Sneak Peeks

What about her Alternative [2]

"Joey"

"Yes"

"Not too far"

"Kay mama"  The toddler ran around playing with other kids his age.

While he did that Leighton sat in Leigh-Anne's lap facing her. The warm weather was making him sleepy but Leigh-Anne was trying to keep him awake until his bed time.

She was playing peek-a-boo with him when she heard Jaden.

"Hey!!"

She stood up trying to see what was happening.

"No Joey. Hands to yourself. Come to mama" Jaden hit the little girl that pushed him anyway.  She began to cry and her mother came over as well.

"I'm sorry." Leigh-Anne apologized, calling for Jaden. She overheard her mumbling something about young mothers.

"You're not listening Joey and if you don't come to mama we're going to go home. Do you want to go home?" Jaden shook his head but didn't move from the bridge he was standing on.

"Come here please" She put Leighton down so she could carry Jaden.

She sat him on the bench, tying his shoelaces and giving him some water.

"Wait a minute" She put a hand out when he tried to get up.

"No"

"Yes, you're on time out"

"Nooooo" he began to cry.

"Yes. It's not nice to put your hands on people, Joey. Remember we talked about keeping our hands to ourselves?"

He turned his back to Leigh-Anne as he cried. He had a little attitude that he would be over in less than five minutes.

Leighton stood with his hands on his Mama's knees. She tickled him a bit watching him clumsily run to get away from her before coming back.

"Jaden, look at me" He turned to face Leigh-Anne with tears in his eyes.

"Do you understand why you were in timeout?" He nodded standing up to hug Leigh-Anne. She hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"No more hitting, Joey, it's not nice"

She took his scooter off the stroller, letting him use that because she didn't want him to go back over to the playground.

She also brought Leightons little dinosaur scooter. She sat him on it letting him scoot around. He didn't go too far so she didn't have to walk around behind him.

"Look mama"

"I see baby, slow down a little bit"

Jaden sped around the park. He was close to Leigh-Anne when he rolled over a rock that stopped the scooter.

"Oh no, are you okay?" Leigh-Anne was still new to the whole mom thing so she didn't know she wasn't supposed to coo and ask if they're okay. Jaden began to bawl still laying on the ground.

She picked him up, grabbing the scooter as well.

"Alright, okay. No more. You're okay." She sat him on the bench, folding the scooter down and putting it away.

"Maybe invest in some protective pads, mama" some woman suggested and Leigh-Anne nodded with a fake smile. If she had the money for it she would've gotten them some.

She sat Leighton down so she could keep an eye on him as she cleaned Jaden's skinned knee and palms.

"All better?" She asked putting bandaid over the cut skin.

"Kissy?" He held his hands out and she kissed over both the bandaids.

"All better?"

"Uh huh."

"Good. Let's get home. Mommy should be home soon." Leigh-Anne put Leighton in the stroller and fastened the straps before helping Jaden into the seat facing her, in the back of the stroller.  It was a long walk and she knew he would get tired after playing for so long.

She tried to bring the kids to the park everyday. That means walking forty minutes to get there and forty more to come back. Because they lived in the shelter, the playgrounds near their home wasn't the safest. So she would take them to the parks in neighboring areas.

Once back home, she prepared herself for her little cranky babies. She took off their shoes and folded the stroller down.

"Bathtime bubbas."

She ran them a bath and let them play in it for a while before making them a light dinner.

"Eat some more bubba"

Jaden was dozing off at the table with a crushed salmon patty in his hand. Leighton on the other hand was fast asleep with a handful of Leigh-Annes shirts in his hand. For whatever reason, he refused solids at night time. She didn't know why.

She put him in his crib and wiped Jaden's hands and face down before putting him in his crib.

Now, she had a bit of time to herself until her girlfriend came home. She laid down in her bed not wanting to leave the boys in the bedroom alone. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep as well.

-

She opened her eyes when she heard doors and cabinets being slammed.

"Babe?" She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her but not all the way.

"Baby, please don't wake the boys up. What are you looking for?"

Leigh-Anne could tell that she was frustrated but she didn't know what was wrong.

"Come sit, talk to me. What's wrong?" Perrie sat down beside her but didn't answer her.

"I need to smoke"

"You're still new there and if you fail they will fire you."

"I need just a little bit. Did you move it?"

"Yes I did"

"I need it"

"No baby"

"Where did you put it?" She got up looking through the drawers where she usually left it. She slammed it closed when she didn't see it. Leigh-Anne sighed when she heard Jaden cry. She went to get him. She also grabbed Perrie's supplies.

"Take it upstairs" She loved Perrie's bright smile but hated that the dime bag was the only thing that could make her smile like that.

Before she could leave Leigh-Anne grabbed her jacket.

"Yeah?"

"A little bit. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah. Just a tiny bit. This much"

"I'm serious, Perrie. I need help too"

I like this book but I want to rewrite it.