Beyond the Bases

“Inside it is.” I chuckle. Carrying her inside, I stop at the island and sit her in one of the chairs. “Don’t wiggle around too much. I don’t want you to fall.”

“East,” she says, exasperated. “I’m four. I’ll be five…. Mommy, when will I be five?”

“July fifteenth,” she tells her.

“Right. I’ll be five on July fifteenth, and then I get to go to big girl school.”

“Big girl school? Really? That sounds pretty cool.”

She nods. “Yep. I’m growing up,” she says.

“Don’t grow up too fast. Mommy wants you to be little as long as you can,” Larissa tells her.

“Nope. Imma eat all my pizza and grow big and strong.”

“Here you go. What do you say to Easton?” Larissa asks, setting her own cheese pizza in front of her.

“Thank you, East,” she says, then looks down at the small pizza box in front of her. “This is mine?” she asks.

“Sure is.” I ruffle her hair. “Water or milk to drink?”

“Milk,” she says, picking up her first slice and taking a huge bite. She has sauce all over her face.

I watch as Larissa smiles down at her, reaching over with a napkin, wiping her face, then handing Paisley a new one. “Use this, please.”

Paisley’s head bobs up and down as she takes another bite, just as big as the first, covering her face once again in sauce. This time Larissa just grins and takes a bite of her own. It hits me that this feels right. Having them here, in my home, bringing it to life. I can only hope this is the beginning of many more nights I get to spend with them.

“That was a big pizza but it was little,” Paisley says, leaning back in her chair. Her face is smeared with sauce where she attempted to wipe it with a napkin. She also has a small ring of milk framing her top lip, and her hands are on her belly.

“Come here, you.” Larissa already has a wet paper towel in her hand, ready to clean her up. “Is your belly full?”

“So, so full,” she replies dramatically.

“You girls want to watch a movie?”

“Oh, do you have Pocahontas? She’s my favorite. Well, I like Cinderella and Belle, and—” Larissa places her hand over her mouth to stop her.

“P, I’m not sure Easton has princess movies.”

“East, do you have princess movies?”

“No, sweetheart, but I’m going to have to fix that, huh?”

“Yeah, or I can bring mine next time I come over. I have lots of them.”

“Well, how about we pull up Netflix and see what we can find?”

“Deal.” She turns in her chair and holds her arms out for me.

“Paisley, you’re a big girl, you can walk,” Larissa chastises.

“But my East is so, so strong, and he can carry me.”

I bite back my grin as I reach for her and place her on my hip. “Let’s go, Momma. Time to find a movie.”

“Let me clean up first,” she says.

“Nope. It’s an easy cleanup. I’ll do it later. Now we relax.”

“Yeah, Mommy, now we relax,” Paisley repeats as I sit her on the couch. She moves over to the middle and pats the spot next to her. “I get to sit by Mommy and East.” She smiles her adorable little smile that reaches in and grabs hold of my heart.

“Look, Paisley, Pocahontas,” I say as I flip through the channels. She claps her hands and shocks me when she climbs up in my lap. She’s sitting sideways with her head resting on my shoulder. Larissa opens her mouth, I assume to tell her to sit back on the couch, but I hold my hand up to stop her. “She’s good. Now, you should move over here with us.”

“Yeah, Mommy,” Paisley chimes in.

Larissa moves over to sit next to me. Her shoulder bumping mine. Reaching out, I place my arm around her shoulder and bring her in close. I then relax into the couch and settle in for some Disney with both my girls in my arms.

Right where they should be.

We’re barely a few minutes into the movie and Paisley is sound asleep. “I should take her home,” Larissa whispers.

“Stay.”

“It’s close to her bedtime anyway.”

Just a little longer. “I feel like I’ve barely seen you today and I’m going to be gone the next two days.”

“I like to keep her to a routine. She does well with structure and needs a good night’s sleep.”

Turning my head, my lips meet her temple. “I’ll walk you out.” She slides out from underneath my arm and stands. I do the same, careful not to wake the sleeping princess in my arms. I manage to get her strapped into her car seat without waking her up.

“Once she’s out, she’s down for the night,” Larissa says from behind me.

“She’s a good kid.” I don’t know why I say it; it’s not like we’re talking about her behavior, but for some reason, it feels like it’s important she hears that. “You’ve done a great job raising her.”