You Outshine the Morning Sun

Lin

"But Dad, why does she have to come over again?" Cam complained over breakfast that morning.

"Because her mom doesn't know anyone else in the city. She's my coworker and my friend, so I'm doing her a favor," I explained as I made her sandwich for lunch.

"Ham is disgusting," she commented as she saw the meat I was putting on her bread.

"Sorry, that's all we have left," I told her. I hadn't made it to the grocery store recently. "Why are you so opposed to Molly coming over again?"

"She's such a baby," Cam complained. "She's four years younger than me and all she wants to do is play with dolls."

I knew the last thing my daughter wanted to do was play with dolls. She had never been into girly stuff. She instead preferred to play with Legos and action figures. Cam had quite the imagination, which I was proud of and encouraged. A good imagination had done me well.

"She seems like a nice kid to me," I told her as I closed up her sandwich in put it in the container. I quickly found some more healthy items to put in – carrots, raspberries, crackers. Plus, a little fun-sized Snickers bar for a treat.

"She's boring," Cam told me.

"I expect you to be nice to her," I told my daughter, who wasn't known as the most patient kid on earth. "This will probably become a regular thing."

"What?!" She protested, exasperated. "I'd rather just come to the theater with you."

"You know I don't like you having to hang around so late," I reminded her as I put everything in her Avengers lunch box. "We're lucky to have Abuela and Abuelo around to come watch you."

"Yeah, they're supposed to be watching me, not Molly," she clarified. I gave her a look, letting her know I didn't like her attitude.

"Come on, let's go," I hurried her along. "Shoes."

She managed to find two matching shoes, which wasn't always a quick job. We headed out and I took her to school like usual. Cam rushed off up the stairs. As I stopped outside the doors, I noticed Pippa walking up the stairs with Molly.

"Good morning!" I greeted them.

"Oh, hi Lin!" Pippa said. "Molly could you say good morning?"

"Good morning," she said quietly, looking at her feet. She seemed nervous around new people.

"Are we still on for tonight?" Pippa asked me as she walked Molly up the stairs.

"Absolutely," I said. "My mom's coming around 6 and she's cooking spaghetti."

"Molly loves spaghetti, don't you?" She gently shook her daughter's hand and Molly nodded. We exchanged a few more pleasantries and then Pippa walked her daughter into school. I noticed how Molly stayed incredibly close to her mother, holding her hand the whole time. I imagined they were pretty close. From my understanding, Pippa had sole custody of Molly and her father saw her on Wednesdays and every other weekend. It seems he sometimes stepped in to babysit during the evenings when Pippa had a show, though he didn't seem completely reliable.

___

The next day, we were out of luck with my parents. They had a dinner they were attending, so they were unable to watch the girls. Pippa's ex was MIA as well. So, the girls were dragged along to the theatre. Since Cam had been so patient with Molly again last night, I allowed her to bring her iPad, which I usually didn't allow. I didn't like the thought of her staring at a screen for 2 ½ hours. The deal was that her homework be done first. Tonight, I thought I'd have a chance to come check on her between acts.