Page 78 of Fall With Me
His eyes are as big as full moons. “Chloe!” He runs at me, throwing his arms around my stomach. “Dad didn’t tell me you were picking me up today!”
“Your dad got stuck in a work meeting. I have his approval to delay homework until after we play at the park.”
“Today keeps getting better and better!”
I rub my hand through his hair. “I’m glad you think so.” I start walking toward my car in the parking lot. “What should we have for dinner tonight? I was thinking of smoothies and stovetop popcorn.”
Finn wrinkles his nose. “Are you putting the green thingy in the smoothie again?”
I laugh. Finn’s grossed out by most of my recipes until he tries them. Seeing the vegetables I hide behind other flavors disgusts him. “Yes, I’m adding zucchini in again. It’s the green for our rainbow.”
“Fine. But I want strawberries in mine this time instead of peanut butter.”
“Deal. Do you want to watch a movie and help your dad and me put together the gift bags for the festival?”
We get to my car, Finn climbs in back and buckles in. “Can I just watch? Most of the festival stuff is boring.”
Actually, I’m okay that he doesn’t want to help with this task. The tags we’re putting around the bags might be hardfor him to tie and we want the gifts to look professional. “Yeah, you can skip out this time.”
“Phew. How long until we get to the park?”
“Three minutes. Can you handle it?”
“Yeah, I can.”
I look at Finn in my rearview mirror. “Do you need to go to the bathroom? Should we stop at your house first?”
“Nope. I’m good.”
“Let’s get this park date started then.”
I navigate through the neighborhood until we’re at my favorite park by Dawson’s house. They have swings, a giant slide, climbing circles, and a teeter-totter. Finn jumps out of the car, rushing toward the slide.
“Wait up!” I call out, chasing after him.
Finn and I take turns going down the slide a few times, seeing who goes faster.
“Let’s swing,” I say.
We settle right next to each other on the black half-moon seats. My hips don’t love swings since my body fully matured, but they’re my favorite activity at a park, so I deal with the pain in favor of feeling like I’m flying. “When I was younger, my brother and I used to see who could jump the farthest off the swing. He always beat me.”
“Because he’s a boy?”
Harsh, dude. “Not at all. He’s taller and can jump farther.”
“I bet I can win too.”
Those are fighting words. “Hey, you’re stealing my line, little man. I’m the one who always makes bets.”
Finn smiles at me. I must be rubbing off on him. Though out of all my qualities, I’m not sure betting people is the one I want him to have.
“Are you scared?” He taunts. “Come on. Let’s see who can do it.”
Man, he’s persuasive. “All right. Chill.”
“Do we jump at the same time?”
“Yes. You pump back and forth three times, then let go. Whoever lands farthest from the swing wins.”
