Aelin drove home, and Bailey insisted on taking a shower that lasted far longer than necessary. It was five thirty by the time they finally sat down for dinner.
"Mmm." Bailey sighed as she took her first bite of chicken and rice. "This is so good, Mom."
Aelin set her fork down. "Bailey, you're kind of freaking me out."
Bailey's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Aelin raised an eyebrow. "You never act excited about dinner?—"
"Don't use all-or-nothing statements."
Aelin pursed her lips. "Okay. You're right. It's rare for you to act excited about the food I make for dinner, and I usually have to beg you to get in the shower, especially since you saw that spider under your towel."
"I'm not afraid of them anymore. I saw that meme where it says, “What if the spider you just killed thought you were roommates.””
Aelin blinked. "Hmm. Haven't seen that one."
"Do you want me to show you?" Bailey pushed her chair back, but Aelin stopped her.
"No, just eat. You can show me later."
Bailey glanced up at the stove, then sat back down and picked up her fork. She stirred her food together, then placed and replaced her tines until she had a perfectly balanced bite.
"There's nothing you want to tell me?" Aelin tapped her fingers on the table.
Bailey shook her head. "Nope."
They ate. Bailey continued taking dainty bites, chewing so slowly, Aelin felt like that bunny in Zootopia at the DMV. And then, all of a sudden, Bailey scooped the last of her dinner into her mouth and popped up from her chair. "I'm done. Let's go for ice cream."
_____
Aelin parked at the ice cream shop and nearly had a heart attack when Bailey bolted from the car, barely looking both ways before jogging to the door of Made by Marcus. When she finally caught up to her, Bailey was inspecting the ice cream flavours. "Not cool, Bailes. Parking lots are super dangerous."
"Sorry." She stared up at the sign, then asked to sample five flavours before Aelin finally cut her off.
"Just choose one or split a single scoop," Aelin instructed, then ordered her own scoop of Chinook Bee Pollen and Lavender.
Bailey walked up to the counter, then turned back to the door. "What time is it, Mom?" Her lip wobbled as Aelin took the cup of ice cream from the employee behind the counter.
"It's six thirty."
Bailey's brow creased. Her cheeks flushed pink, and tearswelled in her eyes. Then she dropped her face into her hands and began to sob.
_____
Aelin stood next to Bailey in front of the park bench where Amaya and Ryan sat. Bailey was still sniffling even though she had a full cup of roasted strawberry buttermilk ice cream in her hand.
"Do you girls want to explain this?" Ryan's voice was gentle, but his jaw was tense.
"You went to the wrong location," Amaya snapped, her eyes flashing.
"I—" Ryan stopped short, running his hand through his hair. He was freshly showered from camp, and his hair hung loose to his shoulders. "You asked to go for ice cream, so we went to ice cream."
Bailey sniffed. "We thought there was only one of them."
"Obviously," Aelin muttered and took a bite of ice cream to hopefully tamp down her annoyance. "I don't understand why you didn't just ask if we could meet up."
"Because you would've said no." Amaya licked her spoon clean. Aelin frowned, but before she could open her mouth, Amaya pointed at Ryan and clarified. "He would've said no."
