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There were her visions, and the ways that they were changing. She still didn’t understand why or how. She still hadn’t found anyone else like herself, anyone who could help her understand it. Teach her the rules. She still felt like she was probably the only person in the world who could do this, and she was so alone with it that it terrified her.
And there was the bottle, always beckoning, just out of sight.
But as determined as she was to slay all of her demons, Laura wasn’t going to think about that today. Not as they stepped into the elevator, not as she led Lacey inside her apartment for the first time, and not as she helped her get set up on the second-hand bed Laura had managed to find at a low price in time for the visit.
And definitely not as they headed to the ice cream parlor, smiling and laughing, not caring that it was entirely the wrong season for ice cream.
“What are we going to do tomorrow?” Lacey asked, when she was sitting happily with the spoon in her mouth, kicking her little legs in the air above the ground she couldn’t reach from her chair.
“Hmm,” Laura said, pretending to think. “How about making a new friend?”
“A new friend?” Lacey repeated, her eyes getting big with excitement. “Who?”
“Well,” Laura said, reaching out with a napkin to wipe a drop of ice cream that had melted from Lacey’s chin. “I know another little girl who is about your age. She’s living with her uncle right now, and we thought the two of you might like to spend some time together. What do you think? A playdate?”
Lacey thought about it, already grinning. “Does she have a pony?”
Laura laughed. “I don’t think she has a real pony. But I bet you can play with some toy ponies if you ask nicely.”
“Okay,” Lacey said, shrugging her tiny shoulders effortlessly. Laura smiled, brushing her blonde hair back over her shoulder before she managed to drip more ice cream onto it.
Tomorrow, she could kill two birds with one stone: spend time with Lacey, and also help Chris with Amy, make sure she was settling in fine. They had weekends, after all, now. Every weekend from now until forever, stretching out into the distance like beacons, showing Laura the way to keep her life on track and be happy again.
But for today, it was all about her daughter. Laura laughed at Lacey as she missed her mouth entirely with a spoonful of melted ice cream and dropped it on her dress, reaching over to clean it up.
“After this, let’s go home,” Laura said, and when Lacey nodded okay, a warmth settled into her heart that had been missing for far, far too long.
And even the thought of all the things that thre
atened to come and take it away couldn’t chill it again – not today.
