Page 7 of Something Stronger
“I do, but it gets lonely at times. She could meet other kids this way, and I could meet their moms. It would be something we could do together.” I turned in his direction. “Just think about it. I have to call around to see if it’s even possible anyway, and it wouldn’t happen overnight.”
“I guess so. If you can find somewhere that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, then I’d be open to it.” He smiled.
“She’s going to be so happy.” I grinned. I was already imagining my little girl all dressed in pink with a fluffy little tutu.
Ooooooooo
The next morning, I got online and searched for every dance studio within a thirty-minute drive of our house. I was able to find six and started calling immediately. One was willing to take her. They normally didn’t start accepting kids until they were three, but since her birthday was so close and she was already potty trained, they said yes. I asked what she would need and was told to get pink tights and a pink leotard, and then ballet slippers, and black tap shoes. When I told Amy that I was able to find a class for her, she was so excited she wanted to go shopping right away. I had to convince her that she needed to get dressed first. The dancewear store didn’t open until the afternoon, so I promised we’d go right after her nap.
“Is it time to go yet?” She stepped into the family room, hands clasped in front of her. Her hair was in need of brushing after her nap.
“I guess by the time we brush that pile of hair and drive there, it will be.” I motioned for her to come closer. Her mouth pulled into a giant smile, and she bounced over. I grabbed a brush and went to work on the snarls. After getting it silky smooth, I tied a pink ribbon around a ponytail and called it good.I grabbed my purse and made sure Amy used the bathroom before we left, and then we got in the car. It was a nice day, so we rode with the windows down, and turned up the music. Amy bounced around in her booster as Stevie Nicks’ voice came through the speakers.
It didn’t take very long to get to Mimi’s Dance Centre. Traffic was light, and finding a parking space was easy. Unlike the studio I found, this was closer and in the same town we lived in. Once Amy was older, I may look into getting her in somewhere closer if she decides that she likes dance.
“Ready?” I glanced over my shoulder and Amy was all smiles. She nodded as she unbuckled herself, and I helped her out. We walked hand in hand down the sidewalk to Mimi’s. “Maybe after, we can get ice cream,” I suggested.
“Yes!” She began jumping excitedly.
We went inside, and a salesclerk pointed me to the toddler sizes. I held up one leotard with short sleeves and one with long. I wasn’t sure which I should grab, but since dance class was all year, I got both. She’d need something warmer for the winter classes. She clapped happily as I moved on to the tights. Once I found her size, we moved over to where the shoes were. “I need a ballet slipper and black taps.” I motioned to the shoes displayed.
“What size does she wear?” the girl asked.
“Her shoes are a seven, but I know dance shoes are different.” I frowned as I began adding it all up in my head. This was getting pricy.
“Let’s try these.” The girl came out with several boxes. Amy sat down on one of the benches and kicked her shoes off. The salesgirl squatted in front of her and slipped on one of the ballet shoes. “What do you think?”
Amy stood up and held her foot out in front of her. “Ballney is going to be so fun.” She grinned as she looked up at me. “Can I dos the udder one?” She lifted her left socked foot. She salesgirlslipped it on and Amy spun around, waving her hands in the air in the process. “I loves them.”
“Let’s try the taps on.” Amy sat down and the salesgirl slipped the ballet slippers off and replaced them with the shiny black tap shoes. After tying them, she motioned for Amy to stand up. You could hear the clicking of the taps the minute Amy moved. The salesgirl walked her over to a small, hard-surfaced square and told her she could try them out. At first it was as if Amy wasn’t sure what to do, but then she stomped her feet and when the taps sounded, she began jumping around.
“I think we’re sold on them.” I laughed. Amy changed back into her sneakers, and I carried the items up to the register to pay. The shoes and clothes were placed in a giant pink bag, and as we left, Amy made sure to remind me that I mentioned ice cream.
“Let’s get one to share,” I suggested. “We just spent a small fortune in there.”
“K, Mama.” Amy squeezed my hand. I made a mental note to tuck the receipt away where Charlie wouldn’t find it. I’d promised him that taking dance classes wasn’t going to be expensive. Between the clothes and shoes, I’d already dropped over a hundred dollars, and I still had to pay for the lessons.
Chapter 5
7 years ago…
Louisiana
I was rushing around the house, attempting to pack Amy’s dance bag and she followed me, firing off questions faster than I could answer them.
“Mama, do I get to wear makeup? How long will we be there? Are Grandma and Grandpa coming? Can we stay and watch the big girls? What if I forget the dance?” She chattered away as I went through a mental list of everything we needed. It was recital day, and I didn’t want to have to come back home if we forgot something.
“Yes. All day. I think so. Yes, and you’ll do great,” I answered. Last year when she started, Amy did a short one class that covered tap and ballet. We went to the studio one day a week, right in the middle of the afternoon. The class catered to preschoolers, and because it was a half-year class, there was no recital. This year, she moved up to the formal preschool class that meets in the evenings. She has four classes. In addition to ballet and tap, she takes acro and jazz. She only has a ballet number and a tap number in the recital. Her teacher was telling me last week that she’s advanced for her age and they hope to move her to the kindergarten class this fall, even though she will still be four.
I rifled through the bag one last time to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I had tights, shoes, her costume, accessories for her hair, and the makeup. I grabbed a few packs of fruit snacks and a baggy of dried cereal before tossing a few bottles of water in and calling it good.
“Mama?” She lowered her voice to almost a whisper.
“What, baby?” I sighed as I searched for my keys.
“Is Daddy coming?” She nibbled her lip. Charlie and I had been arguing about this last night. I’d purchased a ticket for each of us, and assumed he’d want to come, but some big thing was going on at work this week, and he wasn’t sure he could make it. That turned into a fight because I felt like he was always putting work over us. Any time I brought anything related to family time, he got mad and told me he didn’t have time for that. I was beginning to think that Amy would never have a little brother or sister because Charlie didn’t even seem to have time for that.
“I don’t know.” I tried to force smile on. “I’m going to tape it just in case, and we can show Daddy how well you did.”
