Hot Over Summer, Back in the Game

[Kelli-wa]

Noah reached the park with his younger siblings, each of them holding one of his hands. He let out a sigh, it was hot and he'd brought some cool drinks in his cooler/backpack, along with some ice pops for the twins. Rylann saw the swing set and instantly jumped up and down, trying to escape her brother's grasp. "Noaaaaah! I have to go to the swiiiiings!!" she whined, pulling with her arm as she tried to speed him up. He sighed lightly, "Ry, those swings will still be there when we get to the playground. Daylin isn't even here yet, either." They were supposed to meet Malachi and his niece along with a few other people with small kids at the park that day. He wasn't looking forward to it. The only reason he'd agreed to it was because he really thought his siblings needed the interaction with kids their own age during the summer and there was no way Oliver would try to provide that for them.

He got tired of her pulling and let her go when they got closer to the playground. She shot off, running toward the swings at full speed. The only thing that little girl liked more than swinging was running, and she had the energy to do it all day long if she wanted. Rowan on the other hand was mad. "Noah, no one wikes me..." he whispered lightly. Rowan was an awkward child, much like Noah had been when he was young, so he understood. "Rowan, people like you, I promise," he said. "Besides, I like you, and who else matters?" He smiled down at his brother and the little boy smiled and nodded. They reached the mulch and Noah let go of Rowan's hand. "Go play with your sister." Rowan did so obediently, going to swing next to is younger (by three minutes) sister.

[Mia]

"Pawk, pawk, pawk, pawk..." Seth shook his head as his nephew happily chanted beside him as they walked to the park. It was a great day out today, and Seth thought that the kids needed to get out and get some fresh air, maybe even make some new friends. Especially his sister Aithne, who was happily skipping alongside him, hopping over the lines of the side walk. Jaidyn had readily agreed to letting Seth take her daughter out, but it had taken him some time to persuade Rayne to let her son go. "Ucle Sef?" Seth looked down at Ryder, who swung his hand between them. "Will there be swides at da pawk?" Seth chuckled at Ryder's speech. "Yes Ryder, there will be slides."

"And san' bocks?" Ryder peered up at his uncle curiously. "Yes, and a sand box." Seth felt tiny arms tighten around his neck, and glanced at the three year old girl. "We get to swing?" She asked softly. "Mhm. Lot's of swings." Yume smiled a bit, resting her head on her uncles shoulder. "You push?" Seth nodded. "Yeah Yume. I'll push you if you want." Finally they made it to the park, and Seth let go of Ryder's hand, laughing as he and Aithne made a beeline to the swings and slide respectively. Yume squirmed in Seth's arms and he let her down, smiling when she tottered over to the sandbox and plopped down in it, gathering the sand in her tiny hands.

[Tori]

Rolling down the sidewalk on his new scooter, Jayson sped up so he was way ahead of his brother. He did it until they were in sight of their destination; the park. "I'll race you, Bayne!" the little boy yelped to his much older brother, who simply laughed, jogging ahead to catch up to Jayson. "Alright, but I won't go easy on you." he snickered at him, speeding up his running pace, easily passing the six-year old on the scooter. Jayson's eyes widened, suddenly pushing on the ground harder with his foot, speeding up his own pace.

After finally making it into the park and near the playground, Bayne skidded to a stop waiting for his kid brother to do the same. Jayson stopped next to Bayne, busy catching his breath before continuing to ramble. "No fair. You cheated." he finally let out, Bayne letting out a small chuckle, bending down to Jayson's level. "How was that cheating? You're on wheels and I'm on foot." Bayne argued, and Jayson scrunching up his face at him. Bayne laughed. "Go on, go play. I'll just be sitting on on the nearby bench." he motioned towards the bench near another guy who seemed to have just shooed away his own siblings to play. Jayson nodded, removing his helmet tossing it to Bayne to hold onto, as well as his scooter, and he sped off towards the swings, only to land one of them on his stomach, swinging back and forth. Bayne simply shook his head, heading off to the bench he said he'd be at, taking a rest himself.

[Kelli-wa]

Daylin was not happy to be going to the park. She didn't want new friends she wanted Juliet and Leo to come back. That obviously wasn't happening and Edward was about to go insane not having anything to entertain her, so he'd sent Malachi to the park with her in a last ditch effort to get a little socialization for them both. "Uncle Cai! I don't want to play at the park. The park is for babies." Malachi laughed, "Daylin, the park isn't for babies. I love the park and Aunt Ali loves the park and so does Uncle Nick and Aunt Tess and Aunt Alegrah," he said, trying to convince her that the park was the cool place to be, but Daylin was all for the drama.

Malachi saw Noah and smiled, he'd met the boy not to long ago when he'd returned from his grandparents' house in Indiana. They had hit it off at their meeting and had been talking ever since. "Noah!" he hollered, gaining the boy's attention. "Hey man," he said, giving him a gentle salute. Malachi looked at his niece, "Hey, why don't you go talk to that boy? He must like swinging too. Or Rowan and Rylann, you remember me telling you about them don't you." Daylin just sighed and rolled her eyes. Malachi shook his head, it was going to be a long day if she didn't get over her diva phase.

[Tori]

After dragging her son around town yet again, searching for any type of job worth going after, Jayde realized that she wasn't spending as much time with Kameron as she would of liked to. And since they were near the park anyway, she decided to take a break from the real world, and give Kameron a little time to relax and play. Especially since it was summer, and most of the kids were at the park, it was the perfect time for the little four-year old to bring up some of the social skills he lacked.
Jayde held onto his hand up until they approached the playground, where other kids were playing. Kameron tightened his grip on his mothers hand, looking up at him with a worried look. "Momma..." he pouted, "a lot of kids here already." he muttered, hiding his face in her legs. "Kameron..." Jayde said softly to her son, kneeling down to his level to comfort him, "It's okay. Don't you want to meet new friends to play with?" Kameron shook his head keeping the pout on his lips. "Oh, sure you do. And look," she pointed to the slide where another child was sliding down. "Looks like someone else likes slides just as much as you do. Why don't you go play with them? I'll just be sitting over there." she pointed to a bench where the other teens were located. "Go on. It'll be alright." she kissed his head, "I promise." Kameron nodded his head slowly, turning around, and with a slight nudge from his mother, he made his way to the playground, climbing up the latter to the top of the slide, getting ready to slide down.

[Mia]

Ryder looked up as a few kids neared the swing, giggling when one jumped on his stomach. "I can't do that." He pouted, looking down at his own small body. He didn't say anything to the kids though, since he wasn't a very out-going kid, and continued to swing quietly. Aithne, on the other hand, loved making new friends. She sat at the top of the slide, debating on whether or not she wanted to go on her stomach, and then noticed a boy behind her. She turned with a small smile. "Hi~" She greeted, noticing the boy didn't look to happy to be here. "Do you want to slide with me?"

Yume, all alone in the sandbox, noticed her family members each having someone to play with, and felt a bit left out. She figured nobody wanted to play with her, and that made her feel lonely. Tears welled in her blue eyes as she dropped her shovel, and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands.

[Kelli-wa]

Daylin walked over to the swing set and watched the boy who was swinging(Jayson). She shook her head lightly, "Why are you going so high?" she asked him. "You're going to get tired and then you'll have to take a nap later..." She never liked to over exhort herself, especially not playing on the playground. She preferred to use her time playing with barbies or painting her nails.

Rylann noticed the small red headed boy who came over to the slide. She jumped from her swing and walked over to him. "Hi!" she said with a grin. "Do you want to play with me?" she was a very friendly girl, and she loved making new friends. Her twin brother on the other hand, wasn't so excited. He walked over to his older brother and leaned against his leg. Noah looked down. "Hey, bud, what's wrong?" Rowan shrugged and stood back against Noah's legs. His older brother simply shook his head. "I think Oliver's coming in a few minutes so I can go home and work on my summer homework," Noah said, more to Malachi than anyone. Malachi looked up at him, "Gross, summer homework? That would be horrible." Noah nodded.

Oliver was in fact coming, he was actually almost there. He let out a sigh and shook his head. He hated the park, but now that Noah had gotten him there, there was no way he was going to be able to leave without Rylann and Rowan being exhausted. He reached the park and looked at Noah, shaking his head. "You had better get your little ass home before I kick it," he hissed in his ear. Noah wanted to yell at him, tell him to quit being stupid, but he wouldn't. Not in the park and not in front of their younger siblings. "Hey, I gotta go, Row." He bent down and kissed the boy on the head before waving a small goodbye to Malachi and starting to head off, but not before handing his 24-year-old brother the backpack/cooler with drinks and popsicles in it. Oliver sighed and plopped himself down on the bench. Rowan immediately attached himself to his Oli's leg once he was seated.

[Tori]

As Jayson flew his body higher and higher on the swing, still on his stomach I might add, he couldn't help but overhear a little girl saying something to him. He didn't catch the whole thing, but he got something about taking a nap. "Why do I need to take a nap? I never get tired." he scoffed, pushing off the ground with his feet harder again in order to get higher and faster in the air, turning his head back away from the little girl who clearly was older than him by a year or so.

Kameron made it up to the top of the slide only to be stopped by a little girl who had already beat him to it first. He stepped back shortly, looking at his feet with his hands wrinkling his shirt. "Um.." he started to say, but again, was stopped by another little girl who seemed a bit more peppier than the other girl on the slide. "Um..I wante' slide." he muttered out quietly to the second girl speaking to him, glancing at the girl on the slide again then to the rim of his shirt he was wrinkling.

[Kelli-wa]

Daylin gave the boy a look that said 'thats the most ludacris thing I've ever heard.' She shook her head, "Everyone gets tired. I'm six and I still take cat naps," she said, it was something her Aunt Ali always said "cat naps." She shook her head as he went higher still. She said something that she'd heard her father say to her a million times, "You're gonna hurt yourself and I won't feel bad for you!"

Rylann nodded at the boy's statement. "Okay well you go after her and I'll go after you! We can all we free-unds!" She loved making new friends, especially when she got to play with them. She liked following what others were doing and she definitely liked taking turns, although she was an even better leader. She's been bossing her twin around her whole life after all.

Oliver looked down at Rowan and sighed, "What do you want, little man?" he asked. Rowan looked up at him, cowering down a little bit as he did so. "Noah packed some popsicles, you want one?" he asked. Rowan thought about it for a second before he agreed to the offer. Oli started digging around in the backpack and pulled out The grape flavor, Rowan's favorite.

[Tori]

Jayson continued swinging on his belly higher and higher, until the girl started rambling to him again. He grind-ed his feet against the cushioned floor, still leaning over the swing on his stomach as he looked up to the girl speaking to him. "Okay. I do get tired...but not enough to take a nap in the daytime knowing there is other stuff I could do." he told the girl, rocking the swing back and forth slowly, not taking his eyes off of the girl, "And I'm not gonna get hurt. Not this time, anyway. I do this all the time!" he exclaimed, pushing off the ground again, swinging himself back in the air, holding his arms out in front of him when he got the chance.

Kameron nodded at the girl's thought then, slowly making his eyes back up to the girl with half a smile on his face, before turning back around waiting patiently for the other little girl to slide down, so he could do so next.

[Mia]

Ryder continued to swing silently, watching the other two talk. He wanted to talk to them as well, but couldn't muster up the courage to say anything and kept quiet instead, lowering his gaze.
"Sorry!" Aithne giggled, not realizing she had a tiny line behind her. Finally sliding down, she giggled out a "wheee!" landing on the ground and then hopping back up, going to climb the ladder for another turn after the other two went.
Yume, after deciding nobody liked her, stood and wobbled over to where Seth had sat under a tree near a bench, tears still pooling in her eyes. "What's the matter Yume?" Seth asked. "Nobudy wikes me." The little girl whimpered, tears falling down her cheeks.

[Tori]

Kameron mustered up a wider grin then, watching the friendly girl in front of him slide down first. He couldn't help at giggle at her reaction to the slide then. Guess there were people who loved slides just as much as he did. Waiting for the girl to get out of the way, he plopped down on his bottom, scooting closer to the edge of the slide, before pushing himself downward, holding up his hands gleefully. "Wheee!" he squealed next, landing on the bottom of the slide with a soft 'oof', and quickly running off back to the ladder climbing back up to the top of the slide full of giggles.

[Kelli-wa]

Daylin shook her head lightly, “Yes you will!” she insisted. “Daddy says you’ll get hurt if you go too high! You’re going too high and if you do it for too long you’ll fall off and get hurt! Plus, you aren’t swinging right…” She shook her head, unaware that it was rude of her to correct this boy’s behavior. She just thought that he should know that he was going to hurt himself.

Rylann followed up the slide after Kameron and took her turn there, but unlike the other two, she wasn’t interested in doing it over and over. Once was enough for her. She saw a dark-complected boy on the swings. She grinned and walked over to him. “Hi!” she said cheekily, “I’m Rylann! Can I swing with you?”

Oliver saw the girl crying next to what appeared to be her older brother, or maybe an uncle. He smiled down at Rowan, who was finished with his ice-pop. “Hey, Rowan, why don’t you go give that girl a flower?” he asked lightly. “I’m sure that’ll cheer her up…” Rowan looked at the little girl and nodded, he now had a mission. He searched and searched for the perfect flower, which ended up being just the yellow bloom of a dandelion, but once he found it, he ran over to her and handed it to her bashfully.

[Mia]

Ryder looked up at hearing someone talking, blinking when he realized she was talking to him. "Hi. I'm Ryder." He smiled. "Sure!" He was glad someone was talking to him, since he had considered leaving the swings to go play on something else.

Aithne climbed up the ladder again, this time turning so she was sliding down backwards. Giggling the whole way down, she landed on her butt and immediately hopped up, going to climb back up the ladder to wait for the boy to have his turn.

Yume's tears had just started to subside when she saw a yellow flower cloud her vision. She looked up, eyes wide and slowly reached out to grab the flower presented to her. "Tank you." Yume muttered, smiling up at the boy, her eyes shining from left over tears.

[Tori]

Despite the little girl's argument against the way Jayson was swinging, he ignored her for the slightest moment, getting one last good swing in before scraping his feet against the ground, stopping himself slowly. He gazed his eyes back towards the girl's face, his body still in the same position as it was before. "But its much more fun to swing like this." he argued back, almost in more of a whiney tone this time. "Besides, I wasn't gonna do it for a long time anyways..." he pouted, lifting his body back to his feet again, approaching the girl then. "You wanna play tag?" he asked randomly, but without letting her even get an answer in, he quickly tapped her her shoulder yelling, "Tag, you're it!" and he dashed off towards the other side of the playground.

Kameran noticed the girl that had been talking to him earlier, left, and he was left alone with the first girl again. He didn't mind. In fact, he half-hoped that this other girl would leave too, so that he could have the whole slide to himself. He didn't mean to be rude, he just wasn't that sociable as he could be at this age. He watched the girl suddenly sliding down backwards then. He giggled himself, and was about to do just the same. He got himself settled in the seat, facing backwards, and was just about to let himself slide on down, but was startled when his mother had called out to him, "Kameran, don't go backwards, please! Feet first." Kameran frowned, but like he usually did, he obeyed his mother, fixing his position and sliding down the same way he did last time, giggling all the way down to the ground. He picked himself back up and scrambled back up the steps to the top again, where the girl was waiting for him.