Mark should be completely in over his head with an 9-year-old kid, a 14-month old baby, and two dogs while at the dog park down the street from the Valdez household, but he had it under control. Mostly.
“Ruby, baby, careful with Prescott’s ball!” Mark was saying a little too loudly as he chased his almost-toddler in a circular walker, trying to aim her away from the doggie doo as Prescott, the well-behaved but still only two-years old Chow Chow played with his son who used hand crutches to walk thanks to cerebral palsy. Their second dog, a tiny miniature pinscher named Solo was busy making sure everyone in the dog park got to pet him. When Ruby didn’t answer right away, Mark looked away from baby June for one second to glance at his son and then he was jerking back at the sound of crashing plastic plus the gleeful laughter of his daughter.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” Mark said as he stood up and winced. He then hurried over to where June had bounced her baby walker off someone’s shin. “Are you okay?” Mark asked the person as he reached down to unhook the safety harness from June and pick her up to hold her on his hip. Her soft brown cheeks were glowing and slightly red from her endless laughter as she played. “Just brought the kids and dogs for some fun in the park,” he said a little breathless. “I have so many bruises on my shin from this thing,” Mark said as he toed the walker out of the way. “But she loves it,” he said in his ‘ah, kids’ voice.
The January winter air was crisp but not overbearingly cold. In fact, it felt refreshing as it hit his face, though he did make sure to bundle his two-year-old baby niece up to make sure she wouldn’t catch a cold. Maaya was more energetic lately, though it probably had to do with the fact that he didn’t really let her interact with many strangers during her stay with him. He found it cute that she was still so shy around people she didn’t know but a part of him wished she could be braver--maybe that way he would have to worry about her less.
He let her walk beside him as they took a stroll through the park, her little hand clutched in his own as she skipped energetically in order to keep up with him--though he wasn’t exactly sure who was keeping up with whom right now as she pointed towards the dog park and said in Japanese, “Dogs!”
He replied in kind, “You want to play with the dogs? You’ll have to be careful, watch from a distance, okay? Or your mom will kill me.” Thankfully it seemed she hadn’t inherited his allergies, but he still wanted to be careful--if not for her sake then for his own. He let go of her hand just so he could reach down to ruffle her hair affectionately as they walked over to see all the dogs playing. Maaya practically clung onto his leg as they approached and he knew he would have to pick her up and carry her soon. Too busy keeping an eye on his niece instead of in front of him, he was surprised when something suddenly hit his shin. Maaya retreated behind his legs to hide from the people now in front of them, only one eye peaking out from behind his knees.
“It’s okay!” Daichi claimed after he’d seen the hit had come from a child who looked even younger than Maaya. He gave the baby his sunniest smile, one of his hands still resting on Maaya’s head to make sure he didn’t lose her despite how close she kept to him. “It looks fun!” he said enthusiastically, kneeling down in front of the walker and maneuvering his arm around his niece to being her to his side so he could still keep an eye on her as he took in the contraption. “I’ve never seen that before.” He turned to Maaya and said to her in Japanese, “That looks fun, doesn’t it?” before turning back and looking up at the man whose child had hit him in the shin--he couldn’t complain when he’d had countless of much more serious injuries there. “She can’t speak English, but I think she also likes it.”
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