Page 2 of Once Upon a Rec Center Wish
“It’s okay,” Noah sighed. “No one usually watches us anyway.”
My heart couldn’t handle much more. With my lack of any kind of class, I doubted I would ever find a guy, let alone one who wanted kids. But if I did one day end up with children, I would try to attend all their lessons and events. Something these kids craved, as did I, growing up.
The bus came then, giving me a reprieve from the guilt of simply leaving them behind once I got them to their lessons. Since most kids always seemed to run to the back of the bus, we took the two sets of double benches on the right side. I claimed my spot closest to the aisle and put Samantha by the window so she wouldn’t try to escape if I happened to doze off on the ride. Amelia and Noah sat behind us, but with them kicking the back of my seat, I didn’t think I would be relaxed enough to catch a quick nap.
At the Main Street terminal, we transferred from one bus to another. The next leg of our trip was longer in terms of distance, but the bus took the expressway, so it didn’t take much more time. Plus, the rec center was only a couple stops after we exited the highway. All three kids stared out the window with their eyes gleaming and mouths open, as if they’d never traveled on the expressway before. Or maybe it looked different from the bus’s height.
“There it is!” Noah pointed over my shoulder to the rec center in the distance, visible by the giant lit signs indicating which children’s recreational programs occupied the building. I applauded Megan for at least enrolling them in the various activities to socialize them and teach them new skills. Maybe in her new place, and without her ex to occupy her time, she would make time to watch them. I hoped so.
“One of you can push the button.” I thought it was something kids liked to do, but I didn’t expect the three of them to fight over who got to press it, each of them shoving the hands of their siblings out of the way.
Eventually it got pressed, but I suspected someone at the front of the bus set the stop request off first. As we approached our destination, I stood and helped the kids get their backpacks back on.
“Wait!” I shouted, trying to stop the older two after they rushed past me to exit the bus. “Get back here and hold hands.” It was too dangerous for them to run ahead. In front of us, cars zoomed back and forth with parents dropping off their kids and patrons of other nearby businesses that shared the parking lot.
Noah tugged my hand, trying to get us all moving faster, but Samantha didn’t move quickly enough and refused to be carried into the building.
Amelia tapped my side. “You have to take Samantha to the daycare first. I’ll show you where that is. Then we go to swimming lessons, and Noah needs help getting changed.”
Great!I hadn’t been told about that. Or that I’d be grilled at the daycare because Megan hadn’t let them know that I was dropping off the kids. “She’ll be here to pick them up. She’s moving today and asked me to do her a favor.”
“Oh, yes,” the woman replied. “She did give us her new address last week.”
I sighed, just wanting to get the drop off over with and get back home to my mattress on the floor.
At the pool on the other end of the first floor, Samantha went into the girls’ changing room while I took Noah into the other. They were always dressed in their pajamas when I babysat them, I’d never had to change them, so I didn’t know what to do. I figured Noah would tell me. But he got his trunks and towel out all by himself and changed without my help.
“I ask Mommy for help just to get her to stay a little longer.” Noah smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “But I know you want to sleep, so I did it myself.”
“Thank you.” I patted his head before taking him to the showers to rinse off before entering the pool room.
Samantha was already there, and they both gave me a quick hug before waving bye on their way to their swimming instructors. That meant I had completed my obligation, finished my last favor for Megan. I left the pool room then the changing room, sadder than I expected to be to leave them behind. Maybe I liked having kids around more than I’d thought.
Lost in my feelings, and not paying attention to where I walked, I smacked into something hard. A person. An older, bearded gentleman wearing a hooded robe.
I quickly stepped back. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
He stared at me, his head cocked to the side. “Do you have kids here?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I just dropped off my neighbor’s kids as a favor.” I didn’t know why I told him that, but suspected him of being someone’s grandfather, probably doing the same thing.
“Ah.” He nodded. “Well then.” Reaching into his robe, he grabbed a business card then handed it to me. “Maybe you could use this. But be sure to read the back first.”
I took the card from him and quickly skimmed the back of it to understand what he meant. I saw the wordsEnchanted Forest,shifter, andmale pregnancy. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or if my tired brain was playing tricks on me. All that stuff was fictional. Sure, I’d read mpreg fan fiction but never expected an older gentleman to share that type of story with me. When I glanced back up, he was gone. Not a trace of him as I spun around to catch another glimpse of the elder man. Maybe he’d been advertising a new fan fiction site.
I flipped the card to the other side. No website. Only the wordsMake a Wish.
My tired mind was confused, but I headed toward the front doors.
A wish… I would love a place to live, a million dollars, and a family. A real family that cared about each other. Not like my parents who had beat me in a drunken stupor, trying to turn me straight. Leaving had been the safest option, but between staying at various shelters and finally getting an apartment only to lose it again, I’d struggled ever since.
The automatic doors opened in front of me as I thought about what I would wish, truly wish for. “Right now, I simply wish for a place to live.” And sleep. The two things I desperately needed.
I walked out of the rec center, hoping I wouldn’t have to wait too long for the next bus. But instead of the concrete and asphalt parking lot I expected in front of me, I stepped into a meadow. I glanced behind me, wondering if I’d gotten lost in my sleepy daze and wandered out a back door. But the rec center was gone. It was just me in a meadow with tall grasses and little pink, yellow, and white flowers. A light breeze blew through them, rustling the stems. The sound made me even more tired. The sun had started to set, which was impossible since it was still morning. I had to be hallucinating from being so exhausted. Maybe that meant I didn’t have time to get home. My body was making me sleep. I was about to lie on the ground—I could sleep anywhere—when I heard the quick pounding of feet. Someone rushed toward me.
I didn’t have time to turn and see who before the being smacked into me. Hard. I fell over. The last thing I remembered was a bare-chested man with buckteeth, a beard, and a red-and-black plaid trapper hat leaning over me.
“Sorry! I’m so sorry!”
