Leo and I agree to babysit for the day. Jim is staying with Maria, and almost everyone else went out scavenging for medicine and other supplies. I gave Jacob a list of medicines to be on the lookout for, but told him to take anything he can find. Molly and Ben come to our little house and play with Parker Joe for a while. They love the fact that we brought a cat to West Linn. PJ appreciates the extra attention too, I'm sure. After the house starts to feel too stuffy and humid, the four of us head outside to take a walk. We go to the little marsh I recently discovered.
Molly has strawberry blonde hair in little, curly pigtails that bounce around as she walks onto the wooden bridge. Ben has an un-brushed mop of light brown curls hanging just above his eyes. These kids are undeniably adorable.
"Are you gonna get married?" Molly asks Leo and I as Ben plays with bugs on the water with a stick. Leo laughs a bit and I sigh with a smile.
"Maybe. We'd need a flower girl though..." Leo humors the five-year-old. She looks beyond excited.
"ME! I can do it!" She squeaks. I shake my head at Leo as I chuckle. If only life had ever been that simple, let alone now.
"Molly, come play!" Ben yells from the edge of the pond as he chases bugs around the shallows.
"Well, go on!" I nudge her.
"Go get into trouble." Leo mumbles through a laugh as the little girl leaves us alone on the bridge the join her brother at the edge of the water.
"So... coldest summer ever, now the hottest fall ever. I wonder what will happen next." I say softly to Leo, absolutely baffled by what our world has been through.
"I know what'll happen next." He says matter-of-factly. I raise an eyebrow and look at him doubtingly, wondering where he is going with this. "Swimming."
"Wait, what?" I ask as I become aware of Leo's plan. But I'm already too late.
Leo shoves me off the edge into the waist-deep, muddy water. I scream and fall in, becoming instantly soaked up to my shoulders. Ben and Molly burst out laughing with excitement. Leo does, too.
"Ha, ha, ha!" I yell sarcastically, and grumpily. I won't admit how wonderful the cool water feels in this heat.
"Okay, I'm sorry. That was kinda mean. But I couldn't resist!" Leo tells me, starting off sincere, and ending up laughing more. He offers me his hand to help me back onto the bridge. I take it, but instead of getting back up, I yank as hard as I can. He tumbles into the pond beside me, going face-first underwater. When he resurfaces, I smirk.
"Sorry, couldn't resist!" I mimic. That's what you get, I think.
Molly and Ben are now highly entertained. Leo smiles and then kisses me sweetly; my two favorite things left. Only this time, instead of hiding in the frozen library, we are wet and muddy, and underneath the beating sun.
"I love you." I whisper.
"Addy, I am so in love with you." He replies softly, turning up the corners of his lips. My heart flutters when he calls me Addy.
We spend the remainder of theafternoon swimming around with the kids, splashing and jumping until the sungoes down. Then, we take them back to Maria's house. When it's finally dark,only then do we return home. Home.
A/N- I figured we could all use a feel-good chapter in this book, so here you go.
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YOU ARE READING
130 Days
Science Fiction*Don't be threatened by number of chapters- most are 1-3 pages* "Negative temperatures in June." "Riots, power outages, traffic jams, accidents, looting, panic, hospitals understaffed and backed up, disease, injury, death." "Stay indoors. Stay warm...
