“And there are some rules, okay? When the movie starts, we have to be quiet unless something funny happens and you want to laugh. If you do need to talk, you have to whisper. And you sit in your seat the whole time unless you need to go to the bathroom.”
“I should take her before it starts,” Sydney says.
“Think you can follow the rules, little Miss?” I ask.
She nods. Sydney hands me the popcorn and takes her to the bathroom. Two more families come in while they are gone, but that’s it. Savannah climbs into my lap when they get back and starts munching on the popcorn. She shouldn’t be hungry since she ate all of her supper before we came, but maybe the popcorn is just that good.
When the lights dim, Savannah freaks out a little, sitting up and glancing around. “What happen? I scared.”
“Ssh,” I whisper. “When the movie starts, they turn the lights down a little. It’s okay. There’s light from the screen and those lights there.” I point to the lights lining the walkway.
“Don’t like it,” she whispers back.
“You’re with me and Mommy. You’re okay. Let’s watch the movie.”
It takes her a minute before she leans back against my chest and relaxes. She jumps once or twice from the sound, as she’s not used to it being so loud. Once she gets used to it, she’s fine. There are a couple of times where she talks about what’s happening, but she does whisper. It’s a win in my book. After the movie, I have Savannah in one arm and Sydney next to me, my hand in hers.
“I think we should have some ice cream, don’t you think so, Savannah?”
“Yes!”
“Ian,” Sydney says.
“Uh-oh. Sounds like Mommy doesn’t want to go. How can we convince her?”
“Please, Mommy!” Savannah begs. “Please, please, please!”
Whispering, I tell her, “Remind her that you were good during your first movie.”
“I was good, Mommy!” Savannah says, not wasting a second.
“A small ice cream,” she says to me.
“Or a big one that we can split,” I counter.
“You’re spoiling her,” she says as we walk toward the adjacent strip of stores, one of which is an ice cream parlor.
“You deserve to be spoiled every now and then, don’t yo
u, little Miss?”
“Yep!”
I laugh and Sydney shakes her head with a smile. Savannah picks out her favorite ice cream and then we find a small table to share the bowl. I place a hand high on Sydney’s thigh, which earns me a wary look.
“Having fun?” I ask.
“Yep!” Savannah answers before making her spoon dive into the ice cream.
I laugh and look to Sydney, since I was asking her. “Yeah. We should do this more often.”
“We will, especially in the summer.”
“Daddy.” Savannah taps my arm. “We go swim.”
I look at my watch to check the time. By the time we leave here and make it home, it’ll be time for her bath and then bedtime. “Not tonight. We’ll try to go soon, okay?”
“Nooooo,” she whines. “Today.”