I see it in your Eyes (you'll be alright)

Chapter 8

"Mommy! Mom! Hey! Can I take my bike? Please?!" Ella called out as she rushed down the hall towards the coat closet where Jennie and Lisa were currently pulling their sweaters over their heads.

"Yeah munchkin I'll grab it in a second." Lisa told her with a laugh as Ella happily let out a victory squeal.

"Here, put this on first." Jennie told her as she took one of Ella's zippers off the hook and passed it down to her. "Oh, and don't forget to wear your helmet either."

"I won't mommy." Ella smiled in assurance as she slipped her arms into the sleeves and proudly zipped it all by herself after a few attempts.

"You grab Oreo's stuff, I'll go get her bike." Lisa told Jennie with a smile and a quick kiss to pressed to her cheek before she and Ella took off for the garage where they kept all of her outdoor toys.

After putting on her own sweater, Jennie grabbed Oreo's harness and let out a laugh at the excited bark coming from behind her.

"You wanna go for a walk, huh?" she asked as she knelt down to put the harness on her, clipping it in before attaching the leash and laughing at the way Oreo's butt wiggled excitedly as the two of them made their way outside.

Jennie spotted Lisa and Ella emerging from the garage a few moments later, and after a quick check to make sure that Ella's bike helmet was on properly and fastened tight enough, the two of them watched as she climbed onto her bike, the training wheels ensuring that she didn't topple over, before Ella took off down the driveway with Jennie, Lisa and Oreo walking along behind her.

"We really should do this more often, it's so nice to go out with all of us at night." Jennie told Lisa as they turned out of their street, heading along the pavement that lead down to the large park at the end of the road.

"We really should." Lisa agreed with a smile and a gentle squeeze to Jennie's hand, firmly held in her own. "We're already so busy it's gonna be crazy with another little one."

"Right?!" Jennie agreed with a laugh. "Last time around I had pretty much her whole nursery set up, and we still haven't even decided on a room yet! It's just way more hectic when you already have a kid, but we still have like 5 months so we don't have to worry yet, honestly I did everything super early the last time because I was doing it on my own and I didn't feel like trying to assemble a crib with a huge belly weighing me down."

"That still amazes me, you know." Lisa told her as they rounded the corner and the large park came into view. "I can't believe you really did all of this by yourself, it's incredible."

"It's way more fun with you here though." Jennie promised her. "Having someone to share everything with makes it all the more special. It's like a whole new experience."

The park was relatively busy when they arrived, not over the top, Jennie was still able to keep an eye on Ella as she ditched her bike and ran over to join the other kids on the slide whilst Lisa tossed a stick around the large grass field for Oreo to run around and chase, but busy enough to make her feel a little self-conscious as she stuck her hands in the pockets of her jumper and subtly pulled it away from her body.

Jennie wasn't as worried as she used to be about the press following her at every turn, sure people were still extremely judgmental and had their opinions about her but Lisa always helped her stay away from all of that. The only thing that really bothered her was when her child, or rather, children were involved. She didn't think that it was fair for Ella to have her face plastered all over the internet, the idea of a random stranger feeling as if they know her, when she wasn't old enough to decide on her own if it was something that she was comfortable with, so Jennie tried to keep her away from it all as much as possible.