💫She's Different💫

Bella And The Mall

"I love sharing these sweet moments with you."
"Me too." My daughter sipped her drink and looked around.
"What?"
"Nothing. I can't wait to go back to school!"
"Why?"
"Because, I wanna be with my best friend!"
"Kylie is your best friend?"
"Yeah. I miss her, and I wanna hang out with her and Penelope."
"You just love being outside the house don't you?"
"I like going to sleep overs! They're fun!"
"At least you're having fun and enjoying life. Look at how far you come! You've been doing good at your therapy sessions, and opening up."
"And I'm turning 9."
"Almost double digits."
"I can't wait to get older."
"I can wait for you to get older."
"I'm gonna be ten next year! And I'm going to be a whole new Bella! I'm gonna talk different and be so cool."
"Interesting."
*********
Downtown Orlando (Bella's Perspective)
We were in a mall and I looked around.
"Mom, can we go into Claire's?"
"After we get Noah's stuff."
"Okay." Noah was getting some new stuff for next year and I was a tad bit jealous. But I shouldn't be because this was supposed to be Noah's day.
"I like these shorts Mom. Can I get them for the first day of school?"
"Of course. Let's see if they have your size." I watched as they tried to get Noah a pair of pants and then I looked around. I like Children's Place's clothes.
"We're going on line Bella." I held her hand and and watched as she paid for the clothes. I find it interesting that most adults use credit cards.
"I'm surprised you didn't get anything in Children's place." She said to me. I nodded and looked around the mall.
"You're so quiet." I held her hand and then Mommy saw Loft. Whoever invented Loft should be punished because Mommy always wants to go in there.
"Let's go into Loft for a minute." I groaned in my head and followed after my mother. Noah didn't want to go either because it's a store for women.
"Noah, when you're a grown man are you gonna take your wife to Loft?"
"No way." I laughed as Mom took us all over the store.
"I'm tired, can we go?" I asked.
"Really? You're tired. Then let's go back to the hotel and take a nap."
"I'm not 6 anymore!" She kept looking through clothes and I sighed.
"Doesn't shopping get boring? Toys are better."
"I could shop for a while if no one stops me. Just like how you guys could be on your tablets all day if no one stops you."
"Not true." My mother laughed and kept looking.
**********
The Pool (Olivia's Perspective)
"Are you gonna swim love?"
"No thank you. I'll just watch." She opened a book and started to read on the pool chair calmly. I frowned a little and went for a lap around the pool. Noah followed me and insisted that we have a race together.
"Alright."
"On your mark, get set, go!" I swam as fast as I possibly could and then I got a cramp in my leg.
"What's wrong Mom?"
"Keep going baby!" I walked slowly to the end to the pool and took a breath.
"Are you okay Mommy?" Bella asked worriedly.
"I'm okay my love." She handed me a towel and I dried myself off.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?" She looked down at her book and shook her head.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, forget that I called you." I looked at her, questioning her statement and we stared at each other for a while.
"Is it that you don't want to talk abut it here?"
"I said nothing. I don't want to talk about anything." She picked up her book and started to read again. Bella is a very hot and cold person sometimes, which leads to some interesting interactions. When you try to talk about something sensitive she becomes incredibly cold and harsh. When you try to talk about something that makes her happy she is this vibrant, loving little girl. I've realized that with her starting to grow up the latter has been happening more often and I don't want Bella to develop an attitude towards expressing herself.
"Mom, wanna swim another lap?! Come on!" My son said excitedly.
"Alright, I'll come. Give me one minute!" I turned back to Bella and held her hand.
"I'm going to go with Noah and I want you to think about what you want to talk to me about."
"Kay." I got up and went back into the pool with my son.
*********
Our Hotel Room (Bella's Perspective)
"Morning my love." Today was Sunday and I was ready to go home. However, we weren't leaving until Thursday so I had many more days to go.
"Hi." I turned over facing Noah's bed and Mommy played with my hair.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes Mother." I took off my bonnet, took my scrunchie, and put my hair up so it wouldn't be in my face.
"I should've braided my hair. I'm tired of doing my hair everyday."
"You were the one that didn't want to get it braided because you were being cranky."
"I know." I blew a strand of hair from my face and Mom watched me.
"What re you staring at me like that? I didn't do any criminal actions Mother." She rolled her eyes and gave me a smirk.
"What are you thinking about?! I don't trust it when you smile like that!" She laughed again and didn't reply. I rested my head on her chest and looked deeply into eyes.
"Tell me! Tell me!"
"Maybe, after breakfast."
"After breakfast?!" Noah said.
"Why do you wanna know what she was thinking?!"
"Because Mom is an interesting person. I wanna know more about her."
"Mom, why don't you ever talk about your Mom. Did you guys have a nice relationship like you and me?" He smiled dropped and I realized that I talked about something that was sensitive to her.
"I didn't know. Sorry Mommy."
"It's okay, I'll talk to you guys about it when you're a tad bit older. Okay?"
"Sure. I'm going to go brush my teeth now."
"Thanks for announcing that Noah!" My Mother laughed again and it made me happy to see her smile. I feel terrible if I make her frown and I didn't mean to. But then again, it also makes me want to know why she's frowning! I guess that's how she feels when I hide my emotions too. These days I talk about my feeling more instead of keeping them in.
"What are we gonna do today my little day-dreamer?"
"You're the adult, you tell me!"