“It will be,” Ben agreed with a nod. “Especially for the kids. I think the moms are going to sit around and enjoy some time in the sun.”
“And let Uncle Ben keep the kids entertained?”
Ben grinned. “Yeah. Probably. I don’t mind, though. I haven’t really spent a lot of time with them.”
She thought of her own nieces and nephews. So far, it was only Layla who had had kids, but she had four. Two of each. Amelia enjoyed spending time with them, though it was only in the past couple of years that she’d had the opportunity to do so.
Unfortunately, the most she could do was read books, color, play with Legos, or watch movies with them. In the summer, she would often sit with Layla on the back deck, watching as the kids played in their large backyard.
“Maybe another time you can come hang out at the pool with us.”
“Maybe.” Though she actually enjoyed swimming, the thought of getting into a swimsuit wasn’t something she even wanted to consider.
She never voiced her unhappiness with her body or her weight gain to those around her. Tracy was the only one she’d mentioned it to. Both Layla and Charlotte had talked about their struggles with their weight, but she knew neither of them would consider her fat.
And maybe she wasn’t by conventional standards.
All she knew was that the body that had been forced upon her by illness wasn’t the body she knew. It wasn’t a body she felt comfortable in. It wasn’t a body she could rely on. It wasn’t a body she liked at all.
“Hey, Ben!” A group of teen boys approached them, several calling out the greeting.
Ben helped Amelia hand out the name tags, then he followed them into the gym since it was almost time to start. More straggled in in groups of two or three.
But then a solitary figure appeared and approached the table.
“Hi, Jessi,” Amelia said with a smile.
“Hi.” The girl clasped her hands together. “I wondered… I wondered if it would be possible for me to come late to the clinic.”
“Late? What do you mean?”
“I signed up to come to the clinic next week, but my employer told me I need to work and I don’t get done until two. Would I still be able to come?”
Amelia observed the young girl’s tense frame and wondered what her story was. It was clear that basketball meant a lot to her, but it was also apparent that she was weighed down by a burden that the other kids at the clinic didn’t appear to be carrying.
“Let me go ask Cole, okay?” Amelia got up, trying not to wince from the increase in pain the movement brought. “I’ll be right back.”
Thankfully, the clinic hadn’t officially started yet, so she edged around the court to where Cole stood, talking to one of the teens.
When he finished, he spotted her and smiled. “What’s up, Amelia Bedelia?”
Amelia glowered at him. “Don’t call me that.”
Cole chuckled. “Okay. What’s up?”
“Jessi, one of the kids who came to the clinic last week, stopped by to ask if it would be okay for her to arrive a little late each day for the clinic next week.”
“Late?”
“Yeah. Apparently, when she signed up for the clinic, she didn’t realize she was going to have to work. She said she wouldn’t be able to make it until after two.”
Cole looked past her to the hall outside the gym, then nodded. “That would be fine.”
“Thanks. I’ll let her know.”
Jessi had a worried expression on her face when Amelia returned.
“He said it would be okay,” Amelia told her.
