more than eight, holding one of those tree house type structures ending in a slide, monkey bars, a merry go round, and a large set of swings. She looked at those fondly. While in elementary school, her playground had a set of three swings as the only source of entertainment. She rarely got to use them because of this, but when she did Amanda would spend all of her recess glued to one of them. It was the closest to flying she had ever gotten, never having learned how to swim.

They stretched out the blanket from John's "stash", as he called it, and then Amanda put hers on top, still bunched in a ball. John set the basket down and started to take out the food. Sandwiches, apples, grapes, and cookies began to appear on the blanket, looking very appetizing, but Amanda wasn't hungry enough to eat again.

She stared around the park. Their area was perfect. It was near the trees so that they got some shade, but also enough in the sun so Amanda could feel its warmth. It wasn't too far away from other people, but far enough so they could talk without worrying about being overheard. Even the ground was soft enough to sleep on.

Amanda took off her shoes and, after a few seconds' hesitation, removed her socks. She placed them a few inches outside the blanket, reveling in the softness against her bare feet. John looked up from his preparations and smiled down at her. Amanda grinned back. Then, curling her legs against her chest, she flopped on her side, facing the warmth of the sun. Her head lay against a warm patch of blanket. She closed her eyes.

Suddenly, Amanda felt a hand on her head. Or, to be more accurate, she felt fingers scratching her head. Lazily, she moved her head out of the fingers' reach scrunching up her nose in annoyance. Seconds later, they followed. She moved again. They followed, accompanied by John's movement.

Defeated, Amanda opened her eyes and found John's face directly above hers, peering down at her with a look of amusement mixed with affection.

"What do you want?" she grunted, closing her eyes again.

Couldn't he just leave her in peace for a few minutes? Maybe she should wear sunscreen but it's not like it was eighty degree weather. Amanda wouldn't burn.

John laughed and continued to scratch her head. Maybe he had changed his scratching technique, but it suddenly felt nice. Even if it was the kind of thing someone did to a dog.

"I just wanted to know if the little kitten was hungry," he explained.

Amanda sat up, eyebrows raised in amusement. "Kitten?"

He smiled. "That's how you look when you're sleeping."

She made a face and snorted. "Isn't head scratching what you do with dogs? I thought you pat cats."

"If I did that, it wouldn't attract your attention. You'd just continue to lie there," John explained, still looking at her endearingly.

Amanda nodded. "Probably," she agreed. Remembering the question, she added, "I'm not hungry right now. We can eat whenever you're hungry."

"I'm hungry now," he replied, looking at the food sadly.

Amanda sighed. "Oh, all right."

Grinning triumphantly, John handed her a sandwich. "It's peanut butter again, but this time the bread is fresh."

"Glad to hear it." Amanda watched John devour his within minutes. Had this been his first meal that day? She had eaten less than half in this time.

By the time she had finished, John had finished a red apple and a milky way bar that Amanda had overlooked. Amanda, however, was already full and stretched out again, this time lying on her back. Still, the thought entered her mind that there better be another candy bar…or gummy bears.

John looked at her in the way a proud cat owner would view their pet resting in a cute position.

"Have you ever played cloud games?" he asked, starting to lie down next to her.

"Huh?" She turned her head to face him, confused.

"Where you look at the clouds and try to think of what each one resembles."

"Ohhh. Yeah, but not in awhile."

"Want to play now?" he asked, moving an arm around her.

"What happens if I lose?" Amanda asked tentatively.

"There's no winning or losing."

"Then how do you know when the game is over?" she queried.

"You're out of clouds," John replied, as though it were obvious.

She repositioned her head so that it was still on top of the blanket bundle, but on John's chest. In response, he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"You go first," John instructed.

"Hmm…" She focused on the blob just above her head. "That's a rock. Your turn."

"A rock?" John scoffed. "How unoriginal. It's…" he paused. "It's a ball."

"No way," Amanda laughed. "It's not round enough to be a ball. It's a rock."

"Fine," John grumbled. Focusing on another cloud, he said, "That one's a rat."

Amanda could easily tell which one he was looking at, but it did not look enough like those pesky animals for her taste.

"It's missing the ears," she objected.

"The ears?"

"Yeah, the triangle shape." She studied it. "There's also no long tail. It's a rabbit."

"Where are the long bunny ears?" John protested. "I say it looks more like a rat."

Amanda shook her head. "No way. It's a rabbit."

"Rat," John insisted.

"Rabbit!"

Just as she said that, John began to move his hands under her arms and tickle her. She shrieked and sat up, trying to escape, but John was quicker and held her down.

"It's still a rabbit!" she spoke between giggles.

"Rat."

Now it was becoming hard to breathe. Amanda gasped for breath and tried to get out, "You win! You win!"

Soon she was hiccupping as she said this. John got the message. The tickling stopped but the hiccups stayed for a good minute.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding one of her arms close to him.

Amanda hiccupped again, pouting. "Yes."

He handed her an unopened bottle of water. "Drink this."

Amanda obeyed but it didn't do much. She knew there were other, less pleasant ways to get rid of hiccups, but she didn't want John to consider resorting to those.

"I'm –hic—okay," she said quickly. "I just –hic—need to wait –hic—it out." Then, "You can't –hic—tickle me like that!"

John smoothed her air and planted a kiss on top of her head. "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful from now on," he promised.

She nestled against him. "I think –hic—it will be an hour before –hic—they're all gone."

"Want to continue playing the cloud game?" John pressed, still stroking her hair.

"As long as you don't –hic—tickle me to death!" Amanda retorted. "Or –hic—at all!"

"I promise," John laughed. He stared at the sky. "That one looks like a cat," he said, using his free arm to point to it.

Amanda laughed. "It has three—hic—legs."

"Poor kitten," John sighed. "Maybe it's sitting on the last one?"

Amanda looked closely and saw a cloud marking under the body that could be a leg. "Yeah, the other leg is just being lazy."

John scratched her head again. "Your turn, kitten."

She blushed at the endearment and scanned the sky. "That one…over there" she pointed "is a swing. Above it is a bird."

She felt John nodding. "A baby bird," he noted. "A little ball of fuzz."

"Still a bird," Amanda replied. She inhaled deeply. Were the hiccups gone already? As soon as she exhaled, one escaped from her throat. Nope, not yet.

"Over there…that's a polar bear," John commented.

"Looks more like a panda to me. Or a horse," Amanda added. She squinted. "If you squint it looks like a horse. See the tail?"

"Mmm hmm."

The game continued like that for another half an hour or so, after which Amanda heard her stomach growling. Laughing, John handed her what she supposed was her share of the food—the remaining half of her peanut butter sandwich, a bright green apple, fresh purple grapes, two soft chip cookies with the chips mostly melted, and a Hershey bar.

"If you don't want the candy bar, I'll be happy to eat it," John added eagerly.

Amanda made a face and rolled her eyes. "We'll see."

She ate partially relaxing against John, which caused him to steal pieces of her food. Amanda protested when this occurred, but she didn't really mind. He had packed more than she could possibly eat, and she wasn't as big of a chocolate fan as he had been. John ended up eating the candy bar and one of the large cookies.

Amanda felt at peace here. She couldn't remember the last time she had done something like this, but it was probably well before going to jail. Mike had been so busy that, even with him, these kinds of things were rare. It was unfortunate because these were the kinds of things Amanda learned that she most enjoyed in life, but there was never enough need to make time for them. Not when drugs had been available.

One of the swing sets had opened up and John dragged her over. The two sat in separate swings, almost flying, and Amanda felt the air brush her hair towards and away from her face. It felt like a mop, but the rest of it was enjoyable.

Hours must have passed before John decided it was time to head back. It was starting to get dark, he explained, and he'd need to fix them dinner. Amanda reluctantly helped pack everything up, looking around her sadly.

"We'll be back," John promised, watching her carefully. "Maybe the next time we get a day as nice as this."

Amanda just nodded and the two began to walk towards home. When they reached a shopping center complex, John stopped Amanda.

"I need to go in there" he pointed to the pharmacy "for a few things. I want you to wait outside."

Amanda looked alarmed. "W-why?"

John thought quickly. "I use various medications for my condition, especially the pain, that I'd like to keep quiet about. For now," he added, sensing Amanda's hurt.

He was lying, and not very well, and she was all too aware that it was a total lie. Unfortunately, it had to be done. The drugstore had John's medications, and he did need to pick up some more vitamins, but his main reason for going there was to pick out a nice stuffed animal for Amanda. He couldn't do it with her there, breathing over his shoulder and making comments about being too old for them. Somehow, he knew this was the best thing to do, to help Amanda with the nightmares, and once she saw it, she would understand. In the meantime, John didn't want her to think he saw her as a small child.

She was his daughter, however, and that meant something…

He reached into his pocket, pulled out his worn wallet, and took out a five dollar bill.

"There's an ice cream store a few stores down," he said, handing the bill to Amanda. "Why don't you get something while you wait?"

Amanda took the money but gave him a dirty look. John realized, a little too late, that this tactic might have worked on an eight year old, but Amanda was nearing twenty-three.

Or was she older?

John ignored the look, smiled at her brightly, and went into the store. He found the vitamins without effort on the counter (he had been using them most of his adult life and could probably locate them with his eyes closed) and then searched the children's toy section for an appropriate stuffed animal.

It was surprisingly difficult. Whoever was in charge of inventory seemed partial to dolls, and ugly ones at that. Gone were the days you could find elegantly dressed dolls with curled hair and china faces in toy stores. Barbie had taken over the world. What was available as far as stuffed animals went was scarce, and difficult to choose from. Worse, everything seemed to be marked up at least 50. A rabbit that could fit into John's hands, for instance, was nearly seven dollars.

Closer to eight, after tax, John realized.

Hidden among an oversized giraffe that looked stoned and a rather cute, but very small, dog was a large, brown cat. It had Amanda's chocolate brown eyes, giving it a rather sympathetic look. The size was perfect—large enough to be able to hold and even use as a pillow. John took a look a the price and when he saw it was over thirty dollars, he nearly had a heart attack.

He decided to buy it anyway. It was cute, and very soft, and it wasn't like John would have another opportunity to do this sort of shopping without Amanda. He picked it up and head to the cash register. Just before paying, he saw a box of peppermint patties marked at ten cents each (much more reasonable, in his opinion) and picked out eight, adding those to his bill.

"What a cute little kitten!" the woman at the cash register crowed in a baby voice as she rang up the cat. "Would you like a separate bag for him?"

It's a "she", you squalling moron, John thought.

"No, thank you," he replied, smiling slightly.

It was his job to rid the world of people who didn't appreciate life, but he might want to add overall annoyances to society to his list.

He found Amanda waiting for him outside, holding two same ice cream cones with one hand and the change in the other.

"The chocolate one's for you," she explained, recognizing his questioning face. "Here's the change."

"Thank you, Amanda," replied John, surprised and touched by the gesture. He took the cone but waved his hand at the change. "No, you keep it."

Amanda shrugged, put the money away, and began to eat her strawberry ice cream cone. John did the same and joined her. They began the walk home, but slowly, since they wanted to savor their ice cream.

We should probably want to eat dinner later tonight, he noted.

When they arrived home, John turned to Amanda who was trying to discreetly lick stray ice cream off of her hands. He hid a grin.

"Amanda, I'm going to put some of the blankets away in our room. While I do that, could you cut up some carrots and slice two apples for me?"

Amanda swallowed, nodded, and John set off to the room. After washing his hands from the ice cream and putting the clean blanket away--the other one had been on the dirt all day so it would need to be washed--, he retrieved the cat from the bag. It did look very cute. He cut off the price tag, and sat her on Amanda's pillow. Pausing, he fluffed the hair on her face and pushed it out of her eyes.

Much better.

A/N: Please, please, please review! As always, five reviews secures the next chapter the following day.