Before You, We had No One

National City Summer Fare Part 1

“Mommy, where are we going?” Bryn asks curiously as she looks at the buildings that pass by the car window.
“We are going to the National City Summer Fare baby” Kara replies as she turns in her seat so she can see Bryn.
“Mommy, what's a fare?” Bryn asks curiously as she directs her eyes from the window and towards Kara.
“A fare is like a huge party that everyone is invited to” Kara explains as simply as she can so Bryn's 3-year-old brain would understand.
“Are there games?” Bryn asks, leaving Mon-el to chuckle at the very childlike question.
“Yes baby, there will be lots of games and food” Kara explains with a smile as she admires her daughter curiosity.
“Can we play them?” she asks excitedly.
“Of course we can baby” Kara answers with a smile before turning around in her seat so she is facing the road ahead.

Even before they had arrived at the waterfront, they could hear the carnival-like music and the buzz of people talking. Although it wasn't until they turned the corner that they noticed the sheer size of it.
“Wow!” Kara exclaims as she is taken back by the number of people who had arrived.
Kara had never been to the Fare for one reason or another but this year, she was determined to go for herself, Mon-el and the kids.

It took 10 minutes of driving around the car park before Mon el finally found a free parking space that was big enough to park their car. The fare had only started 20 minutes ago and yet it was already filling up by the dozen.
The silence of the car's engine signals to Bryn that they had finally arrived.
“We're here!” She yells happily as Isaac claps his hands along happily.
Slowly Mon-el lifted the pushchair out of their boot, having to dodge the patchy flow of cars that drove past while Kara rechecked the diaper bag one last time before unbuckling the kids on at a time out of the car seats.
With the help of Mon-el, Kara buckled Isaac into the pushchair and Bryn hopped on the buggy board and when the coast was clear, they walked through the sea of cars and towards the loud blaring.

“Mommy, Daddy look!” Bryn yells excitedly as she points towards the big bouncy castles at the entrance. “Can I have a turn?” she begs as she gives Mon-el her famous puppy dog eyes, knowing fine well that he falls for them every time.
“Don't you want to see everything else first?” Kara asks as she moves them off the path and out of the flow of moving people.
“No, I want to go on that” Bryn demands as she points to the bouncy castles again.
“What do you say?” Mon-el asks as he crouches down to her level.
“Please!” she begs.
“Okay, you can go on the bouncy castles while Mommy calls Auntie Alex so we can see where she is,” Kara says with a smile as she watches Bryn throw her arms around Mon-el's neck and he lifts her up and carries her along the grass and towards the 4 varieties of bouncy castles.
Slowly, Kara struggles to push the pushchair across the grass as the grass gets caught on its wheels. Not even her superhuman strength was helping at all, it was only making it worse.
Eventually, after a lot of heaving and pushing, Kara was back on the path again and standing in front of the bouncy castles. All she had to do was find the right one.
She scanned each one slowly as she tried to find Bryn or Mon-el's face but she couldn't spot them but then she felt someone wrap their arms around her waist.
Instinctively she turned around to find Mon-el standing behind her.
“I scared you” he pointed out proudly with a big cheesy grin spread across his face.
“I wasn't scared” Kara spat back.
“Come on babe, just admit it. I finally scared you” he said as he continued to grin.
“Fine” Kara smiles. “I will admit defeat”.
“Mommy?” Bryn asks as she sits on the ground and points towards her shoes.
Kara nods her head as she ducks down and unites the laces on Bryn's trainers before placing them in the pocket under Isaac's pushchair.
“Thank you!” Bryn yells as she runs towards the pink princess bouncy castle in front of them.
She jumps onto the lip and crawls up to the castle itself and starts to jump the best she can. With the number of kids that were there, she struggled to keep upright and kept falling down but she took it all with a pinch of salt and didn't let it ruin her mood as she laughed and giggled in delight.
Mon-el wrapped his arms around Kara's waist again and placed his head on her shoulder as Kara texted Alex so they could meet up.
Once Kara looked up from her phone, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight of their daughter jumping up and down like a madman with her hair flying all over the place.
She quickly took a couple of pictures but then Bryn disappeared behind a group of older girls.
Kara started to feel Mon-el become heavier and heavier by the minute as he buried his face further into her shoulder and he started to doze off but he was started awake when Bryn runs off the bouncy castle with tears streaming down her face.
“What's wrong Princess?” Mon-el asks as he instinctively runs towards her and pulls her into his arms.
“I fell and hurt my head” she cries as she rubs the top of her head.
“Let me check for any bumps,” Mon-el says as he starts to rummage in and among her hair for anything, making Bryn and Kara giggle at the gesture.
“Nope, nothing there. You're alright” he concludes as he smiles brightly towards Bryn.
“Daddy that was silly” she giggles as she wraps her small arms around his neck.
“I know” he grins proudly. “Do you want to go back on?” he asks.
“Daddy, will you come with me?” she asks with puppy dog eyes.
“Sure, Princess” he smiles as he stands up and grabs her hand.
“Wait!” Kara yells as she jumps forward.
“Yes, Kara?” Mon-el asks as he turns back around.
“I need to put up Bryn's hair before she jumps back on” Kara explains as she grabs the spare hair bobble from around her wrist.
“Why?” Bryn asks as she tries to resist but Mon-el holds her still while Kara pulls her hair up into a ponytail.
“Because I don't want her hair to get caught or pulled while you are jumping around” Kara explains as she wraps the bobble around her ponytail a couple of times. “There all done”.
“Can we go now, Daddy?” Bryn asks as she grips on to Mon-el's hand.
“Of course we can, let's go!” Mon-el yells excitedly as he leads her towards the same bouncy castle.

Kara watches in awe as Mon-el and Bryn jump hand in hand together, their laughter never stops.
How could a man that was so reckless and futile in the beginning grow up to become the best father in just 2 years? It blows Kara's mind.

As she continues to watch Mon-el and Bryn and take a couple of photos now and again, Isaac wakes from his afternoon nap.
Normally Isaac would start to gurgle and make notices in his crib as he waited for Kara or Mon-el to grab him but today was different.
From the moment his eyes open, all he can see are people chatting loudly above the even louder music. This wasn't right. He didn't know what was going on.
Where were his Mommy and Daddy? He couldn't see them or hear them. Where was Bryn?
Thoughts of absolute fear run around and around in his head until he is so overwhelmed that all he knows to do is scream. Scream and cry, letting the tears stream down his face and letting his arms and legs kick at the sides of his restraints.
Kara heard him and was kneeling by his side in a moment.
“Hey buddy, what's wrong?” she asks gently as she unbuckles him from his pushchair.
He waves his arms in the air, waiting for her to take him into her arms as he lets the sobs continue.
Kara lifts him into her arms and holds him tightly as he rests his head on her shoulder and wraps his tiny arms around her neck. His tears start to lessen but the sobs continue as he buries his head in Kara's neck.
“What's upset you, buddy?” Kara whispers as she places a gentle kiss on the back of his head.
She rocks him in her arms from side to side which helps him calm down his sobs until they are non-existent.
Kara's phone vibrates in her pocket so she unwraps one of her arms from Isaac and pulls her phone out if her pocket. She switches it on to see Alex's face covering her screen.

Bold = Kara
Italics = Alex

“Hey Alex! Where are you?”
“Winn was taking forever to grab a coffee on the way here so we have just arrived at the entrance”.
“Okay, we are at the bright pink princess bouncy castle”.
“Okay, we will meet you there”.
“Okay, it isn't far from the entrance. You will not be able to miss it”.
“Alright, we will see you in a bit”.
“Alright, bye Alex!”
“Bye Kara!”

“Kara, who was that?” Mon-el asks as he walks towards Kara and the pushchair.
“Oh, it was just Alex. She is going to meet us here in a minute” Kara explains as she puts her phone back in her pocket.
“Great!” Mon-el exclaims happily as he wraps his arms around her waist.
“Hello, Isaac” Mon-el coos as he places a kiss in his hair. “Did you have a nice nap?”
Isaac gurgles in reply as he lifts his arms and Mon-el takes his from Kara's and sits him on his shoulders.
“What can you see up there?” Mon-el asks with a chuckle as Isaac wraps an arm around Mon-el's head and takes a fist full of his hair with the other.
“Auntie Alex! Uncle Winn!” Bryn yells as she jumps off the bouncy castle and sprints as fast as her little legs will take her. She jumps towards Alex as she catches her in mid-air, making everyone laugh.
“Hey Bryn, how's my favourite girl?” Alex asks as she pulls her in for a tight hug.
“Good, I was jumping high with Daddy,” Bryn says proudly as she places her hands on either side of Alex’s face and pulls her face closer to her own.
“Oh my goodness, Wow!” Alex says enthusiastically as she chuckles at Bryn's excitement.
“So, where should we head to next?” Kara asks the group as she starts to gather their things and Alex helps Bryn with her shoes.
“I saw a couple of games not far from here, why don't we try them out?” Winn suggests as he takes Isaac from Mon-el.
“Yes! Guys, we have to… Please” Alex begs.
Bryn giggles at how silly her aunt looks as she begs Kara to let them go.
“Of course we can!” Kara replies happily as she unclips the brake off of Isaac's pushchair. “Let's go!”
“I am totally going to win something!” Alex yells cockily as they all weave through the crowd together.