Glancing in the mirror, I saw my daughter’s eyes widen. “There are a lot of people. Do you think they’ll like us?”
While my girl was mighty, she still had a soft heart, and she’d built a load of armor around her to fend off those nasty kids that weren’t always accepting. Stormi wanted everyone to like her,but that wasn’t how the world worked and it sucked. As a mother we wanted to protect our kids from anything that hurt them and shield them from any sorrow.
I rubbed my hand over my heart as I thought about the tears she had shed over the years when another child had made fun of her because sometimes she struggled to keep up or do everything they did.
Asthma could be a real bitch and scary too.
Looking at the hopeful look in my child’s gaze, I prayed I wasn’t lying when I said, “Everyone will love you, baby girl.” I gave her a big smile. “Who couldn’t love someone as magnificent as you?”
“You have to say that because you’re my mom,” she said softly.
Just as I was about to speak to reassure her that it wasn’t just because I was her mother, I watched her square her tiny shoulders and nod. “You love me so that’s what really matters. Let’s go to the party.” She began unbuckling herself and I took my cue from her and got out of the car.
Seconds later, we stood side by side, hand in hand, and looked at each other. “Ready?” I asked her.
Her gazed zeroed in on me as if she could see everything that was going on in my head. “Mom, I got your back.” Then she was pulling me toward the backyard following the sounds of laughter.
But as we rounded the corner and the sea of people came into view, both of us froze, unmoving, as if our feet were anchored to the ground.
There wasno time to turn and run.
“I’m so glad you came,” Ruby said as she approached Stormi and me. She reached out and touched my arm. “Come meet everyone,” she coaxed in a soft, but chipper tone.
My gaze landed on the large group of women that Ruby had us heading toward. Nerves swam inside me but I managed to get my feet moving. Stormi gripped my hand tighter but followed along.
Instantly we were greeted with open arms from all the ladies and I thanked them for having us. It wasn’t but a few seconds into the introduction that a group of kids ran over and Stormi was asked by the girl that looked to be the oldest of the children if she wanted to play tag.
I could see the longing in my child's eyes, but they were also wary. Crouching down so I was eye to eye with Stormi, I said, “If you want to go play it’s okay, just take your inhaler with you.”
“What’s an inhaler?” another little girl asked.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Ruby told her, so I assumed it was her daughter.
Stormi looked at the kids and her face fell.
“Do you want to go play?” I asked her again, giving her hand a little reassuring squeeze, but she shook her head no.
The first girl told Stormi if she changed her mind to come find them and then all the kids ran off. I hated the look in my daughter's eyes, but I knew she was worried if she ran around that her asthma would flare and then the kids would make fun of her just as they had at school.
With my heart hurting for my baby girl, I stood, still holding her hand and came face-to-face with the one person I was hoping to avoid.
He and the group of guys with him were not there moments ago when I crouched to talk to Stormi.
“Bronson,” I whispered as my heart began to beat uncontrollably.
In a deep, hesitant voice, he replied, “Hi, Lake.”
Something fluttered in my belly when he said my name and I was having trouble getting any words out but after a few long seconds finally found my voice.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
His gaze searched mine. What was he looking for? Tension filled the air and one of the guys named Lyric jumped in to ease the awkwardness. He introduced himself and all the guys followed, just like the ladies had moments before.
Last, Bronson thrust his hand out to shake mine as the guys had all done. He wanted to shake my hand like we were just meeting and hadn’t grown up together? Both confusion and a bit of anger swelled inside me. Not wanting to make a scene, I placed my hand in his.
We both sucked in a breath at the same time and yanked our hands from each other’s grasp as if we’d been struck by a live wire. It certainly felt that way.
Stormi’s sweet, concerned voice pulled me out of the moment. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”
