Page 5 of Staying for You

“Having fun?” I chuckle. Brody’s mitten covered hand reaches out and waves wildly. “I take that as a yes. Good, B-man. Swings are on the playground plan then. Want to try a slide?”

I know the metal will be cold but he has a little snowsuit on so it should be fine. I help him out of the swing and hold his hand to walk over to the small slide. I lift him onto the top of it and keep hold of his hand as he slides down.

He belly laughs the entire way down then scoots off the edge, tugs his little hand away from me and does his best to climb up the steps for the slide. “Okay, big guy. Go for it.”

He readies himself and I push on his back just slightly to help him slide down. He tumbles down, landing on his butt on the ground. I hold my breath waiting for the tears but they never come. “You okay there?” I help him up and he hugs me, babbles something that I don’t understand, and repeats the actions.

After about thirty minutes, I notice their little noses are pink and I figure we’ve spent enough time at the park so we load back up and head to McDonald’s. In no time, Brody is munching away on some chicken nuggets and fries while Issy gets her bottle. I manage to eat a greasy burger and fries and feel like I could conquer the world for handling it all.

My phone rings so I dig into my jacket pocket for my phone.

“This is Owen.”

“Hi, Owen. This is Cami. I just got into town.”

“Great. I’m at McDonald’s right now. If you stay on the same road, you’ll go through two stop lights and you’ll see it on the left hand side.”

“Okay. I think I can manage that.”

“You’ll see my pickup in the parking lot. It has The Escape logo on the side so you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you, Owen. I’ll be there soon.”

We say goodbye, hang up, and I focus back on the kids. Before long the door opens, bringing in an extremely flustered woman. She looks like she’s ready for the snowpocalypse with how many clothes she’s wearing and I know immediately it’s my new guest.

I smirk, tweak Issy’s little nose, and set aside her empty bottle as Cami looks around the fast food restaurant for me.

“Cami?” I say, standing up while still holding my niece and not leaving Brody’s side.

A look of relief washes over her face and her shoulders slump as she walks in my direction.

“Owen? From The Escape?”

“That’s me.” I shift Issy to the other arm so I can shake her glove-covered hand.

“Oh my gosh. You are in the middle of nowhere here, huh?”

I chuckle. “Just wait ‘til you get out to the resort. Then you’ll really understand what the middle of nowhere looks like.”

Her eyes flare and light up. “Sounds amazing.”

I nod. “It is. Hungry?”

She curls her nose as she looks around then seems to change her mind and stands up straighter. “You know what? I haven’t had McDonald’s inages.”

“Let me reintroduce you to the joy of a quick burger and fries then.”

“And a large Coke. And one of their apple pies,” she says, unraveling the black scarf from around her neck. “Man, I haven’t eaten carbs in so long.” She removes her matching gloves and shoves them into her enormous bag hanging off her shoulder.

“Here, we’re just finishing up but I promised this guy,” I gesture toward Brody, “an ice cream cone so we’ll hang out a while longer. Let’s get you all the food you’ve been missing.”

It’s then she notices Brody in the high chair staring up at her and startles. “Oh! Oh my gosh. You’ve got two little ones, huh?”

“Only for a few more days while their parents enjoy some time alone.”

“They’re not yours?”

Shaking my head, I explain, “Niece and nephew. This is Brody and Isabelle, B-man and Issy for short.”

---