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“Deeelicious!” she states, smacking her lips with her tongue to gather up any last drops of ice cream before I wipe her face.
“Eyes closed,” I tell her. She shuts her eyes, and I grab the wet wipe, smothering her face and wiping her clean. Then I move to her sticky hands and clean her up. You’d think by seven, they start being semi-clean, but no, she’s still as messy as ever when it comes to eating ice cream.
“All right, out you pop,” I tell her, hoisting her out of the car.
“I’m gonna see the stars… I’m gonna see the stars… I’m gonna see the stars,” Hailee sing-songs as she skips toward the entrance, and Blake steps up beside me.
“She’s so excited. I’m surprised this wasn’t before roller skating.”
“I think she wanted to fit everything in on her list, so she put this in the middle as her big-ticket item.”
He chuckles. “I’m glad I can be here for this.”
“Me too.”
What seems strange to me though, is that there aren’t many cars parked in the parking lot. You’d think for a Saturday, this place would be packed. But I shrug it off as we approach the entrance, Hailee skipping the entire way.
“Hailee, stay close, please,” I call out, and she slows down, staying a few feet in front of us.
As we get closer to the front of the building, I can see something is not right. Orange traffic cones line the entrance, and scaffolding is up the side of the building.
I glance at Blake, and he grimaces. “This doesn’t look good,” he states.
I shake my head. “No. Hopefully, they’re open anyway. We should have checked.”
We make our way to the front door, Hailee reaching out and grabbing the door handle. “I’m so excited!” But when she pulls on the handle, the door doesn’t budge.
My heart sinks as she tries to pull it again.
Blake sighs as he reaches forward, trying to open the door, but nothing.
“M-mom?” The crack in Hailee’s voice is evident as her little eyes droop, and Blake steps up to the door, pressing his hand to the glass and peeking through.
Blake steps back, shaking his head. “It’s a construction zone in there.”
“Can I help you?” someone calls out, rounding the corner.
“My daughter is desperate to see the planetarium. She was super excited about coming today. Is it closed?” I ask the guy wearing a construction hat.
He somberly looks at Hailee and nods. “Sorry, little one, we’re almost done with the work, but it’s not open for another few weeks.”
Hailee’s shoulders slump. “That’s okay,” she says, but I see the tears glistening in her eyes.
Blake wraps his arm around Hailee and squats down to her level. “Everything happens for a reason, Starshine. And just think, if it’s closed today, we get to return when they reopen. Which means it will be even bigger and better… won’t that be amazing?”
Hailee weakly smiles, but the disappointment is clear to see. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“It’ll be okay, Hailee. You’ll see the stars. I promise. C’mon what’s next on the list?” Blake tries to distract her.
She brightens up, pulling out the crinkled piece of paper. “The animal shelter.”
Widening my eyes, I let out a small laugh. “Oh no, we arenotgetting another pet, Hailee. We can hardly control the one we do have.”
“No, Mom, they have a section where you can go and sit with the cats and read to them.”
“C’mon, Zoey, we have to read to the cats,” Blake urges with a cheesy grin.
I glare back at Blake like he’s an asshole, but I can't turn them down with the two of them looking at me like this. “Okay… let’s go.”
