Page 46 of The Forever Play

“You want to play?”

“Zoey pay.” She nods.

“Okay.” I walk to the counter and pay before unlatching the secured gate. It’s an effort to force my shaking legs inside.

Zoey wiggles out of my arms, and the second she hits the floor, she’s off, racing toward a little boy who’s diving into the ball pit.

“Watch out for other people!” I call after her before she dives in headfirst.

I wince, ready to go over there and check that she didn’t just bash her head, but she pops up a second later, laughing and triumphant. The little boy beside her raises his hands in the air and shouts, “Again!”

“Again!” Zoey mimics him and climbs out of the pit, ready to kamikaze herself back into the sea of balls.

“Looks like fun. Oh, to be a toddler again, right?” A woman beside me laughs, watching the two jump and squeal.

I glance at her and smile, gripping Zoey’s diaper bag. “Is he yours?”

“Yes, that’s Dayton. Or Dynamite. He’ll answer to both.”

She winks at me, and I can’t help a soft laugh. “My girl’s Zoey.”

“And she looks to have just as much energy as mine. Hopefully they’ll tire each other out and nap for hours.” Wiggling her eyebrows, she beckons me over to the table of mothers. “Do you want to come meet everyone?”

“Oh, uh… yeah.”

Her smile is kind as she rubs a hand between my shoulder blades. “I’m Fiona. Just call me Fee, and don’t worry. None of us will bite.”

“Do I really look that nervous?” My laughter is self-deprecating as she drags me across to the table.

“Hey, everyone,” Fiona sings. “We’ve got ourselves a newbie. This is…” She looks at me with an expectant smile.

“Oh, you must be Sienna.” A lady with a short bobstands up and greets me. “I’m so glad you came. Ladies, Sienna’s just moved to town. Her daughter is… two?”

“Yes.” I nod. “Zoey.”

“Oh, I love that name.” One of the mothers points at me. “That name was near the top of my list, but then we went and had a boy, didn’t we.” She rolls her eyes. “Anotherboy.”

“Well, you could keep going, Michelle. You might get a girl next time.”

“I’m already up to four.”

“Perfect. The next one will just pop right out.”

The women all start laughing, and I glance around me, feeling so out of place, yet it’s kind of where I belong, right?

I’m a mama just like these women. I might be a decade or so younger than most of them, but this is my place in the world right now. Apparently.

Fiona pulls out a chair for me, and I glance across at the ball pit, checking on Zoey before taking a seat.

“She’ll be fine. We all watch out for each other’s children here, and in about fifteen minutes, we’ll round them up for some group time.”

“If we don’t, they turn feral.” Michelle nods. “Unsupervised play has to be in short bursts, don’t you find?”

I nod, pretending to know what I’m talking about. Zoey doesn’t really have unsupervised play because I’m always there, being her little buddy.

Looking over my shoulder again, I watch her chasing after Dayton and realize that maybe I’m not the little buddy she needs.

Ouch. That hurts.

---