Three's Company

34. Answers

Beth's (Mommy) POV

  I've changed my plans for this weekend around. I originally wanted to take Paisley rock climbing since she seemed so excited by the idea. That's not going to happen though while she's feeling so little.

  I feel terrible knowing something is wrong. I really wasn't too worried, but Jordan kept insisting. I guess Jordan was right, I just wish I knew what Paisley was going through. I wish she weren't going through it alone. Jordan still thinks it's because of her punishment, but I've asked Paisley a couple times and I don't think that's it.

  Now Jordan's planting all these scary ideas in my head. She has a way of jumping ahead of herself and her train of thought is unsettling. I figure it's just best to let Paisley know we're here when she's ready to talk. I hope that she feels safe enough to come to us soon.

  I was thinking it would be good for all of us to get out of the house for a bit. I need a new phone and I'm thinking my girls will enjoy walking around the mall. I'm also hoping there's something in the food court that Paisley will eat. She's barely eaten the last few days and now it's starting to worry me. She says she's hungry and then picks at her food. Right now she's running on half a banana.

  Despite her lack of proper meals, she's got a lot of energy still.

  "Ooh Mommy!" Paisley squeals, tugging on my hand and pointing. I follow her gaze to a store front of the lego store. I chuckle softly, we've gotten lego sets for Paisley and she never actually builds them. She just likes to play with the blocks.

  "I see baby, would you like new legos?" I ask, seeing Jordan chuckle and roll her eyes.

  "Nu uh." She says with a pout.

  "Hmm okay." I say a little confused. "Want to help Mommy pick out a new phone?" I ask and she nods happily.

  I look over at Jordan who shrugs, looking a little confused as well. I decide to let it go, there's no use dwelling over something I don't have the knowledge to fix. Paisley will eventually talk to me.

  We're in and out of the phone store pretty quickly. I made it simple on myself and just got the upgraded version of the phone I had before. It's easy enough to set up that I'm programming it as we walk through the mall. We're headed towards the food court when Paisley stops and squeals excitedly again.

  This time she's looking at the build a bear store. I smile and figure I'll try a again. "Do you want a new stuffie Pumpkin?"

  "Es pease!" She grins. That's more like the Paisley we all know and love. She grabs Jordan's hand and then mine, dragging us towards the doors.

  "Whoa! Okay easy!" I say, tucking my new phone away. I nearly dropped it as Paisley grabbed my hand. That would be embarrassing, returning to the same store two minutes later with a cracked phone.

  Paisley takes her time looking over all her options for the perfect new friend. It's really cute.

  Jordan and I sit back and watch as she finally makes a decision and goes through the process. Not too long after Paisley is holding up her new stuffie. She picked a kangaroo that has a pouch complete with a baby kangaroo.

  "You picked a good one Princess!" Jordan smiles.

  "Mmm tank ous." Paisley hums, hugging her stuffies to her chest as we begin walking again.

  "Two for one special." I smirk and Jordan rolls her eyes at my lame joke.

  Paisley wants a cupcake when we get to the food court. Naturally.