Separated

Part 1

A highly unlikely scenario, but hey...

~

"I don't like these." Jade shook her head, folding her arms over her chest after showing to the shoes her mother had put in front of her.

Sighing, Stevie shut her eyes tightly for a second. "I've just bought these for you. You loved them last week."

"I did, but they're... they look like boy shoes." The six year old said, sitting down on a bench by the door.

"Honey, we're not going outside if you don't put them on. You can't go out barefoot." Such a simple issue was giving Stevie a headache. Things had started becoming too much for her lately, however, she was trying her best to stay calm with her daughter, none of it was Jade's fault.

"I want my old ones." The girl shrugged. 

Stevie was going to say that they're indeed old and it was slightly embarrassing, letting her child outside with them, but she silently told herself, no, and taking a deep breath, she took Jade's old sneakers out and gave them to the girl.

"Happy?"

Jade nodded once Stevie tied them up and she got up on her feet. "Happy."

"Alright..." Stevie murmured more to herself than her daughter, one problem at a time, then put the leash on their Yorkshire terrier.

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon. The sun was out and not a cloud in the sky was visible. Stevie enjoyed the quiet, calmer moments of her life as she didn't have too many of those in the past several months. Walking to the park with her daughter and their puppy, seemed to be the greatest activity she could possibly think of. It was one of those moments that she didn't have to think too much or worry.

"Be careful." Stevie called after Jade, who was already running to the playground, where her other friends already were. "I guess, it's just you and I, baby." Stevie smiled at her dog, sniffing around. 

With one eye on Jade, Stevie opened a book she had been reading for the past couple of weeks. It wasn't poetry, which was something she enjoyed a lot, it was a silly romance book, something her life lacked. Well...

"Hey there, stranger." 

Stevie looked up and smiled at the tall, dark haired man, who then sat down next to her. "Hey you."

"You two have come later than usual today." Jack said, also checking on his son on the slide.

"Ah, you know... fashion choices." Stevie chuckled slightly, tipping her head at Jade, who was currently running around with another kid. "Takes up a lot of our time."

"Right, right. I get it." Jack smiled, his gaze shifting back to Stevie.

A nice man, Stevie thought. She had met Jack some time ago, when he and his family relocated to the area. She was glad to have an adult she could talk to, although, at times, she thought, she felt... a certain vibe, but then she would call herself silly and forget about it. Jack had a family, he was a husband and a father. Even if he hadn't, Stevie wasn't really interested at least for the time being. She didn't think she was ready.

"How's your weekend been?" Jack asked, wanting to keep the conversation alive, sensing that Stevie was somewhere else.

"Okay, I guess." She shrugged, closing her book. "Movie night on Friday, baking cookies for another movie night on Saturday." Stevie smiled weakly. "Yours?"

"It's just Todd and I this weekend, Melanie has gone to visit her parents. I'm running out of things to occupy Todd with." Jack laughed. "It's good we can come here, where he can terrorize other kids for a change and not me."

They grew quiet, a comfortable silence though. The moment didn't last very long, when they both turned towards a loud cry of a girl. Stevie jumped to her feet immediately, seeing Jade had fallen over. Before she got to her daughter, a stranger stepped in front of her, getting down to his knees to console the girl.

"It's okay, it's alright. Daddy's here." The man shushed Jade, trying to hug her close, but the girl pushed at his chest, seeing Stevie behind him.

"You're not my Dad!"

"What the hell? What do you think you're doing?" Stevie shrieked, picking up her daughter, an angry stare at the man, she had never seen before. 

"I-I-" He stammered, frowning. He looked Jade over, realizing it wasn't his girl, Amber was wearing completely different clothes. "What..."

"Daddy?" Another little girl came up to the small group of people. 

Stevie thought she was dreaming, she had started feeling dizzy. Facing Jade in her arms, she looked down at the other child, who looked exactly the same as her own. 

"What- what is going on?" 

The curly haired stranger, shook his head slowly, lost for words himself. "I don't understand."

"Mommy, why does she look like me?"Jade whispered into Stevie's ear.

"I-" She wished, she could answer, but words failed her. 

Stevie couldn't find a possibly explanation. Well, she could, but... She shook herself mentally.

"I'm Lindsey." The man introduced himself at last. "I think, we need to sit down."