Raising Laila

Chapter 29 - Laila & Ava's Playdate: Part 2

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kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much 

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April 13, 2018: 4.30pm.

Unfortunately on the way home from the park playdate Jade and Laila had got stuck in an incredibly long traffic jam that lasted almost their entire journey home. After singing for a little while, Laila had gone quiet in her car seat in the back and Jade assumed that she had fallen asleep after the long day and the amount of time she had spent running around. 

"Jade?" Laila piped up tiredly as they finally reached about 10 miles per hour. 

"Hey baba, I thought you were sleeping..." Jade cooed. 

"No I awake..." 

"I can see that, are you okay? Did you have a fun playdate?" Jade asked.  

"Uh-huh, I made a new friend," 

"You did!" Jade said sighing happily, "What was your new friend like?" 

"Her name was Ava! And thats kinda like Laila, 'cos they both have 'a' in them!" Laila told happily, "A-and we played princess fairies, I got to be Tinkerbell!"

"That sounds like a lot of fun! Did you do anything else with Ava?"

"Yeah,  we did climbing and sliding! And she was a bit scared even though she's eight, but I wasn't 'cos I'm a big girl!" Laila enthused, it had been so long since she had played with a friend, that wasn't stealing her Jade or scared of her getting angry. 

"Wow! You were being very brave then!" Jade smiled. 

"And Ava told me that she has two different Mummy's and Daddy's! But you can't have two!" Laila said needing Jade to explain it a little more. 

"Well, I think what Ava means is..." Jade started hesitantly not knowing how to explain it so it made sense to her very logical six year old. "Ava had a Mummy and a Daddy when she was very little that looked after her in her tummy, and when she was a baby, but then they died-" Jade explained. 

"Like my Mummy and Daddy did," Laila said sadly. 

"Yes, just like that. And even though they really wanted too, they couldn't look after Ava any more so they asked some lovely people called Emma and Mark to look after her and they are her other Mummy and Daddy. So Ava's very lucky that she has two Mummy's and two Daddy's that all love her very very much!" 

"Ohh," 

"Do you understand now?" Jade asked gently. 

"Yes, she had a Mummy and Daddy that died and now she has new ones that look after her now!" Laila explained proudly. 

"Exactly," Jade smiled. 

"And Ava said that you were my new Mummy now..." Laila said shyly as Jade eventually pulled up on their gated driveway. 

"Umm- well, it depends-... uh.." Jade stuttered not expecting these kind of questions, "What do you think a Mummy does, Laila?" she asked after gathering her thoughts as she switched the engine off. 

"Mmm- a Mummy looks after you and gives cuddles and makes packed lunches," Laila explained thoughtfully while Jade unstrapped her from the car seat and lifted her on to the gravel drive. 

"Yeah," Jade agreed. 

"And they read bedtime stories and kiss you goodnight," Laila said pulling her shoes off in the front of their home.