A few hours later, Nini and her moms were eating dinner together. Dana had loved hearing just how great of a first day of school her daughter had today, and from everything Nina, or rather Nini as she now insisted on being called, and from everything she was telling her about her new friend, she couldn't wait to meet little Ricky either.
Nini was bouncing in her seat, she hadn't been able to sit still all evening, and she had even eaten her food as fast as possible so they could be finished with dinner faster and Mama C would call Ricky's parents.
"Can you please call them now? I've already cleaned my plate!" Nini pointed out.
"Just be patient for a few more minutes, Nina, I mean Nini." Carol admonished her. "Ricky isn't going to come or not just because we waited a few more minutes for us to finish dinner too."
"I know, but I just want tomorrow to get here so I can see him again," Nini said and looked up at the ceiling like she was picturing all the fun things they would be doing tomorrow at school, and potentially at home after school.
"I think Mama D and I are almost done eating our dinner." Carol pointed out, "Can you help out by putting your plate and silverware in the dishwasher for us?"
"Yeah! I can do that. And then you'll call Ricky's house?"
"And then I'll call Ricky's house." Carol agreed with a kind smile.
"Yay!" Nini got up from her seat and carefully carried her plate, silverware, and cup to the dishwasher and put everything inside. Then she ran back out to the table. "OK, I'm done! Now can you call him? Please?"
"Alright, my little sweetheart." Carol stood up and then gave Nini a quick hug. "I'll call them."
Carol walked over to where she had set her purse on the kitchen counter and pulled out her phone and the paper she had written Ricky's house number down on earlier that day. She then dialed and held the phone to her ear for several long moments.
Dana walked around the table and pulled Nini up and into her lap, otherwise the way she was jumping up and down she was about to fall through the floor she was still that excited.
"Hi is this the Bowen's? Are you Ricky- I mean Richard's mom? Yes, I'm Carol Salazar-Roberts. Oh good, so it sounds like you know exactly why I'm calling, it seems like our kids hit it off today, and when I picked Nina up from school, both of them were begging me to let Ricky come over for a playdate, but I knew it would be best to let his parents know beforehand." Carol chuckled lightly. "Really? Great, well just about any day is fine with me. Thankfully I get off work early enough that I can be there to bring Nina home every day after school, and Ricky will be welcome at our home anytime. Oh yes, I think that would be a good idea. Would you be free this Friday night? Dana, Nina, and I would love to meet both you and your husband. How does 6 pm sound? Great, we can't wait to meet you. Our address is 412 East 3rd Street. Thank you, Lynne, we'll see you Friday."
Carol then hung up and turned around to see a beaming Nini who was fighting to escape Dana's hold.
"Was that Ricky's mom? What did she say? Can he come over tomorrow? Or on Friday?"
"Calm down sweetheart." Carol walked back to the kitchen table and sat down beside Dana and Nini. "Yes, I did talk to Ricky's mom, and Ricky has been telling them all about you ever since he got home too. She would be happy to let Ricky come visit us after school sometime, but all four of us parents are going to meet first on Friday night when Ricky and his mom and dad come here for dinner.
"You two will have a chance to play together on Friday, and us parents will talk about logistics because I already have a feeling…" Carol smiled and met Dana's eyes. "This isn't going to be a one-time thing is it?"
"No way." Nini shook her head. "You said Ricky can come over any day, does that mean he can come every day since you'll always be home after school?"
"I don't know Nini, we'd have to discuss that with Ricky's parents and figure out what that would look like for all of us. But whatever we do decide, we'll make sure it works for all of us, right? Even if it isn't everything you want it to be?"
"Yes Mama D, I know." Nini nodded her head.
"Good. We both really hope this works out for all of us Nini, but for now. How about you go play for a little bit while Mama C and I get the kitchen cleaned up? Then you can show us what's in your take-home folder today. Mrs. Haaland said she'd send stuff home for us to see almost every night."
"Alright. Thank you Mama C." Nini jumped onto her other mom's lap to give her another hug.
"Of course sweetheart. We'd do anything we can to make you smile like you have been since I first saw you this afternoon, now go play while we clean up."
"OK." Nini ran upstairs to her bedroom, all she could think about was showing Ricky everything her house had to offer, from her doll house and her favorite Barbie dolls to her stuffed animal collection that she knew would make the perfect students, or singing along to her CD player. Music class had been so much fun today, and Ricky knew most of the songs she did.
A few blocks away, Ricky had spent most of his evening in the same state as Nini. He was either hyperactively running all around his house in excitement as he thought about everything, he would want to show Nini if she ever did get to come over for a playdate, or when he was sitting still, he was telling his parents everything he did at school today from the first moment he met Nini onward."
Mike and Lynne couldn't help smiling down at their son, even if they were surprised at just how enthusiastic Ricky was acting. Being separated from his preschool best friend Red during class was an expected struggle, they were just happy Ricky had seemed to find a new best friend already, and one who he seemed to be thick as thieves with already if his stories were anything to go by.
"Woah, settle down Bud. You've hardly even touched your dinner." Mike reminded him.
"Because I can't wait for Nini's mom to call. She said she'd call us at dinner, and she hasn't called us yet."
"They're probably eating dinner first two Honey, just to make sure Dad and I are home," Lynne added.
"I know, but that doesn't make the time go faster."
"Richard, if even half the things you've told us about Nini already and how this was the best first day of school ever are true, then I guarantee Nini's probably in the same boat as you are."
"Boat? What boat?"
"It's just an expression Bud." Mike chuckled, "What I mean is Nini's probably begging her mom to call us just as much as you're patiently waiting for them to call us."
Suddenly the phone sitting on the countertop began ringing shrilly.
"See, speak of the devil." Lynne laughed and stood up to answer it.
"Hello. Yes, I'm Lynne, Richard's mother. And you must be Nini's mother? Yes, thank you for that, it's very appreciated, from the sound of it he was completely ready to go home with you instead of daycare. We're fine if Richard wants to go over to your house after school someday. What day would work best for you? You know, with how excited he is, I don't think this will be a one time thing, do you think we could arrange to all meet each other? Yes, Friday will work for us. Yep, see you at 6 then. We can't meet to meet you all as well. What's your address?" Lynne stepped over to what Ricky knew was the junk drawer to pull out a notepad and a pen. "OK, got it. You have a good night Carol, yep. See you Friday."
Lynne then hung up and smiled at her family.
"So, what did she say?" Ricky asked.
"Oh just about everything you told us about after school today. And Ricky, I think it sounds like Nini lives just a few blocks away. Now, the plan is that we're all going to go eat dinner with Nini and her moms Friday night so we can all get to know each other and discuss the details."
"Yeah! So can I go to her house on Friday?"
"How about you ask Nini about that tomorrow and we can call Carol again tomorrow to make sure it's okay with her because that would be ok with us," Lynne suggested.
"Yeah, I can do that." Ricky nodded enthusiastically.
"So Ricky, besides meeting Nini, how was the rest of your school day?" Mike asked.
"Super great. Me and Nini made sure to find Red and her friend Kourtney at recess and we all played together. The music class was super fun, and Nini is a really good singer. And Mrs. Haaland is the best teacher ever! Even though she made me and Nini stand away from each other in line."
"Why is that?"
"Because my last name starts with a B, and Nini's starts with an S, its um… Sala…mander? Robber?"
"I think you mean Salazar-Roberts, Ricky." Lynne said with a slight chuckle, "That's what Nini's mom told me."
"OK, Salazar-Roberts." Ricky tried again a few times to help him remember.
"And Ricky, I'm sure the line thing is nothing against you and Nini, remember that's why Mrs. Haaland told you number one is your number for all the different places in the room. Because B is near the start of the alphabet."
"I know. A B C D…" Ricky began singing loudly. "…W, X, Y, and Z!"
"Great job Ricky." His parents both clapped excitedly for him. "Again anything that didn't involve Nini at school today?"
"Um…I don't think so, she's my desk partner and we spent recess together except when we each found our other friend, and then lunch we got to sit right across the table from each other, and music we sat by each other, but our carpet spots in the classroom are also next to each other."
"OK, I think we get it, Bud. Seems like you and Nini are quite the pair already." Mike said.
"But for now at least, can you go get your take-home folder? Dad and I need to see if Mrs. Haaland sent anything home with you today."
"OK, sure, I'll go get it," Ricky ran back to the front door where he had tossed his backpack to the floor as soon as he got back home, and was ready to proudly show his parents all the papers he brought home today, even if he didn't know what any of them were for.
The rest of the week went pretty much the same for Ricky and Nini, they spent nearly every second they could together, but that didn't stop them from always finding Kourtney and Red out at recess, or working or playing with all their other classmates, but it was rare for either of them to leave the others' sight.
Both were happy that their new nicknames for each other seemed to catch on quickly, their teachers and fellow students didn't even bat an eye at the nicknames, and even their parents had slowly adjusted to using their new names over the next few days.
But finally, after what, for the two new kindergarteners was the greatest week of school they had ever had, it was finally Friday, and it was going to be their first afterschool playdate, and the first time all their parents were finally going to meet.
They were both equally excited that Ricky would join Nini at her home after school, and then dinner when all their parents finished working for the day. They were so excited that in art class that day, they had both done their best to draw the two of them playing together.
When the final bell of the day rang out promptly at 3:30, this time Ricky and Nini were the first out the door, speed walking as quickly as they could that was allowed in the halls until they made it to the front doors. They both searched the school's pick-up area for a few moments until Nini pointed to Mama C, waiting for them with a smile in the same spot she had always been standing every day this week.
"Come on Ricky!" Nini motioned for Ricky to follow her, and like always the first thing she did when she saw her mom was to give her a giant hug.
"There's my little sweetheart." Carol smiled down at her daughter, "And Ricky, it is great to see you again. I've missed seeing you the past few days."
"Really? It's good to see you too Nini's Mom." Ricky answered earnestly. "I can't wait to get to your house."
"I'm sure you two can both hardly wait, just as much as Dana and I can hardly wait to meet your parents Ricky."
"Mom, can we get going? There's so much we want to do, we've been planning this all week!" Nini reminded her.
"Alright, let's go. I'm parked over here." Carol led the way over to her car, and since she expected an extra passenger, she was prepared with an extra booster seat from Dana's car for Ricky to use on the ride home. Quietly to herself, she wondered if this was likely to be a permanent change.
Right when they got in the car, Nini immediately asked that Carol turn the music on, and she did so, playing Nini's current favorite Kids Bop CD. To no surprise, Nini instantly belted out the lyrics she had probably memorized weeks ago, but Ricky was singing along with just as much confidence.
Even if they were a little bit deafening in their enthusiasm, Carol couldn't stop smiling from the happiness she could hear in their little voices as they sang all the way home.
"Come on Ricky let's go! I want to show you everything!" Nini yelled as they both ran into the house, they dropped their backpacks and shoes at the door, and then Nini took Ricky on a very dedicated tour of every part of her home, from the front door to the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, closets and everything in between. Now that it was just the two of them alone for the first time ever, it was like they were off in their own little world.
"And this is my room! The bestest room in the house!" Nini said proudly and opened her door, leading Ricky inside.
"Ooh," Ricky said as he glanced around. Nini's bed was covered by a soft comforter that was a rainbow of all different colors mixed together, the walls were a soft pink color, and the windows let plenty of natural light into the room. She had a few toys, mostly dolls or stuffed animals scattered around the floor, the overall feel of the room was cozy and comforting, yet full of light and life.
So, what do you think? Nini asked, twirling around in front of Ricky, and motioning to her whole room.
"I think it looks great. How many stuffed animals do you have?"
"Um… I think about 20? That's about as high as I can count right now."
"Me too." Ricky agreed, "Don't we have 20 kids in our class? That means we have the perfect number of animals to play school with."
"Oh my gosh, you're right. You can help me gather them all up and I'll tell you all their names."
So that's what they did, although Nini did appear to have more than 20 stuffed animals, 20 was all the numbers either of them could count to. But Nini did easily list off every animal's name by heart, even if Ricky knew he'd probably be checking the tags each time to get their names right.
They didn't worry about desks but did try to align all the animals in partners just like their classroom was laid out. Nini's bedside table was made the teachers' desk and working together, they carried a whiteboard up from the basement for them to use at the front of the room.
So then they spent the next few hours playing school. They would take turns with one being the teacher standing in front of their class, and the other would then pretend to be the different students. They both used funny voices to sound like the teacher or the animals, which usually left them both rolling on the floor with laughter before being able to refocus themselves.
"OK, now class, what is 2+2?" Nini was currently asking and using her best British accent to make herself sound more adult-ish.
"Ooh, ooh, me! Pick me! Ricky raised the hand of one of Nini's teddy bears, and spoke in a silly, high-pitched voice."
"Yes, what's the answer, Koda?"
"Wait? Oh, I just realized why he's named that. From the movie?" Ricky asked, breaking character.
"Of course, I mean just look at him. Doesn't he look like Koda?"
"Hmm, I don't know. Ricky said, but I do know, I'm on my way-" Ricky started singing.
Knowing the song too, Nini couldn't help but join in. "Tell everybody I'm on my way, new friends and new places to see!
With blue skies ahead yes I'm on my way, and there's no where else that I'd rather be!"
They kept singing together until they were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hey kids, the pizza's here, and Ricky, so are your parents, and Mama D. Carol said as she poked her head in the room.
"Yay! Pizza I'm starving!"
"Me too!" Nini added and, both promptly forgot what they were doing before and ran down the stairs before Carol to reach the dining room as fast as possible.
"Mom! Dad!" Ricky ran into his parents' arms to give them the biggest hug he could muster.
"Hey there Ricky, how was school today?" Lynne asked.
"Just as awesome as always. Today Nini and I had art class again, and we got to make our own colors out of the uh primary colors by mixing them up ourselves."
"Sounds like fun, Bud, but how about you introduce us to your friend?" Mike suggested, ruffling Ricky's hair affectionately.
"Oh, OK. Nini, this is my Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad, this is my new best friend Nini!"
"Hello, Ricky's Mom and Ricky's Dad." Nini waved happily.
"Hello Nini, Ricky's told us so much about you already. But you can call us Lynne and Mike." Lynne said.
"OK, Lynne," Nini said slowly.
"Oh and Ricky, you already know Mama C, but this is Mama D!" Nini said proudly and ran over to pull her mom closer to Ricky.
"Hi, Nini's Mom, I mean Mama C, and, uh Mama D," Ricky said.
"Hello to you too dear. I hope you had a good time so far this afternoon playing with Nini."
"Yeah, we're having so much fun. We're playing school upstairs."
"Right now I'm the teacher." Nini supplied.
"Yeah, and I get to be all the students," Ricky added.
"He does the best voices."
"Yeah, but you have the best teacher voice."
"Oh really?" Dana asked, and all the adults chuckled in response. "How about you two tell us all about it over dinner, we don't want the pizza to get cold."
"Yay! Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" Ricky and Nini began chanting as everyone moved to the dining room table. Nini sat in her usual spot at the head of the table, and Ricky, seeing where she was sitting, sat at one of the corners beside her. The adults then filed in after them.
"I hope you like Salt Lake Slices," Carol said as she opened the boxes up and set them back on the table.
Mike laughed, "You don't need to worry about that. We're good friends with the owners."
"Oh yeah. Nini, did you know Red's Mom and Dad owned a pizza restaurant?" Ricky asked.
"No, why didn't you or him tell me that before?"
"It never came up." Ricky shrugged. "Red says he already knows how to spin the dough around into the big circle for the pizza."
"Do you think he can teach me? Me and my moms made homemade pizza once-"
"And there's a reason we order out from now on." Dana interrupted and all the parents shared another round of laughter. "Hope you like pepperoni or cheese pizza, that's all Nini will eat right now."
"Oh don't worry, sounds like just one more thing those two have in common," Lynne replied. "Let's dig in."
Everyone started dishing up pizza for themselves, and although Nini and Ricky still needed some assistance, one more thing they could all agree on was how delicious the pizzas were. Throughout the meal, both Ricky and Nini were leading the conversation, still talking about everything they had done together this week and proudly declaring their best friendship. The parents were also trying to get to know each other too, as well as just observing just how happy being with each other was making their kids.
A little bit after the pizza was finished, Carol suggested Ricky and Nini could play some more while the adults kept talking in the kitchen. The two of them didn't need to be told twice and raced back upstairs to Nini's room to continue where they had left off.
"What class should we have next?" Ricky asked. "Because we already did math and writing before dinner."
"Hmm, I have an idea. Let's have music class." Nine walked over to her dresser and turned on her CD player.
"Ok, how do we do that?"
"Easy, we can just sing and dance together. It'll be fun."
"OK, let's do it. What songs are we singing?"
"Hmm, ooh, here's one of my Kids Bop CD's. Want to do that?"
"Sure." Ricky nodded his head.
Nini pressed play and it wasn't too long before they were both lost in the music, Ricky was at least somewhat familiar with most of the songs, so he could sing along with Nini as much as he wanted.
They quickly figured out that to dance like they wanted to, they had to rearrange their classroom, so now all their students became their audience watching in rapt attention from Nini's bed as they danced all around the room.
Most of their dance moves were just jumping up and down or spinning around in time with the beat, but they weren't looking for any awards right now. Tonight was just about spending time with the one who was quickly becoming their favorite person in the world.
"Ooh, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky. I just came up with the bestest idea ever!" Nini said after they had finished dancing to about their tenth song, and she paused the CD.
"What is it, Nini?"
"Let's have a dance contest."
"Do we have to? I don't want to compete against you. I just want to be on the same team as you."
"We can be a team, but first I want to see what you can do on your own, and you can see what I can do. I'm not the greatest dancer in the world."
"Nope, I think you are the best dancer in the world. And how are we supposed to judge if there's only two of us?"
"OK, it won't be a real competition. But we can still take turns dancing. Is that OK?"
"Alright, I guess that's ok." Ricky agreed. "You can go first."
"OK, this next song is another one of my favorites."
"You say that about every song." Ricky pointed out as he climbed onto Nini's bed to watch with all her stuffed animals.
"Well, it's still true." Nini pressed play once again on her CD player and the Kids Bop version of BLANK started playing.
Nini sang along by heart, and at the same time, she did her best to move her feet to the rhythm. Like she had told Ricky, she was great at memorizing songs, but dancing wasn't her strong suit. But when she looked over to Ricky, the smile on his face that was focused on her, made her happier than anything else, and made one of her favorite songs feel that much sweeter."
"When the song finally finished. Ricky began clapping up a storm. Great job Nini! Encore! Encore!"
Nini laughed at his enthusiasm and playfully took a bow. "Thank you, thank you. Now it's your turn, Ricky. Are there any songs you especially want to do? I have a ton of CD's in here. Nini motioned to the pile sitting beside her CD player."
"Um… oh do you have Don't Stop the Music?"
"Um, I'm pretty sure I do… oh, I think it's on this one. I remember it's the pink disc. We need our Moms to come in here and read this to us. Nini said as she scanned the back, of the CD's case while she could remember some of the songs that were on this CD, she still couldn't read the playlist. Or I could just skip through the whole thing until we find it, or another song you'd like Ricky."
"Yeah, let's do that."
"So that's what they did, turns out Don't Stop the Music was the third song on the CD so they didn't need to search for too long."
Nini and Ricky then swapped places and Ricky began to dance and swing, although he was pretty sure he wasn't as good of a dancer as Nini, on his own, all he could think to do was sway back and forth to the beat and sing the words as confidently as he could.
He felt a little embarrassed, dancing alone while Nini watched, but seeing her clapping and cheering him on throughout the song gave him the confidence to keep going.
"Woohoo! That was awesome Ricky! Bravo! Ahh! Ahh!" Nini cheered loudly after Ricky finished the final notes and struck his best attempt at a cool pose.
"Thanks, Nini, but I don't want to dance alone anymore, let's dance together."
"I think you just read my mind!" Nini agreed and they continued dancing together, singing along to every song as best as they could, laughing, spinning, jumping, they didn't care, they just did whatever they felt like and moved to the beat.
Little did they know, that at some point their dance party was being observed by their happy parents. All four were sharing the same thought as they peeked through the doorway. They were so happy, and so adorable together. One thing was for sure, that tonight was only the first of many playdates to come.
The next song finished up, and all four of their parents took the opportunity to break up the dance party.
"Hey you two, still having fun?" Lynne asked.
"Yeah of course we are. Nini is such a great singer and dancer."
"And Ricky is…a dancer," Nini giggled but added, "and also a really good singer."
"Hey!" Ricky shouted.
"I'm kidding you're a great dancer Ricky." Nini laughed.
"No, I'm not, I'm nowhere near as good as you are Nini."
"Alright, well as the judges, all four of us agree that both of you are great dancers." Dana interrupted them.
Mike added, "But since it's getting late, and close to both your bedtimes, it's time for Ricky and us to go back home."
"No! Ricky and Nini both whined and glanced over at Nini's alarm clock. How is it 8:00 already? It feels like Ricky just got here."
"Well, sweetheart, they do say time flies when you're having fun, and it sounded like you two were having a lot of fun up here." Dana chuckled.
"Mom, please can I stay just a little longer?" Ricky turned to his mom with his best puppy dog eyes.
"No Ricky, it's getting late, but the four of us have come up with an idea for upcoming school days," Lynne promised.
"What is it?" They both asked in unison.
Lynne smiled. "Since Carol is already picking Nini up every day after school, we are happy to let you come to her house most days after school if both of you want to."
"Really?"
"We get to spend every afternoon together?"
"Yes, as long as you both want to, and as long as you behave just as good as you do at home or at daycare Ricky. Got it?"
"I promise I'll be good!" Ricky said enthusiastically.
"Oh look at them, they're little angels, I'm sure we don't need to worry about anything." Carol smiled happily.
"Oh trust me, you haven't known Ricky very long," Mike said teasingly.
"But Ricky, just to keep our spot at daycare for now you will need to still go there after school at least two days a week," Lynne warned him. "We're thinking of making those Mondays and Tuesdays will be simplest.
"Ok, but I still get to come to Nini's every other day?"
"Yes, you got it, as long as it works with everyone's schedule," Mike promised. "Now what do you say to Carol and Dana?"
"Thank you so much Carol and Dana!" Ricky said brightly.
"And thank you, Lynne and Mike!" Nini said at the same time and they both walked over to give the other's parents a hug in gratitude.
"Oh wait, can Nini ever come over to our house? " Ricky asked.
"Of course she can Bud. If your mom or I ever have a day that we get off early, we can host the playdate at our house." Mike promised.
"Yay. Oh, can Nini come over tomorrow?"
"I don't think so. We're going to Nini's Grandma's house for the weekend." Dana said. "We're leaving bright and early tomorrow which is why we need to get this little missy into her bed soon."
"OK, Nini, I guess I'll see you at school on Monday," Ricky said, slightly sadly.
"I'm going to miss you too, but I'm going to tell my grandma all about you, and on Monday I'll be the first kid at school so we can spend as much time together on Monday as possible," Nini promised.
"I think that sounds like a great idea. If you're the first, I'll be the second first." Ricky promised back.
"Oh wait, before you go." Nini ran to her dresser and pulled an old Polaroid camera off the top. "I want to take a picture of us of the first time you came to my house."
"Oh yeah, can I have a picture too?" Ricky asked excitedly.
"Of course you can silly. Mama D, you take the best pictures, you can take two of us." Nini handed the camera over to her and then she jumped up onto her bed and leaned back into the pile of stuffed animals. "Ricky come up here." She said and patted the space beside her."
Ricky did as he was told and sat in the spot right next to her, they both leaned back into the pile of plushies and each reached out to put their arm behind the other's back, and then smiled brightly for the camera.
"Alright, say Cheese!" Dana ordered as she focused the camera on them.
"Cheese!"
Dana snapped the picture and the film slid out of the camera. "OK, one more."
"Cheese!"
Dana snapped the camera again and let the second film slide out.
Ricky and Nini both reached out for the pictures excitedly, but Ricky was confused. "Where's the picture? Mine is all dark and I can't see anything."
"Here you have to shake it out like this, and then the picture will show up." Nini demonstrated, shaking the picture excitedly and like magic the photo appeared.
"Cool." Ricky also shook his picture excitedly and moments later they were both holding nearly matching images of the two of them smiling together.
"I'm going to put up my picture of us right away." Nini crawled to the head of her bed and took down one of her previous photos of her stuffed animal collection to replace it with the picture of her and Ricky.
"I'm going to put this someplace special too, I don't know where yet, but I'll show you when you visit my house for the first time," Ricky promised.
"I can't wait for that day to come. But I guess this is goodbye now." Nini said sadly.
"Yeah, it is." Ricky nodded. "Goodbye Nini," he crawled forward on the bed and wrapped Nini up in a hug.
"Goodbye Ricky," Nini said, holding onto Ricky just as tightly.
They let go after a moment, and everyone left Nini's bedroom to head out, after a few more waves goodbye, Nini ran to the front living room window so she could watch as Ricky and his parents pulled away down the street in their car.
If she could count that high, Nini would be counting down the minutes until Monday when she could see Ricky again, but for now, as she went through her bedroom routine with her moms and was tucked into bed. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, already reliving all her happy memories from this week in her dreams.