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 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:31 pm
"Regina, they're coming!"
"'Kay!"
Regina, in that odd place between child and toddler, crawled instead of walked towards the large room of snakes and turtles and other funny things that either bit at Regina or allowed her to ride them. This crawling was not without a purpose however. "Almos'!" She promised loudly, chasing after a baby turtle.
Monty laughed a little, and pulled the cookies she'd been making for the playdate out of the oven. "Put the baby in the cage and lock the door, Gina!" She'd long since decided that if Regina was going to break into the room she might as well learn how to lock up. After the first and last biting incident, Regina regarded the reptiles and amphibians with respect and caution.
"Cookies!" Regina stopped, sniffing, and almost turned to go after the cookies instead of her turtle quarry. A sharp 'no' made Regina wince and chase after the baby reptile. She scooped the turtle up, and rose onto her feet wobbly, running for the Reptile Room. As Regina put the turtle into the cage and set the rock on top of the screen, her ears twitched. Someone was pulling into the driveway.
"Heeeeeeere!" She yelled, bolting out of the Reptile Room without locking the door and running straight for the entry hall. Monty anticipated the girl's excitement, and locked the Reptile Room herself, then went back into the kitchen to turn off the oven. Cookies on a rack cooling and the oven off, Monty followed after Regina.
... And found the door wide open, and the doberman-toddler sitting on the porch steps with her legs folded under her, staring as the car pulled into the driveway excitedly. Monty had made it explicitly clear she wasn't to leave the porch without the woman watching her, so as soon as Monty came out to reprimand her for leaving the door open, Regina bolted off the porch and ran towards the car.
"Naida Naida Naida!" She practically howled, bouncing excitedly for her friend. Her friend was here and she could show her the really weird things her Monty made her do and her Charlie movie and if Regina had a tail, it'd be going a mile a minute at this point in time.
Monty laughed a little to herself, and rolled her eyes, walking off the porch to go greet their guests. Less enthusiastic then Regina, but it'd look weird to be as enthusiastic as her little girl, now wouldn't it? Yes, yes it would. So Monty just smiled, excited in her own quiet way to have someone who wasn't a guy or a child to talk to.
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Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:27 pm
"Mommy, p'eas drive faster."
"You know I can't do that, honey."
"P'eas."
"Please's got nothing to do with it." Laura adjusted her mirror and glanced back at her children. "Driving too fast isn't safe, is it?"
Naida made a despairing noise, then trailed off into a groan and studied the window, watching the trees and fences lining the road stream past. She liked looking at them, usually, but they were not what she wanted to see today. Her fingers tugged and twisted at the soft present in her lap, and it was hard to make them stop. Laura had said that the paper would come off if she played with it, though, and it was the most lovely green paper in the world, with bright gold stars that rose off the sheet with thick, tapering ridges. She touched her fingertips to one, then bit her lip and made herself look over at her brother instead.
"Wha'ssat?"
"S'red," he said, reluctantly looking up from his picture book. "Red snake."
"Oh." She squinted at it critically, and after a moment made a dismissive sound. "Snakes don' smile."
Bal opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment the crunch of old gravel left off in favor of the smooth driveway pavement, and the world was not all trees and fences. Naida sat bolt upright, electrified by her excitement.
"Gina!" she cried, and then "You foun' her, Mommy!", as if there had been a national search in the works. Clutching the package tightly in one hand, she clumsily fumbled with the buckle of her car seat, a task which her fingers were not quite equal to. She gave a muffled howl of frustration and her eyes brimmed with tears.
"Calm yourself, Naida," Laura said, climbing out of driver's seat at an agonizingly slow pace. Naida ignored her, wriggling in her seat and jabbing at the big, red button trapping her there. The seat was built for two-legged children, and she could almost slip out the bottom, but usually she just got stuck at the shoulders. She did not want to get stuck now.
"Oh, hey, Regina," Laura said from outside the car, and Naida sucked in her breath sharply.
"Gina's here!"
"She's righ' outsida winnow," Bal agreed, studying her with his head cocked slightly. Naida crowed with joy and pressed her face to the window, waving to Regina as best she could with her arms strapped into the seat.
At that point the door began to open with a shudder, and so Naida was forced to pull back her head, flushed pink with exultation. "Gina!" she called as her mother unbuckled her from the seat and settled her and her present into the little wagon. Naida objected strongly to strollers, which were for babies. "Gina, you were gone!" Suddenly remembering the tragedy of the thing, she reached up and threw her arms around Gina, on the verge of tears again.
After retrieving Bal and settling him on the ground, Laura shut the car doors and turned around to greet Monty. "Hey, Monty!" she called, grinning crookedly at her friend and waving. "I missed you! How was the trip?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:08 pm
Regina was pleasantly distracted from Laura and Bal and Monty and anything else except her friend Naida, who was trapped by one of those awful seat belt thingies Monty made her wear when they were in the car. She grinned all the wider, bouncing on the balls of her feet while she waited. "Hi Missus Laura." Regina said, bouncing excitedly. She went right over to Naida when she was in the wagon, letting herself be pulled into a hug.
Tears? She was going to cry! Crying was bad! No crying!
"I know I was gone!" Regina flailed a little and hugged her. "But I'm back now and no crying, 'cause crying's bad, 'kay?" She looked at a loss for words at the sight of near-tears Naida. Monty laughed a little when she saw it, and grinned a little, pleased to see Naida and Laura and even the new little boy with them. Regina let go of Naida, and grabbed the handle of her wagon, starting to pull her to the house. "I got stuffs! Lots of stuffs! And Monny gots a new snake but it's kind of gross." She made a face. "And she gots turtles now too!" She said, pulling her towards the porch.
Monty grinned wider when she was greeted, and waved back. "It was hot." She laughed, walking over to her and looking down at Bal. "Who's this little guy?" She asked, smiling at Bal and crouching down. "I'm Monty." She said, holding out her hand. Regina didn't bother asking who the boy was. Clearly Naida was more important right now. She eyed the stairs, and grumbled.
"Stupid ramp is aaaall the way on the other side of the porch." She said, starting to pull Naida to where the porch dipped into a ramp. Naida'd thought to have one built way before Regina was born, when she had a stroller for her other daughters. It was just easier, and now it was being used again.
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