Day 2 ~ Staring at the stars
Evan was restless. And Maddie was not having it, she wasn’t dealing with an angry eight year old who refused to go to bed, not after the long week she had. So she caved, piling layers upon layers on his small frame, and taking him to the block playground. Settling on a bench, Maddie let Evan run off, headed straight for the slides.
He knew how to take care of himself, and this block was locked anyway, so there was no worry of strangers wandering in and stealing him. Maddie allowed herself to close her eyes, leaning her head back until it rested against the cold metal of the bench. Just a second, she told herself. Her eyes would only be closed a little while, and Evan would wake her when he was done.
“You doing okay?”
It took a second for Maddie to wake up completely, tilting her head slightly to where the voice had come from. A man, slightly concerned, slightly bemused look on his face was seated beside her, god knows for how long.
“Yea, all good.”
Tired fingers scrabbled for her phone, squinting at the shock of white light to read the time. Good, she had only been out for 20 minutes.
“Uh, I’m Howard, um, Howie, well, everyone calls me Chimney.”
“Oh, um, Maddie.”
She stuck out a hand and he grasped it, shaking lightly, quickly replacing hands in pockets to keep away the chill for longer.
“Is he yours?”
Maddie’s mind did mental gymnastics to figure out what Howie was talking about.
“Oh, Evan? Younger brother, technically I adopted him so I’m his legal guardian.”
Howie nodded, pointing to the playground, where Maddie noticed the second kid, probably also around Evan’s age.
“Denny, uh, also not mine, I’m just babysitting so his parents could have a date night,” He scratched the back of his neck, eyes tracking the boys as they climbed across the frame. “Not sure if he’s supposed to be out this late, but if he doesn’t tell his parents, I’m golden.”
Maddie giggled, tilting her head back up to look at the sky. The stars were out in as much of their glory as they could be in LA, which wasn’t a lot, but it was more than usual.
“Sky looks nice today.”
Howie joined her in looking up, taking in the glow.
“Probably the most I’ve seen in a while.”
The pair sat in silence for a moment, before they realised that silence shouldn’t be what they were hearing, not with kids around, and especially not with the kids they were taking care of.
“Maddie! Look, look, I made a friend!”
“Uncle Chim, uncle Chim, this is, this is Evan!”
They knew, but they managed to convince their respective kid to calm down slightly, taking the opposite sides on the bench, Denny tucked up to Howie’s side, and Evan curled on Maddie’s lap, chatting excitedly about possible play dates. Maddie and Howie let them talk, instead keeping their eyes trained upwards, until the kids quietened down, resorting to watching the sky with them.
When the pairs parted, the kids parted with promises to see each other again, wild stories about adventures they would get up to, and the adults with each other’s numbers, promises of a bottle of champagne and a movie, maybe when the kids were with Denny’s parents.
