✅ Over Protected

50. Babies Meet New Friends

This chapter is dedicated to Maja. Thank you for your support!

When Mummy said we were going to the park, I had envisioned a bunch of carefully trimmed lawns separated by dozens of paths in different arrangements. Maybe there would be little play areas, where there might be weird things to climb, or slides, or swings. But most times when I remembered going to the park when I was younger, the most fun part had been running around paths in a formal garden, trying to catch up with my sister without straying onto the grass.

Then we saw the sign that said water park, and I knew it was going to be different. Would the patches of grass be replaced by lakes, perhaps, so there was an extra penalty if you tried to take a shortcut? Would there be signs saying "keep off the water"? I giggled at the prospect. And then I thought that it was more likely the grass would still be there, with ornate flower beds in the middle, but maybe the paths would be water. Would I need to know how to make a boat go? That was something I didn't know; a mystery, but an exciting one. As I thought about those ideas, I knew that they were pretty silly. I was getting giddy again, and I knew that my brain was going like a little baby again. But I was so excited to find out what a water park was that I didn't mind not remembering all of the things I had learned as a big girl. I couldn't even think about most of how I felt; but it all made sense to me, and the analysing of my thoughts could come later.

Mummy parked the car, and then we all got out. There were big signs telling us which way to go, and I was so excited that I couldn't stop jumping up and down. But Mummy and Scott wanted to make sure that they had everything they would need. I had a little buggy for them to push me around in, even if I was too excited to sit down right now, and they were putting a whole bunch of stuff into the bottom. Like fresh diapers, and wipes, and everything else that Mummy would need to change me. And there was a bag hanging on the back of the buggy as well, which Mummy said was my spare clothes. I wondered why I was going to need more clothes. Was I going to get dirty here? But surely there was water here, so if I got dirty they could just wash me again.

Mummy carried a bag, and Scott volunteered to take another, so she wasn't carrying so much. She said thank you, and I could see that they had started liking each other more now. That was a good thing; it was like going to the park could bring anyone together.

"Come on, munchkin," Mummy said with a smile, and lifted me up into the buggy. I kicked my feet a bit; I wanted to walk. But I also knew that I had to be good while Mummy was trying so hard to do something nice for me. So I just pouted while she buckled me in; at least until Scott got out one of his glove puppets and had the baby elephant tell me to be a good girl. I laughed, protesting that I was always a good girl. And by the time I'd said that, I was completely restrained and ready to go.

"This is going to be so much fun," Sarah said with a smile; but a part of me was sure that she was just saying that for my benefit. She would have fun, but I knew that right now she was just trying to sound excited to get me more excited too. And I couldn't wait to find out what this water park actually was.

There was a ticket office in the corner of the parking area, and behind it was what looked like a huge building. Like a warehouse or something, with pictures of water and rainbows and snakes on the side. And when I looked at it again, I could see that there was a giant octopussy as well, with all ther water running down his sides, and all kinds of little gardens built into him where there were pictures of people smiling and dancing and eating ice cream. It looked really exciting, but I couldn't believe that it was all inside a big building like that. Maybe this was just where you buy tickets, and the park was round the other side. I felt sure now that there was something that I would have remembered if I hadn't been wearing the special diapers, but I really didn't know what it could have been, and I was so excited about finding out.