Alan

Around noon, Fred, a stay at home dad, and his daughter, Deborah, came to the park. Rach and I were already there. As soon as the kids were settled in a small sandbox with their toys, Fred and I talked. We had met one day, as we were both walking dogs. It turned out that he lived close to me, and eventually, I invited him, and his family to Rach's birthday party.

"I've been taking writing classes in the afternoon" he remarked.

"How's that going for ya?"

"The teacher's pretty blunt." He looked through his kid's diaper bag. "Says I'm too wordy."

I told him "I once had a professor at grad school say that his cat could come up with better designs than me..."

"Now that's mean!" he again checked on little Debbie. Fred reminded me of myself when Donnie was little in terms of the worrying... After a bit, the two kids started to fight over a small purple, plastic shovel.

"Mine!" Debbie snatched it from Rach.

"Ba!" she grabbed it, but the other girl wouldn't let go.

"Debbie! Share your shovel!" Fred scolded her.

Those two kept fighting over it, until Rach got it from Debbie's grasp and hit the poor girl with it.

"Rachael!What have I told you about hitting?" " I repimanded her and got the shovel. Fred's kid cried in distress. Her blue eyes filled with water, as her father picked her up. I was annoyed, but not surprised. Kids this age don't like to share. Don and Charlie were very possesive of their things when they were each in the toddler stage. She was in the habit of sometimes hitting other kids when cranky or wanting something for herself. Kate was sometimes a victim of this.

"Aaah!" she demanded the shovel.

"No! Play nice, or I'll take the other toys away!" I knew that she understood a lot of what people said, and would definently pick up on the tone. Turning around, I noticed Fred giving little Debbie cookies.

"Sorry about that..." I told him, knowing that he was a first time dad. "Kids that age don't like to share."

"Debbie's no exception" Fred said, and comforted his little girl. It's interesting how fathers are encouraged to be affectionate with daughters, but not with sons, while it's considered okay for mothers to be affectionate with both. That hasn't really changed that much, though I do see more involved dads than I did when Don and Charlie were Rach's age.

"We should consider ourselves lucky that our girls aren't fighting hunger." I said.

"Great point!" he nodded. " By the way I like how you took responsibility. I've met parents who would have blamed Debbie for what happened."

Soon, Debbie squirmed to be let down, and she returned to the sandbox.

"Be nice!" I warned Rachael, who found something else to dig up the sand with.

Unfortunatly, the playdate was cut short when we saw a loose pit bull several yards away. Not wanting to take any chances, we got the girls in their strollers and left the park.

"Talk about irresponsible!" Fred shook his head.

"My wife tells me that once pit bulls bite, they never let go!" I commented.

"Why don't we do lunch?" he suggested.

"Sure" I agreed. "Where?"

We went to a nearby cafe. The girls had snacks so that Fred and I could eat in peace. However, in the middle of our meal, Rach started to squirm and make noises.

"Not now Rach."

"AAAA!" she retorted, and tried vainly to get out of the restraints.

I took her out of the stroller and tried to eat around her, as she sat on my lap. I gave Rach a piece of bread and this kept her quiet. Until she came along, I had almost forgotten how hard it was to eat with small children.

She chewed on it for a while, then threw it. Rach like to throw things, to see what happened.

"No! I've told you not to throw things! Especially food!" I said firmly. With all the starving children in the world, I found it horrible to waste food.

A waitress about my age picked up the bread from the floor.

"I'm sorry about that" I apologized to her. "She's at that stage."

"No worries, Hon. I've got grandchildren too" The waitress smiled and left before I could correct her.

Rach then got a spoon and began to bang the table with it.

My cell rang. It was Nat.

"Hey Babe! I just wanted to say hi and see how the play date was going" she sounded cheerful.

"Rach hit Debbie with a small shovel" I told her, deciding not to mention the bull dogs .That would have given her a heart attack

"Oh no!" she exclaimed with concern. Nat maybe used to the shenanigans of pets, but had yet to get used to the kinds of mischief kids could get into.

"Don't worry, I took the shovel away."

"That's good to know. I hope she learns to share"

"She will, in due time. Rach is one in human years, ya know..." I teased her.

Nat chuckled. "I've got a patient soon, so...I'll leave you two...Love ya!" With that she hung up.

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A few nights later, the boys, Rach, and I went out to dinner to my favorite diner. Nat had to work late, but I planned to get her her favorite plate and desert from the place.

When I checked in with the hostess and requested a high chair, I noticed that Rach was no longer in Charlie's arms.

"Where's Rach?" I asked my youngest...er...middle child.

Charlie, with widen eyes looked around. "She wanted to walk around...and she was just here!" He pointed to a wooden cat.

"She couldn't have gone far" Don said. My heart started to make its way into my mouth. I knew all too well the kinds of trouble and danger a toddler could get into within seconds. I've had three! Soon, my oldest son gave us directions, and we all started searching for her.

After some searching, I found her, trying to reach for bread at some young couple's table. This reminded me of the time Don, as a two year old, stole tortillas from a neighboring booth at a Mexican restaurant.

"Rach! No!" I picked her up and apologized to the couple. The woman reminded me of a female version of Don, with her eyes and smile.

I let my other sons know that I found her, and we returned to the waiting area. Thankfully, we didn't need to wait long. Once at our table, Rach figidited in her high chair, and made noises to be let down.

"I'll escort her" Donnie got up, and gently took off the straps. He took great care of Rach and was very affectionate, showing me that my oldest son would make a great dad, if only he could find someone!

Don made sure that they stayed close by as they walked around. Rach wore a little green dress, that Nat had bought from one of those expensive places.

As I buttered my bread, I heard a crashing noise, and turned around. A waitress had dropped a pitcher of water that she had in her hand. Before I could warn Don, Rach slipped and fell on her head.

Don tried to catch her, but my baby girl's head banged on the floor."ARE THERE ANY DOCTORS!?WE'VE GOT AN EMERGENCY!" Don shouted as he took a look at her. I joined him, trying to comfort Rach.

"It's okay..." I told her, while stroking her face. She tried to get up, but I restrained her. She might have broken something.

"Charlie! Call 911!!" Don ordered.

"I'm a medical resident!!" a young woman said. "Give her room." She examined Rach carefully and talked to her in a soothing manner.

"Nothing seems to be broken, but it looks like she took a nasty hit on the head." the doctor said. It disturbed me when she called and reached for me with her head turned the other way. The doctor noticed this too and flashed a penlight on her eyes. The pupils didnt' respond.

Finally, a couple of EMTs arrived. I rode with Rach, the doctor, and them to the hospital. It would be one of the longest car rides of my life!

TBC