After Tonight

“Ellie, love, don’t lick that.” Rob called out to Ella as she swiped her tongue across a rock she’d picked up while playing in the sandbox. She stopped, looked up at him with a blank stare, and went back in once more. “Ella!”
We were finding out that she really liked licking things. I was quite happy that lead paint had been banned.
Ella merely stood up and moved onto something else. The next time I looked over, her yellow dress was over her head. She was running around in a circle, giggling like a maniac.
I stood by the jungle gym, trying to keep my composure as Rob chased after Ella. He’d lunged at her by the swing and she completely faked him out, heading in the direction of where he came from. Rob got tangled in the swing while Ella hid behind a trashcan. She was a clever two-year-old.
She looked over at me and gasped. Clearly she hadn’t judged the distance from her safe-haven to where I stood. I gave a stern look and slowly crept toward her. If I moved fast, she would make a run for it. I felt like I was chasing a puppy. Rob had finally pulled himself together and was sneaking up on her other side. We had her cornered.
But, of course, Ella wasn’t as quite as unaware as we expected her to be. She looked up at each of us and made a dash for the tire swing on the other side of the playground.
“Ella Rae!” I shouted, giggling as I dodged other children. Rob caught up to me and we stopped to catch a breath. He bent down, rested his hands on his knees, and looked me. Laughter bubbled up and we couldn’t stop. Then I heard Ella’s laughter from beside the monkey bars.
“That little shit.” I wiped a tear from my eyes as she slapped a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter.
We left our huddle in a flat out sprint. It had turned into a game more so than anything else. Ella ran around in circles as Rob and I tried to catch up to her. Finally, she tripped on her shoe and fell on her bum. I stood her over and swooped her up into my arms. She giggled as I tossed her over my shoulder.
“Alright, Elle.” I kissed the top of her head as I walked over to where Rob had flopped down on the ground. “The jig’s up.”
After explaining to Ella the reasons why she couldn’t eat things like rocks and twigs, Rob went off to find some real snacks. Ella loved her snacks.
The two of us sat on the bench and watched the other kids on the jungle gym. Ella nestled into my lap, resting her head on my chest and popping her thumb into her tiny mouth.

Rob’s P.O.V.
Ella stuff her mouth with pretzels shaped like fish while simultaneously trying to explain—in her half-gibberish, half-English language—how badly she wanted to play in the sand. Abbey wiped the crumbs off her cheeks and grabbed her hand, leading the way to the play structure. The two of them sat down in the sand box, smiling at one another. When Abbey started pushing sand into little piles, Ella followed suit. She jabbered on, making Abbey laugh, until an older kid ran through her construction zone. The smile on her face vanished, instantly replaced with an alarmed frown. She looked at Abbey for an answer and then over at me. Her lower lip started quivering, which then escalated into a stream of tears.
Abbey smiled encouragingly at her, saying something slowly. She began to push more piles of sand together in front of Ella. When Ella didn’t respond, Abbey poked her stomach. Ella looked up and poked Abbey’s leg. Before I could even get off the bench, Abbey had Ella giggling like a hyena as she dangled her upside down.
“You’re going to give her brain damage,” I joked. Ella hooted with laughter, even when Abbey set her right side up. “That kid should not have wrecked her sand…stuff.”
“Are you going to go beat him up?” Abbey snickered.
“Funny.”
Ella buried her head in the crook of Abbey’s neck as we walked back over to the bench. I managed to shoot the Sand Wrecker a dirty look.
Ella squirmed a little in her arms until she was comfortable again. A satisfied sigh left her tiny mouth and she was once again at peace.
“Might I interest you in a juice box?” I offered Abbey the grape juice and set aside the apple for myself.
“Why thank you.” Abbey accepted the drink and took a sip. “Mm, grape-a-licious!”

I adjusted my sunglasses as Abbey situated herself and Ella beside me. With my arm around her shoulder, we people-watched. Things had gotten mellower as Ella got older—at least in our home. The paparazzi were still a problem outside of it. She was only two and she’d been in at least two dozen tabloids since she’d been born. I’d never tried so hard to stay away from the cameras in my entire career as I did when we were out with Ella.
“Look at her.” Abbey nudged me out of my thoughts. Ella had dropped her thumb and was grasping the air looking for something to hold onto, eyes closed tightly. A look of sheer disappointment crossed her face when she came up empty.
“Ellie,” I whispered. She slept with a blanket, which we never left home without. I pulled it out of the stroller and handed it to her. Once Ella felt the fabric between her fingers, she fell back against Abbey once more.
“You think we should head home?” Abbey leaned against me, kissing my shoulder. I nodded.

We had a cycle now. We did things a certain way. There was more planning and a lot more vigilance. It was weird, even after two years, to think about but it was my life and I loved every second of it.