Chapter 10
After a week of hectic planning, everything was organized for Michael’s Fourth of July bash. He had invited Eric, a few of their friends, his parents and, of course, Sydney, though he had warned her that his parents were going to be there so she’d be prepared. Eric, who had been there during that phone call, scolded him for trying to get her to stay away, but Michael assured that he wasn’t doing that, simply warning her so she wasn’t blindsided by meeting his parents.
The picnic at Michael’s was scheduled to begin at five, but his parents came over earlier in the afternoon to help him set everything up. Because of the excitement going on around her, Michael could hardly force Emily into her bed to take a half hour long nap. This meant she’d end up being cranky by evening, but there was nothing he could do about it short of tying her to her bed and forcing her to sleep, which would have been a bad thing.
Eric and some of Michael’s other friends began arriving at five, but Sydney didn’t arrive until almost five-thirty, stating traffic as the reason for her tardiness. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Michael assured her. “We were just about to-WHOA!” he laughed when Emily barreled into him full force, knocking him off balance slightly.
“Daddy look!” Emily said. She lifted her hands up to show what she was clutching; pixie stix.
“Oh wonderful, Uncle Eric gave you pure sugar,” Michael said in a dull tone, making a mental note to smack Eric for that later. Sydney laughed softly at this. Then, Michael knelt down beside his daughter and said, “Emily, this is Sydney. Do you remember her from before?”
Emily looked up to Sydney, who gave her a smile and a tiny wave. After a moment she stepped forward and reached out for Sydney’s left hand, which was dangling at her side. “Yeah, come play!” she said, attempting to drag Sydney forward by her grip around Sydney’s index and middle fingers.
“Okay,” Sydney laughed, passing off the chips she had brought with her to Michael before following the toddler through to the back of the house and outside, where the rest of the party attendees had congregated. Emily immediately pulled Sydney over to her collection of toys on the patio, including a child-size pink Barbie Jeep, a few dolls and two water guns, which Sydney knew immediately had to have been a gift from Eric. Sydney crouched down beside Emily and let her dictate what they would be playing with. Emily chose a large piece of blue sidewalk chalk and began coloring the off-white colored patio.
“What are you drawing?” Sydney asked her.
“Water,” Emily responded. “Daddy say I can swim soon.”
“Oh yeah? Do you have a pool?” Sydney asked. She gazed out towards the back yard and found her answer: a child-size blow up pool turned upside down a few feet off the patio.
“Yeah, it’s pink!” Emily said with a grin.
“I see that,” Sydney laughed. “Is pink your favorite color?” she asked. Emily nodded. “Mine too,” Sydney winked to her.
“I see Sydney’s here,” Eric commented to Michael when he came over to check on the burgers and hot dogs. Michael looked over to Sydney and his daughter sitting on the corner of the patio coloring and nodded with a smile.
When he looked back to Eric and, he noted Eric’s smirk and asked, “What’s that look for?”
“Nothing… nothing… you just must really like her if you’re letting her around your precious baby,” Eric said with a slight laugh, knowing that in Emily’s three-and-a-half years of life, Michael never let anyone within ten feet of her unless they had already passed his scrutinizing background check.
“Shut up,” Michael muttered. He then walked over to Sydney and his daughter with a smile on his face. “How are we doin’ over here?”
Emily looked up at him with a grin. “Good. Look Daddy,” she said while pointing to her chalk creation on the ground.
“I see that; it’s very beautiful. What is it?”
“A pool!” Emily said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Can swim now?”
“Absolutely,” Michael nodded. “Go find Gramma and tell her to help you with your suit; I’ll fill up your pool.” Emily squealed and ran off while Sydney laughed as she stood, brushing chalk off her hands.
“She’s wonderful,” Sydney told him. “Would you like some help with the pool?”
“Thanks and yeah, I would, if you don’t mind,” Michael said. Sydney shook her head and walked out to the backyard where she flipped the pool over while Michael got the hose ready. Unfortunately, when he turned it on, it sprayed out and splashed Sydney with freezing water, which caused her to scream loudly before laughing. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Michael apologized quickly.
“No you’re not,” Sydney said with a playful smile.
“I am too! That was a total accident!”
“Suuuuuuure.”
“It was!” he instead with a laugh. Then, he sprayed her bare shin with the hose and laughed when she screamed again. “That was not,” he beamed.
“Terrible,” Sydney shook her head at him. They laughed for a few more minutes until Emily came barreling out of the house and jumped right into her pool. “Oh my god, how can she stand that?! It’s freezing!” Sydney exclaimed in horror as she was, once again, splashed with the icy water--this time by Emily.
“That is a very good question. I’m Michael’s mother, Amelia. You must be Sydney,” she said as she approached, extending her hand.
Sydney shook it. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, a bit surprised that she had been recognized. Then again, she figured she had been recognized most likely because she was the only person at Michael’s party his mother hadn’t met before. She was about to speak to Michael’s mother again, but was interrupted by a girlish scream erupting from Michael. When she looked towards him she burst out laughing; Emily had used a bucket from her play pool to dowse the front of his pants with water. Glancing briefly to Michael’s mother, she saw that she too was trying to hold in her snickers. Meanwhile, Emily was giggling wildly.
“Emily Renee, why did you do that?” Michael asked in an annoyed tone.
“Daddy looks funny!” she giggled.
“Emily, this isn’t funny. You cannot throw water on people,” he said sternly, while was Eric walking over to him, practically snorting with laughter.
“Dude, Mike, bathroom’s inside, man,” he snickered.
“Shut up,” Michael snapped before going inside so he could change his shorts. Eric continued to laugh in his direction until Emily struck once more. That time, though, she dumped a bucket of water onto his foot, which didn’t do much damage since he was wearing sandals, though the cold water did make him jump.
“She’s dangerous, this one,” Sydney said with a laugh as she playfully splashed some of the water onto Emily’s arm. Emily grinned at her.
“Yes, she can be,” Michael’s mother laughed softly. “So, Sydney, Michael tells me you’re a teacher. What do you teach?”
“Sixth grade English,” Sydney told her. “But I’m also a photographer. Oh! That reminds me – I left my camera in my car. Excuse me a moment,” she said before leaving.
When she returned two minutes later, camera in hand, she found Michael in dry shorts talking to Emily about the proper uses of her swimming pool water. “Oh good you’re dry; I was afraid she got you too,” Michael said to Sydney.
“Nope, I went to get this,” she said, holding up her camera. “Do you mind if I take some of Emily? I promise to give you all the good ones.”
“Go for it,” he encouraged with a smile. He stood back and watched as Sydney encouraged Emily to play while she snapped pictures. After a few minutes his mother pulled him aside, giving him her approval for Sydney. “Mom, relax, Sydney’s just my friend,” he emphasized.
“Sure, friend,” she said with a slight laugh. Michael rolled his eyes at her. Why did no one believe him?
