LANA MASON
Jane's high-pitched screeches seem to be echoing through all of Central Park as I chase her around an open field upon her request. She's doing that thing where she's half-screaming and half-giggling out of control, and I can't stop laughing every time I see the look on her face as she turns back to see how close I am to catching her.
"Okay! No more! No more!" She giggles and stops, holding her hands out to protect herself from me.
I scoop her up anyway, holding her in my arms like a giant baby to carry her back to our picnic setup. She's still laughing to herself every once in a while as if she's recalling how funny the whole thing was, and I haven't stopped smiling since we woke up to start our day together. She's been in a great mood this week and I think that's because it's Friday and she doesn't have to go to ballet. Mrs. Klein also canceled her piano lesson due to an illness, hence our afternoon picnic at The Park.
"Miss Lana?"
"Uh-huh?" I pop a cotton candy grape in my mouth.
"Can we look for animals in the clouds again?"
"Yes," I chuckle at her sweet tone and move some of our snacks out of the way so we can lie down next to each other.
We picked a shady spot under a tree so that the sun wasn't beating directly down on us, but we can still see the pale blue sky and the fluffy white clouds well enough from where we are. Despite the game we're supposed to be playing together, I'm tempted to close my eyes and have a nap after all the running around we've done today. What I'm really excited about is to go home, shower, and have pizza for dinner as we planned.
"Do you see anything?" Lana turns her head to look at me, and I smile as I realize she's been waiting for me to say something this whole time.
"Let's see..." I make clicking sounds with my tongue as I scan the sky. "That one kind of looks like a cat. Do you see it? With the pointy ears?"
I'm not sure if she actually sees it or not, but she gasps as if she does and eagerly agrees with me. I encourage her to give it a try, but she likes it better when I'm the one to point things out for her, so that's what I do.
I only pause when my phone chimes with a text message down on our quilt by my feet. For various reasons, my heart plummets when I sit up to see Harry's mom's name on my screen, introducing herself as Anne even though Harry already gave me her contact.
Anne (Harry's mom): Hi, Lana. This is Anne, Harry's mother. I hope it's alright that he gave me your number, but I was hoping to FaceTime with Jane today. Are you two busy right now?
My smile is inevitable as I picture her setting aside the time to have a little virtual date with her granddaughter. As far as I know, Jane is her only granddaughter unless Harry forgot to tell me about any nieces or nephews of his.
"Hey, Jane?" I roll over onto my stomach, so she does the same.
"Yeah?"
"Your grandma wants to FaceTime with you," I click on the text box in preparation to message her back. "Do you want to right now?"
She makes a face. "I don't know..."
"Your daddy's mom," I think to reassure her when I recall the nightmare that is Allison's mother.
"Nana?"
"Yes...I think."
"Oh, okay," she nods indifferently with a cute little shrug as if she's totally fine with that.
Me: Hi! Yes, Jane and I are at the park now but we're just here having a picnic and it's quiet where we are, so you're welcome to call anytime!
A few minutes after the text goes through, my phone begins to ring and my screen turns into a mirror as the front camera takes over. I do my best to ignore the nerves in my stomach as I answer the call to be met with the same woman I've seen in the pictures Harry showed me. She has beautiful tanned and glowing skin, as well as striking blue eyes against dark shoulder-length hair. I can instantly see Harry in her smile and it forces me to reciprocate.
