The Story of Our Life

chapter sixteen -:- lucky

On Saturday the family finally had a chance to sleep in. Dinah stayed out late driving with Lauren since the girl clearly refused to sleep again. She did go to sleep faster than the previous night, but it was still a concern for the mothers since they knew driving around the neighbourhood late at night every night wasn't good for them, their car, or the environment. Thankfully, Lauren had an appointment with the therapist on Monday so they could start working on a plan to help with the girl's anxiety and her sleeping patterns.

Before that, though, the family had to get through today, which included a barbeque lunch with both women's parents.

"Why can't we use the real pool?" Ally asked her mama as the woman filled up the plastic kiddie pool with a bit of water from the hose.

"You can swim in it later. For now, I want you and your sisters to play in this one. It's safer for them since they don't know how to swim yet, and mommy and I can keep a better eye on you three while we set up for lunch."

"But mama," Ally whined. She knew how to swim and she didn't like the small kiddie pool.

"Allyson, you can play in this pool or in no pool at all. Your choice," Dinah said, giving the girl a slight warning look.

"Fine," the small girl groaned. "I'm going to get my sisters."

Ally hurried inside and found Normani in the upstairs hallway. She had Camila in her arms and Lauren holding her hand as they started to walk down the stairs.

"Hurry up, mommy," Ally said, now excited since her sisters seemed to be happy in their swimsuits. She decided that they should all wear their Seasame Street swimsuits. Ally had Big Bird, Lauren had the Cookie Monster, and Camila had an Elmo swimming diaper.

"Coming, my love. Is the pool ready?"

"Almost. Mama said I can swim in the big pool later," Ally said, bouncing on her toes as she wanted to run outside and show her sisters how to play in the water.

"We'll see," Normani said as she let go of Lauren's hand and allowed the little girl to go up to Ally.

Together the little girls went outside and instantly sat in the pool, laughing at the way it made their bums cold.

"The sun will warm it up eventually," Dinah said as she shut off the hose.

"Come, Mila. Do you want to play with your sisters?" Normani asked, still holding the little girl on her hip. Camila nodded eagerly, smiling widely as she was getting placed into the pool. The second her little feet hit the water, however, the smile dropped and she began to cry loudly when Normani began to pull back to leave her there. "No!" She cried, reaching up and lifting one foot at a time to try to get herself out of the water.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Normani cooed, instantly picking the child right up. Camila just cried harder until her cold toes were tucked against her foster mother and she was in the warm hold again. "Was it too cold?"

Camila nodded, reducing herself to whimpers as she nuzzled her face close to Normani's neck.

"Cami no swim?" Lauren asked, pressing a toy under the water only for it to pop back up.

"Not right now, little bug. She's too cold," Dinah explained, placing a toy around the dry toddler in hopes of making her comfy.

"Maybe she needs an early nap," Normani said, instantly making Camila shake her head in refusal. She wanted to play, just not in the cold water.

"Yeah, good luck getting her to do that," Dinah laughed, rubbing a hand over the towel cladded baby's back. Before Normani could return a snarky remark, the doorbell rang making both adults turn their attention to the house.