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“Sure, yeah I’ll be there. Thanks.”
Amanda hung up her phone and sighed. She looked over to the little crashing pirate figures together in the living room and sighed harder.
Today was supposed to be their day together after a hard couple weeks but now she’s being brought in to do some reshoots on a project she starred in last month.
They had never had to cancel an “Angela/Mama” day before, but she couldn’t see any other choice. She’d have to have Angela age up and hang out at home for a few hours while she went to work.
Unless…
“Mama, come play pirates with me!” Angela called from across the room, unaware of the issue at hand.
Amanda comes over and kneels down with a sad look on her face, causing the girl to sit up straight. Her fingers creep up to her mouth, a nervous habit that shows she’s not aging up anytime soon.
“Honey, I just got a call that they need me to go do some reshoots for that short film I was in. I wish it could happen any other day, but I have to go today. Can you age up and stay here? Or maybe you could go over to Shayne and Court’s for a bit?”
Angela shook her head in denial, tears already building up in her eyes.
“Nooo, Mama stay! It’s Mama/Angie day today!”
Amanda felt her heart break into tiny pieces, “I know honey, I wish we could have a Mama/Angie day but I have to work. Maybe someone could come here and babysit?”
Amanda had a long list of people her and Angela trusted, but she knew many of them were busy this weekend. She wracked her brain for anyone and an idea popped into her head.
“Didn’t you say Syd and Olivia used to watch you? Maybe they’d like to come over and hang out for a bit,” she said, hoping to excite the girl at two of her favorite people.
Angela’s face lit up for a split second and then dropped as quick as it came. “But I’m too big now, they’ll think I’m weird.”
“No, baby, they love big you and little you all the same. I know they do, we’ve talked about it before, remember? Should I just call and check?”
After a bit of thought, Angela decided it was worth a shot and nodded her head. Her mama pulled out her phone as she crawled into her lap, fingers still in her mouth. She listened as Amanda confirmed with Syd who then confirmed with Olivia that they both wanted to come over. Once logistics were figured out, Amanda went to go get ready, leaving Angela to play and think.
~*~
A knock at the door came much too quickly for Angela’s liking, but Amanda opened the door anyway. She heard the commotion of her two crazy friends rushing in and taking their shoes off, already telling a story to Amanda that was absolutely unbelievable if it were from anyone else.
Angela stayed back a bit, observing from around the corner. She’d been around Syd and Olivia tons of times when both big and small but it’s been so long. Would they still like her? Would they think she’s weird or too big or too small or-
“Ang, baby, come say hi! I gotta go soon too and I want a kiss before I go,” Amanda called over, seeing how shy her baby was being. Angela crept over to her side and burrowed into her to shield herself from the two people looking at her with slightly tamed excitement.
“Hi, Angela! We’re so excited to play with you! Your mama said you were playing pirates earlier,” Olivia said, trying to break the tension.
Syd nodded at that and added, “Pirates are so cool!”
This broke Angela out of her shell a bit. If they liked pirates, then this shouldn’t be too bad.
“I have a ship and some figures and a treasure chest! Will you guys play with me?” She asked sweetly, causing the girls to coo and agree emphatically.
“Great! Can’t wait to hear all about your adventures, baby. I’ll be gone a few hours and I’ll text you guys when I’m wrapping up. Bye, Ang, be good, I love you!” Amanda kisses her baby and pries her off her side to throw on her shoes and head out the door before she can fake an illness and stay. It was harder than she thought it would be to leave Angela, even though she knows she’ll be fine with their friends.
Angela watches her mama go and feels tears welling in her eyes once more. Syd and Olivia see this happening and jump into action.
“Oh, poor thing, Mama will be back so soon!”
“Yeah! We’re gonna have so much fun, you won’t even notice she’s gone!”
They surround her in a big group hug and wipe her tears away. Angela chews on her fingers a bit, melting into the embrace. After she calms down, they walk her over to her abandoned toys and sit down to coax her into playing. Angela plops herself down in Syd’s lap like old times and shows them both all her figures and accessories that come with the pirate ship.
Turns out, Syd and Olivia make great pirates. They get into characters right away, choosing the most grizzled and sea hardened figures quickly. They take Angela and her pirate ship all over the house searching for treasure. They vanquish foes easily and brave storms as they bounce on the couch, something Mama would never let her do.
When she collapses to the floor giggling and out of breath, they decide it’s lunchtime. Sandwiches are assembled and chips are piled up and not a single veggie is in sight, also something Mama would never allow. Angela thinks she could get used to these babysitters after all.
After lunch is supposed to be nap, but she convinces them that she’d rest best in a blanket fort in the living room. They grab all the blankets and pillows in the house and arrange them under sheets held up by the couch and some kitchen chairs. Once everyone is settled, they turn on Mulan and settle in together. Angela does end up sleeping, much to the satisfaction of her babysitters. Olivia snaps a pic of them and sends it to Amanda to show they’re all still in one piece.
Olivia and Syd doze off with Angela in the middle.
~*~
Amanda comes home to the biggest blanket fort she’s ever seen, the TV still on, dishes in the sink and food on the counter. There’s pirate figures everywhere and Spork looks at her from the couch with a “you left them in charge?” look. But when Amanda peeks into the fort and sees her girl cuddled up with their two friends, all sleeping soundly, she can’t feel anything but pure love.
She busies herself around the house by cleaning up until Syd and Olivia stir. They pry themselves out of the fort and look at Amanda sheepishly, coming over to help clean up.
The adults chat about their day and laugh until their stomachs ache over coffee. Angela eventually comes over at the commotion and is pulled down onto Amanda’s lap for some snuggles.
“I missed you, baby. Did you have fun today?” She whispers in her ear. Angela nods energetically and jumps into telling her all about their pirate adventure with Syd and Olivia adding in some details.
Maybe babysitters weren’t so bad after all.