I woke up to the feel of the bed dipping. I cracked one eye open just as I got hit in the face by a purple pillow. I picked my head up and moved the pillow to fit between Mia and me. I looked up and saw Izzy smiling as she stood on the bed. I held my index finger to my lips telling her to be quiet, and I held the blankets up so she could curl in next to me.
"Stay quiet, so we don't wake up Mommy." I whispered to her. She slid under the covers and held a teddy bear close as she laid down and put her back to my chest. I wrapped my arm around her and closed my eyes. We both must have fallen asleep, because I woke up again to the feel of soft lips kissing over my cheek.
"You two sure are lazy bums." I heard Mia say as I opened my eyes. Izzy was still asleep, and I couldn't hold back my smile.
Mia had obviously been up for a bit. She had her hair up in a messy bun, and she was wearing my Ohio State hoodie with a pair of leggings.
I pinched the hoodie and pulled her back to my lips, and kissed her. "You look cute."
"Oh please. I look like a mom..." She said, waiving a dismissive hand.
"Mmhmm, a hot mom." I said as I cuddled Izzy closer to me.
"Baby girl..." I whispered to Izzy, and she started to stir. "Let's get up and help Mommy and Gigi." She sat up, and rubbed her little eyes. Mia reached out for her, and picked her up. She carried her out of the room and let me get up and get dressed.
I opened my gym bag to see what all I had. I pulled on a pair of grey sweatpants, and a black t-shirt. My hair was a mess, so I pushed it back and put a hat on.
I opened the bedroom door, and stepped out into the kitchen. Lynn was sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee and her iPad. Izzy was next to her with a sippy cup of milk, and they were playing tic-tac-toe.
Mia saw me walk in, and handed me a cup of coffee as she hugged me.
"Thanks." I said, and kissed her forehead. "It smells so good in here." I said. I turned around to see Lynn smiling at us.
"The quiches will be ready in a little bit." she said.
"Mom, I thought you were going to change?" Mia asked her.
"Nope, these are my favorite jammies." She said matter of factly.
I looked at her t-shirt and it said, 'One HOT Gigi' I laughed and Mia rolled her eyes.
"Amy gave them to her for Christmas last year." Mia said.
"That's awesome." I said smiling.
The doorbell rang, and Mia left the room to go answer it.
"Here baby, play with Bear while I check the food." Lynn said. I leaned over the counter and played the game with Izzy.
"Oh, hey, Damien. I didn't know you were going to be here." I heard Amy say.
"Bear slept in Mommy's bed." Izzy said without looking up from the iPad.
Mia was standing next to me, and she whipped around to Amy, and held out her finger pointing at Amy, "No... NO... NO!" she said as Amy's smile grew. Mia's back was to me, and Amy's eyes flicked up to me, and I nodded with a smile. Mia realized that Amy was looking at me, and spun around, and caught me nodding. Her cheeks went red, and she buried her face in my chest.
"Don't be ashamed. It's about time." Amy said as she sat next to Izzy and started playing with her.
"About time for what?" Lynn asked, confused.
"NOTHING!" Mia practically yelled into my chest. I rubbed her back, and handed her her cup of coffee.
"Can I help you Lynn?" I asked as she puttered around.
"Nope, I've got it, and you don't have to call me Lynn. It's very formal.' She said smiling.
"What should I call you then?" I asked.
"Oh I don't know." She shrugged.
"Well, Mia calls you 'Mom', and Izzy calls you, 'Gigi', so maybe I should call you 'Mama G'. It'll be your gangster name." I said with a chuckle.
"I have always wanted to be a gangster!" She said excitedly. Mia and Amy just about lost it laughing.
"Mom, when you're mad, you get pretty gangster." Mia said.
"Well, now I have an official title." She said.
"Every gangster I know has brunch on Sunday." I said, shrugging, "So it fits."
The girls set the table while I helped Izzy wash her hands in the bathroom. When she was done, I picked her up and flopped her over my shoulder. She was giggling like crazy until I set her down in her chair.
We all ate breakfast, and helped clean up. Mia set Izzy up on the counter and handed her stuff to dry after she washed it.
"What should we do this afternoon?" Lynn asked.
"Park!" Izzy said, throwing her arms in the air.
Mia looked over at me, "Can you stay for a while? Or do you have to go?"
"I'm free all day." I said with a smile.
That afternoon, we loaded up Mia's Forerunner with everything the girls wanted. Amy, Izzy, and Lynn sat in the back, and Mia sat up front while I drove.
I backed into a parking spot that was next to the field of grass. I opened the back hatch, and the girls started pulling out a big blanket and the coolers they packed.
"Mommy! I wanna go play." Izzy said as she pulled on Mia's shirt.
"Hang on, we need to get stuff out." Mia said.
"Why don't you take her, and I'll unload the car." I suggested.
Mia smiled at me. "You can take her if you want. We've got this."
"Come on Baby Girl" I said as I lifted her up and set her on my shoulders.
"She is scared of the big slide, though. And the monkey bars." Mia said.
"So anything fun..." I said.
"Pretty much." Mia smiled.
I held onto Izzy's feet, and picked up the heavier cooler and walked it over to the blanket that Amy was laying out. I put it down, and walked over to the park.
Mia's POV
I watched as he carried her over to the playground. There were only a few other kids, and they were all a ways away. Izzy has a tendency to get scared if the bigger kids are playing rougher around her. I helped Mom and Amy get everything set out for the afternoon. Mom set up her chair, and opened up her iPad to play games on, while Amy was spread eagle on the blanket probably asleep.
I got a bottle of water from the cooler, and sat on the blanket by Amy. Izzy went down the little slide, and Damien would tickle her every time she got to the bottom. Then they moved to the medium slide. Every time she went down he caught her at the bottom, and scooped her up in a hug. Once she was trusting him more, they walked to the bottom of the big slide. I watched as Izzy shook her head 'no'.
Damien kneeled down in front of her and put his hand on his chest. I wasn't sure what he was saying, but Izzy hesitated for a minute, then nodded. Damien picked her up and started going up the steps to the big slide.
"Mom," I said tapping her leg, "watch." I pointed to Damien, and Amy sat up to watch too. When they got to the top of the stairs, Damien set her down and kneeled in front of her again. He said something to her as he smiled. She nodded again, and Damien sat on the slide, and put her in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, and they went down the slide. As soon as they got to the bottom, Izzy jumped up and ran to me.
"Mommy! I did the big slide!" She said excitedly.
"I saw you, honey!" I said as I hugged her.
Izzy opened the cooler and got a juice box, and sat on Mom's lap. Damien laid down on his stomach in front of me, and put his head in my lap. He reached his arms around me, and held my thighs, as he closed his eyes.
"You better not be tired, you have a long afternoon coming!" I said as I laughed.
"Nuh uh. Bear is tired, he needs to hibernate." Damien said. Amy and I both laughed. I took his hat off, and ran my fingers through his hair. "That feels so good." he softly said.
Amy had a burst of energy, and ran around the field with Izzy for a while. Damien eventually pulled me down with him to rest for a while.
When Amy was exhausted Damien and I took her back to the playground. Damien picked her up and put her on the platform in front of the monkey bars.
"Think you can do it?" He asked as he grabbed on to one of the bars and hung in front of her.
"I'm scared, Bear." She said.
"How about I put you on my shoulders like I did earlier?"
Izzy thought for a second before nodding. Damien gave her a smile before standing in front of her, and turning around. She climbed up on his shoulders and as he walked, she went from bar to bar. They went back and forth before he convinced her to let him hold her by her waist.
"You do it!" Izzy said when he set her down.
"You want me to do it?" He said pointing to himself. Izzy nodded.
"I'll do it if Mommy does." He said smiling at me and crossing his arms.
"Help me up." I said as I stood under the bars. Even if I jumped, I couldn't reach them.
"My pleasure." He whispered in my ear as he held my waist and boosted me up as I jumped.
I went back and forth a few times before I let go, and dropped back down. He nodded like he was impressed. He picked Izzy up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hold on tight." He said as he gripped the bars with Izzy hanging on him like a little monkey.
"Show off." I said shaking my head.
"Show off hu?" He said smiling. He gripped the edge of the row of bars and started doing pull ups. Izzy was giggling with every one he did. After I counted to twenty, I rolled my eyes.
"Like I said, show off." He dropped to the ground, and set Izzy down to run back to the blanket.
"I could have you hang off of me instead..." He said quietly as he kissed me.
We stayed for a few more hours, then headed home. Izzy fell asleep in her seat on the way home, and Damien got her out and carried her inside. He sat on the couch and leaned back and just held her through her nap.
"Mia..." I heard him softly call.
"Yeah?" I asked as I came into the room.
"Why is my chest wet?" He asked.
I looked down to see a pool of drool coming from Izzy.
"She's drooling on you." I said as I laughed.
"Gross." He said as he said as he wrapped his arms around her tighter, and closed his eyes.
I walked back into the kitchen to help Mom with dinner.
"You found a good one, Mia." Mom said as she smiled at me.