Chapter 9
“Are you sure you don’t mind watching her?” Kelley asks, as she slides her work shoes on her feet. It’s been about two weeks since they went to the zoo and Donna had called out today. Her sister’s health is declining and Kelley completely supports the babysitter taking all the time she needs to be with her family, but that means Kelley was left with no baby sitter. Thankfully, Hope had offered to take Lily for the day, while Kelley gets through her eight hour shift at the bar. “I’m sure. We’ll be fine.” Hope reassures her. She knows Kelley’s nervous about leaving Lily, who’s been a little bit difficult so far today. The child didn’t get much sleep last night so she’s been acting up more than usual. “I’ll try to leave a little bit early if I can. I’m working with Tom and Saturday afternoons are usually too slow for two bartenders to be working.” She mentions.
“We’ll be okay, Kell.” She states, as Kelley puts on her jacket. She walks into the living room and says a quick ‘goodbye’ to Lily, who’s watching a movie, before pecking Hope on the lips. “I’ll call when I’m on break.” She says, softly. “Have a good day.” Hope says, as Kelley walks out. She sighs, before making her way to the living room. “What do you wanna do today, Lil?” She sits down on the couch opposite to the one Lily is currently on. The blonde looks at her and shrugs.
The two sit, in silence, while Lily watches the rest of her movie. Hope looks through her email and responds to a few, trying get something productive done. “My movie’s over.” Lily mumbles, grumpily, looking at Hope. The goalkeeper places her phone on the table in front of her and looks at Lily. “What do you want to do?” Lily shrugs, once again. “You’re the grown up. You’re supposed to know.” She says, crossing her arms in front of her. Hope tilts her head, slightly. It’s the first time that she’s seen Lily be less than sweet and she assumes this is what Kelley meant when she spoke about Lily’s ‘grumpy days’.
“Well we could go to the grocery store and find something for dinner tonight. We could play some games. We could go outside. We could go to the park.” Hope lists off options for the four-year-old. She knows the child isn’t gonna choose the grocery store, but Kelley had asked her to go pick up some food so she figured she’d add that in there as an option. “Outside.” Lily grumbles. Hope nods and stands up, motioning for Lily to do the same. “How about we go to the grocery store for mommy? Then when we come home, we can go outside.” Lily furrows her eyebrows, contemplating the offer. She nods, in agreement. Hope helps her pick out clothes and change, before the two head out.
The day goes by without much incident. They went to the grocery store and made a stop at the park, where Lily played for about an hour. They both talked to Kelley when the bartender got her break. Apparently, Tom had agreed that he would cover her if she wanted to leave early. She should only have around another half hour on her shift before she comes home. Hope thinks she might actually make it through the day. It isn’t until Lily wants to go outside to play soccer that Hope finds herself in a messy situation. Hope had found a soccer ball in Lily’s room and made the offer to the child, who quickly agreed. Lily’s mood had gone up since this morning, which Hope is thankful for.
The two settle on a small grassy space right outside the apartment building and Hope kicks the ball to Lily, who tries her best to kick it back without tripping over it. Hope kicks the ball back to the girl, but it bounces off of her small legs and rolls into the empty parking lot. “I’ll get it, Lil, don’t go over there.” Hope states, before jogging after the ball. She doesn’t notice Lily try to run after her until she hears a ‘thump’ and the immediate sound of crying.
She turns to see Lily on the ground, her cheek, hands, and knees scraped up from the pavement. She immediately feels panicked. ‘What will Kelley think?’ ‘Will she be angry?’ ‘Was this my fault?’ Questions quickly flicker through her head. Hope picks up the ball, before rushing over to her. Big tears make their way down the child’s face, as she looks up at Hope, helplessly. “You’re okay, Lil.” She says, softly, as she easily scoops her up in her arms. She hugs her close, as she makes her way back inside. Lily sobs into her shoulder, while Hope does her best to console her.
“It’s okay. You’re okay.” Hope says, softly. She tosses the ball onto the couch on her way past the living room. She makes her way into the bathroom and sits the four-year-old on the toilet seat cover, while she gets the first aid kit out of the cabinet. The only sound that can be heard in the apartment is the sound of Lily’s sniffles, as she looks down at her bleeding knees. “I want m-mommy.” Lily sniffles out. Hope looks at her and nods. “I know. She’ll be home soon, Lil. I’m gonna make it better okay?” Lily nods, in response.
Hope feels herself start panicking when she hears the sound of the door to the apartment unlock. She was supposed to be watching her and failed miserably. Lily starts crying even harder, when she hears the sound of her mother arriving. “I’m home.” Kelley calls out. As soon as she hears the familiar sound of her daughter crying, she rushes towards the sound. “What the fu-“ She cuts herself off. “What happened?” She corrects, at the sight of Lily bleeding. A rather large scrap located on her right cheek immediately alarms her. She looks at Hope, who looks nothing short of guilty.
“I’m so sorry. We were playing soccer outside and she fell on the pavement. I didn’t mean to-I didn’t…I’m sorry.” She stutters. Kelley ignores her and instantly starts working on cleaning her daughters cuts. “You’re okay, baby. Just a few little scraps.” Kelley coos, softly, trying to calm her. Hope quietly makes her way out of the bathroom, trying to stop herself from getting worked up. She waits in the kitchen, busying herself by putting away the rest of the groceries.
After around 15 minutes, Hope hears footsteps making their way down the hallway. She sees Kelley walk into the room, slowly, Lily nowhere in sight. “Is she okay?” Hope asks, nervously. Kelley cracks a smile, trying to ease Hope’s guilt. “She’s a kid, Hope. She’s gonna fall. That’s what they do.” She chuckles out. Hope looks at her. “You’re not mad?” Kelley shakes her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. She fell. She has a few scraps. It happens.” She laughs. Hope nods, but the guilt doesn’t lessen. “The first time she fell, I thought I was the worst mother in the world. Her lip was bleeding because she hit it on the table.” She explains, hoping to ease the keeper’s guilt.
“Is she mad at me?” The keeper asks. Kelley rolls her eyes. “She’s already playing in her room. She was probably only crying because she’s so tired. She’s fine.” Kelley says, softly, as she approaches the brunette. She wraps her arms around the goalkeeper’s waist. “Don’t feel bad. It happens all the time.” Hope nods. Kelley leans up and gives her a searing kiss. It isn’t until she hears the soft patter of footsteps that she pulls away. “Thank you for watching her.” Kelley whispers, stepping back just in time before Lily walks around the corner.
“Hopey, I think you need to clean my room again.” Lily says, matter-of-factly. Kelley stifles a laugh, while Hope tilts her head at the child. “We talked about this, Lil. You’re big enough to clean your room.” She mentions. “But if you do it, then I don’t have to. My face hurts, remember?” She says, pointing to the bandage on her face. Kelley raises her eyebrows at her daughter’s low blow. Some people would look past it, but Kelley knows what Lily was trying to accomplish with that statement. “Lily, it wasn’t Hope’s fault that you fell. You can help clean your room.” She says, in a motherly tone. Lily pouts a little bit, but scampers up to Hope and grabs her hand. “Come on, Hopey, we have to clean my room.” She states. Hope follows behind, listening as Lily babbles on about her toys and how they ‘jump right off the shelves.’