Esme and Cassidy <3

[Esme Russel]

Esme was a paranoid mother and that was the absolute nicest way to put it. She didn't stop Cici from having normal childhood experiences like going to the playground but she admittedly went a little overboard when t came to dealing with possible germs. She had used fifty anti-bacterial wipes to clean the swing seat before setting her precious snowflake inside of it and she wouldn't even consider putting her near that death trap meaning the sandbox. How could parents allow their children to play in something that resembled a litter box? Cats don't know the difference between litter and sand so how could you know that your little pumpkin wasn't going to eat a nice cat poop? Yeah, you don't know and she quite frankly didn't want her daughter to ever eat any feces from anything.

She could have a perfectly normal childhood without ever setting foot into one of those horrible disgusting things, right? Right. Jonathan usually came to the playground with them but he had to work today so it was just her and Cici. She was always cautious around strange men and such but even more so when it was just her and her daughter especially now that she was pregnant again and definitely showing. She could try and say that it wasn't terribly obvious that she was pregnant but she definitely was. You just never know sometimes! She didn't want to put her and her daughter at risk because she was too naive to know that bad things could happen. She wasn't a negative person and everyone knew that she was extremely likable and friendly but she had to be on guard sometimes. She never knew how deeply that having a mother was going to change her perception on things. She use to literally go to strange men for sex and now she was worried about the guy sitting on the bench at the playground.

"Baby girl." She cooed as she pushed lightly on the swing and looked around to see if any of the mothers that she knew were hanging around, too. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't wish that she had more parent friends. Sure there was Thalia but she had a child younger and she wouldn't even let people hold Cole so it was hard to bond with her over their children when she didn't trust her and Kegan, of course. He would be the most logical choice considering that his children were close in age to Cici and he also had another baby but they weren't really that great of friends so she couldn't just suggest they hang out somewhere plus Thalia would probably have her head. Caroline and Kirsten were... well they just didn't seem to agree with her parenting and that's fine. Kirsten wasn't a bad mother but she was making choices for herself over the best of her child and Caroline's baby was simply too old for them to have much in common in that area leaving her alone on that front. Now, she had wonderful child-free friends who loved her but it was different.

[Cassidy Simmons]

Cassidy sat at a bench, her paraplegic crutches set up next to her as she watched Jonie on the playground, climbing up and down to ride the small, short kiddie slide. She sighed, scrunching her eyebrows and pursing her lips. It was difficult, not being able to chase her own little baby girl around and play with her as much as she wished she could. This was one of the clearest reasons to Cassidy as to why she couldn't be a real mother to Jonie. Her condition. Her chair. Sure, she'd gotten surgery and she was getting better, she could walk, but... she wasn't strong enough, yet. The surgery wasn't a guarantee, there was a chance that one day her legs would just give out on her in the future, which she really hoped wouldn't happen, but the fact that she wasn't physically able to take care of her own daughter killed Cassidy. The waiting was aching her and she wanted so badly to just be strong again.

Her eyes went teary for a moment, until she saw the little girl running towards her. "Oh, baby!" Cassidy laughed slightly getting up and kneeling down as Jonie wobble-ran towards her and leaped into her arms, "Jonie," she nuzzled her face into the small girl's soft head, holding her close for a moment and trying to just savor this day she had to spend with her daughter. She pulled away, then fixed the little bow-headband on her head, smiling at her, "I love you so much, baby," she insisted, laying a soft kiss on her forehead.

Jonie began to tug on her sleeve, and Cassidy raised an eyebrow, until she saw her little arm pointing towards the swings, and she looked up, curiously, and froze when she saw a familiar red-head across the way, not too far from them, "Oh, Jonie, no, I--" she couldn't tell Esme she had a daughter! And if Esme saw her with Jonie... Cassidy quickly turned her back towards the area of the swings, "Baby, we can go on the swings later, okay? You hungry?" She picked up her daughter, who seemed to be a little fussy, making whining noises and staring at the swings, and proceeded to walk over to the bench where her bag was, "Jonie, please..."