Learning to Walk Again

by S. L. Kassidy

  Allison hummed a little. “It might be nice.”

  Nicole kissed the top of Haydn’s head and hugged him close, feeling tickled. Allison was delightfully shy, but she liked being around Danny. It was cute to see them together. They were both awkward with each other, but it was a loving awkward.

  “I hope you like it. You have to get your homework done, though. Okay?” Danny rubbed the back of her neck and looked like she ate something sour.

  “Yeah, I will.”

  “And make sure Ben gets his work done, too.”

  “I will.”

  “Good. Put your mom back on, okay?”

  Another shuffling noise and then Lynn was back on the line. “She looks really happy, Dane. I’m glad you want to spend time with her and Ben.”

  “They’re cool and I like them.” A blush rushed onto Danny’s cheeks. “Speaking of spending time together, Nick and I wanna do this Christmas party thing. Not on Christmas or anything like that! Like, a week before Christmas or something. Just to have our families kinda get together and meet.” Danny groaned, eyes falling to the floor. She scratched her head again.

  Nicole had never seen Danny so flustered before. It was downright adorable. Nicole already vowed to make sure everything went perfect during the night of the show, just so Danny felt comfortable taking Allison and Ben out like she did with Luke and Thomas. She made the same silent promise regarding their Christmas party. Danny deserves this.

  “That sounds wonderful,” Lynn said.

  “Then, you’ll come?” Danny looked up and her eyes sparkled. She bounced with childlike joy, like it was already Christmas morning.

  “Of course. Just call when you have a solid date and we’ll be there.”

  Danny grinned. “Okay.” She let out a long breath. “I’ll see you when we come to get Allison and Ben.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Goodbye then.”

  “Bye.” Danny let loose another long sigh as she disconnected the call. She turned to Nicole and looked like she had run a marathon. She actually had to wipe sweat from her shining forehead.

  “You’re okay, baby. Maybe take another breath,” Nicole suggested while patting Haydn to get him to move. He looked at her, unwilling to surrender his space to Danny.

  With a laugh, Danny followed Nicole’s advice. Flopping down on the sofa, she curled up against Nicole, forcing Haydn to move over, even though he was on Nicole’s opposite side. He whined a little, but was pacified when Danny caressed his head.

  Nicole wasted no time wrapping her arms around Danny. She could feel Danny breathing heavy. This was more of an ordeal than she thought it was. Holding Danny tightly, she kissed her cheek with the hope of calming her down. Haydn even moved enough to touch Danny with his nose. Danny rubbed his muzzle and he licked her fingers.

  “I didn’t think she’d let us take them,” Danny whispered. There was awe in her voice.

  “Not everyone is like Sharon. People see you, see how good you are, and see how good you are with kids. Look, let’s call my aunt next.” Nicole plucked the phone from Danny’s hand and dialed Katrina.

  “Yes, my darling niece,” Katrina greeted her.

  “Hey, auntie. I was calling to find out if it would be all right for me and Danny to take Eddie and Sabrina to a Christmas show on the tenth. I know its school night and all, but the show will be over at eight,” Nicole said.

  “If you think you can handle both of them, feel free. I’m glad you didn’t jump the gun and try to take Wayne, too.”

  Danny winced. “I thought he’d be too little.”

  Nicole waved her off. “I think we know we’re not equipped to handle a cranky toddler and his older siblings. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  “No, I doubt he will. He’ll probably be happy to watch his cartoons and have me all to himself. What time is the show?” Katrina asked.

  “It’s at six. If you want, we’ll feed them beforehand.” Nicole winked at Danny.

  “I’ll handle that. I’m happy you want to take them out. They’ll love it. They’re both doing Christmas stories in school right now, so this is right up their alley.”

  “Okay, then we have a date. Oh, also Danny and I want to have a Christmas party here. Not on Christmas, but close to Christmas. Do you think you’d be able to attend?”

  “Probably. The only other parties I have to worry about before the family one are all work related. I can easily wiggle out of at least one of those. Eduardo lies to get out of office parties all the time.”

  Nicole chuckled. “What? Why?”

  “He hates all of his coworkers. He’ll be glad for a real excuse to not go somewhere. I’ll call Kimber and let her know, too, okay?”

  “Yes, thank you. See you on the tenth.”

  “All right.” They disconnected the call, and Nicole chortled.

  “No fair. You got the easy one.” Danny pretended to grumble, puffing out her cheeks and curling her eyebrows up.

  Nicole laughed even more. “Yes, but now we both get to do the hard one.” She could only imagine how difficult it’d be to convince Adam to let them take the boys out on a school night.

  “Maybe we should take a break before that phone call.” Danny rubbed her palms together.

  “No, let’s just get it over with. I’ll make the call and you can just listen if you want.” Nicole knew dealing with Adam was one of Danny’s least favorite things, especially when there was a chance he’d deny them. He’s not my favorite person either, but I definitely have more patience for him than she does. Of course, he hadn’t stood idly by while she was abused as he did with Danny, so it was easy to have more patience for him.

  Danny shook her head. “No, we’re a team. Let’s make this call together and then hang out for a while. Maybe let Haydn play in the backyard for a couple of minutes.” Haydn picked his head up at the mention of his name, and Danny cupped his face with both hands, making kissy noises at him.

  Nicole scowled. “No, no, no. He’s not going outside. It’s freezing.” They didn’t have time to deal with a sick pup. Besides, she didn’t want to explain to his vet how he got sick. They’d look like irresponsible parents, allowing their dog to play outside when the degrees hovered in the teens.

  Danny had the nerve to smile at her. “He can wear his sweater.”

  “No. It’s too cold,” Nicole said.

  Danny snorted. She was serious about letting Haydn out and Nicole was serious about him staying inside. There was no reason to risk Haydn catching a cold to play outside when he could easily play in the house. Danny seemed to believe Haydn should get time outside every day, no matter the circumstances. They’d have to talk about that later.

  “Hey, Adam. How are you?” Nicole made sure to sound bright and polite.

  “I’m fine. How are you?” Adam sounded quite pleasant himself. Of course, that doesn’t mean this won’t be hard.

  “I’m fine, as well. We have tickets for a Christmas show on the tenth and were hoping you’d let us take the boys,” Nicole said.

  “It’s from six to eight,” Danny added.

  Adam made a humming noise. “Six to eight? Isn’t that a Thursday?”

  “They were the only tickets left,” Danny said. Yesterday, she admitted to not thinking the whole thing through when she bought the tickets because they were the only ones left. “That’s a school night, Dane. I don’t want them out late,” Adam said.

  “They’ll be back by nine,” Nicole replied. They would drop Luke and Thomas off first.

  “They’re usually in bed by nine.”

  Danny scowled and glared hard enough to burn a hole through the phone. “Okay, so this one day they’ll be in bed by 9:30.” Her voice was clipped. It was a good thing her brother couldn’t see her expression, or he’d probably deny them taking the boys ever again.

  “That’s late,” Adam said.

  “That’s a thirty-minute difference!” Danny huffed, slapping her hands against her
legs.

  Nicole put her hand on Danny’s thigh to help calm her down. Danny growled and pulled at her hair. Nicole turned her attention back to the phone.

  “Adam, I understand your concern and we respect that the boys have a bedtime, but the tickets have already been purchased and we were looking forward to seeing the show with Luke and Thomas. The show is supposed to be good.” Nicole had no idea how the show was supposed to be, but figured if it sold out then it had to be something.

  “That may be, but they still have a bedtime.”

  Nicole took a deep breath. She’d have to break out the big guns. “I understand that, but Danny’s looking forward to going with them. This is her first Christmas show, and she wants to share that experience with the boys. I’m sure they’ll be disappointed when they find out Danny went to her first Christmas show with other kids and they got left out.”

  “You are evil,” Danny mouthed to her and Nicole smiled.

  Adam grunted. “You’d tell them they missed it?”

  “I wouldn’t, but I know my little cousins would tell them all about it when they saw each other, and they see each other every now and then. Maybe at the Christmas party Danny and I are having. I mean, I’m sure you wouldn’t keep the boys away from two Christmas events with their aunt.” Nicole hated doing this, but she wasn’t in the mood for Adam’s cowardice. He’d either have to put his foot down and say the boys couldn’t go or he’d have to handle the boys knowing he stood in their way of sharing a moment with Danny.

  Adam growled. “You’re trying to force my hand.”

  “I’m not forcing anything. We want to take the boys out. You can let us or not. But, you should be aware they’ll eventually find out about the show. They’ll be upset, and it won’t be at us.” Maybe Adam was willing to face the wrath of the boys. Sharon probably would, but Nicole wasn’t sure if either of them would be able to take the pain they’d put the boys through. It was one thing to deal with upset children, but a completely different issue to deal with hurt children.

  “I’ll call you back about it.”

  “Okay. We’ll let you know details about the party later.” Nicole hung up. Sighing, she ran her hand over her mouth for a second.

  “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so tough on him,” Danny said.

  “Yes, well, I know how much this means to you.” Usually, Nicole would have to scold Danny for being cross with Adam, but sometimes a firm hand was necessary.

  Danny grinned. “It does.” Danny kissed her on the cheek.

  ***

  Dane was certain she had suffered from insanity when she purchased tickets to take six kids out. In fact, she’d plead it in court if she could. Who knew it was so hard to keep track of so many kids? And why didn’t she think about how they all wouldn’t fit in Nicole’s car? They had to borrow Terri’s SUV. Thankfully, Terri was cool about it.

  “Guys, keep together,” Dane called, her breath visible in the winter chill, as they stood in line to get into the show. For some reason, Ben kept following the people ahead of them in the line outside of the theater.

  “Make sure you have your buddy,” Nicole said. The buddy system had been her idea. Dane hadn’t known what the hell it was until the kids partnered up. That didn’t stop Ben from moving with a family of three almost ten feet away.

  “Ben, that’s not us,” Dane said. He turned around, made eye contact, and then stayed where the hell he was. Was he trying to get lost? Her heart felt like it had a million jagged icicles in it every time she lost sight of that kid, and it had nothing to do with the below freezing temperature. It didn’t help he was basically a hat and a puffy coat in a sea of hats and coats.

  Allison was kind enough to wrangle her young brother while standing close to Danny and making sure to stay buried deep in her long bubble coat. She emerged every couple of minutes to take a breath they could all see and then she’d duck back in, leaving only her green eyes and glasses visible. Blonde locks poked out of ski cap that matched her coat.

  “We still have everybody?” Nicole checked around. Dane did a head count and nodded. Nicole smiled, which managed to highlight the lines under her eyes and they hadn’t even seen the show yet. Feeding the crew had been as perilous as waiting in line with them.

  Nicole had cleaned off Sabrina and Thomas after their early dinner, wiping their faces, coats, and mittens. Both of them managed to get ketchup everywhere, including the back of the car. The surprising thing was they hadn’t eaten in the car and they hadn’t handled the ketchup when they did eat. Thankfully, Nicole carried wipes with her, but she was about to run out. Chicken fingers shouldn’t be so messy.

  “Dane, I’m cold,” Thomas said for at least the millionth time for the five minutes they had been in line.

  “I know, buddy. We’re almost inside,” Dane replied, pulling him closer to her to share her body heat. He leaned so close he almost knocked her over. “Hey, where’s your brother?” The line moved up.

  Thomas shrugged. “He was just here.” Well, that doesn’t help at all.

  “Luke?” Dane looked around as she handed the ticket-taker their tickets. She couldn’t see Luke anywhere. “Luke?” Her heart sped up, and her chest hurt. It was impossible to breathe. Please, don’t do this! Oh, god, the last thing I need to do is lose Adam’s kid. Adam would never let her hear the end of it and she’d never forgive herself if something happened. “Luke!”

  “Here!” Luke popped up at her side, adjusting his blue winter hat with both hands. It seemed hard to get right with his gloved hands.

  Dane breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart still beat a mile a minute. These kids are gonna be the death of me. “I need you to stay with us. We’re going to our seats now.” She decided to hold his hand, even though he insisted he was too big for that. He didn’t argue this time, taking in the crowd and probably sensing how easily he could be swallowed up by all these people and never seen again.

  “My, this thing really is popular,” Nicole said as they worked their way through the lobby, flooded with people, flowing with all the control of a rapid river. She had Sabrina’s and Eddie’s hands. Allison still had Ben and was practically glued to Dane’s side as they went through a pair of wooden French doors into the audience proper. Dane made sure to hold onto Thomas and Luke.

  They settled in their seats, putting the younger children in between them. Allison chose to sit by Dane, but away from the other kids.

  “You think this is all right?” Nicole motioned to the five children between them. It was a lot of space in between, but probably made the most sense.

  Dane studied their setup. “You think you should move one, so we don’t have as many between us, but we’re still next to everyone?” She’d feel more comfortable if they’d be able to lean over and reach any of the kids.

  Nicole tried, but everyone was happy with where they were. Dane and Nicole didn’t argue, and the lights dimmed. The crowd applauded as the first story began.

  Dane tried to pay attention throughout the show, even though it seemed like every five minutes she had to get up and escort at least one child to the restroom. Several of the stories presented she didn’t know, which was troubling. She thought she was rather well read.

  “What the heck is with these elves? Is that guy Santa?” Dane muttered.

  Allison turned to her. “No. That’s the shoemaker.”

  Dane squinted. “The shoemaker?” What did shoes have to do with Christmas?

  “Yeah, you know. The elves help him make shoes because he couldn’t do it by himself.”

  Dane shook her head. She didn’t know that one. Allison directed her attention to the elves and talked her through the basics of the tale. Allison’s hands moved with each explanation and her excitement made Dane smile. Dane let Allison give her details on all the stories, even the ones she knew.

  “What do you think of the music?” Allison asked.

  Dane sighed. “It’s okay. You like it?”

  “The piano sounds go
od, right?”

  Dane nodded. “It does.”

  “I’ll sound that good one day, right?”

  Before Dane could answer, a hiss to her right caught her attention. Ben dropped nachos all over himself. Dane sighed and brushed him off, but took him out into the lobby for light to make sure she got him totally clean. As they returned to their seats, Nicole stood, about to take Sabrina and Thomas to the bathroom for the umpteenth time.

  “I never knew kids had to pee so much,” Dane said. “I got it.” She took the two and hoped it was her last bathroom run of the night. Of course, that wasn’t the case.

  ***

  “Oh, my god, I’m exhausted!” Nicole collapsed onto the bed, making a slight thumping noise when she impacted the mattress. It was like running a marathon with weights on her back and then having to scrub the entire house on her hands and knees. She hadn’t even put on pajamas, just grabbed one of Danny’s t-shirts to sleep in. The room was dark already, night holding them gently as they settled in for sleep.

  Danny made a noise, which could’ve been words, but she was face down in her fluffy pillow already. She looked like she had fallen out of the sky. Nicole snuggled in close enough for Danny to turn her head and be nose to nose. Danny gave Nicole a tired smile.

  “I can’t believe that was so hard!” Danny groaned. She closed her eyes tight.

  “Proving that sometimes it is quantity over quality.” None of the children had been particularly horrible, but keeping up with each child’s want or need was overwhelming. Keeping track of each child was nerve-wracking, and she still shook thinking about whenever they lost sight of someone. The bathroom runs alone were tiresome. Making sure each one walked away with a souvenir was murder on their wallets, too, even though they had spending money, just not enough for everything they wanted. And how hard was it for food to make it into a mouth?

  “The drop offs were unbelievable. Adam and his damn bedtime. I mean, we practically had to come home to drop the boys off and go to the other side of town to drop your cousins off.” Danny curled her upper lip and groaned.

  Nicole stretched out, throwing an arm over Danny. “That was annoying, but it kept Adam calm, so we’ll be able to see the boys for the Christmas party hopefully.”