A couple of minutes later, an extremely happy Layla and an out-of-breath Devon finally made their way back to the bench where their friends were sitting. Devon gave Sebastain a sheepish smile as she sat down in the empty space eve side him, careful not to sit too close.
"Sorry about that. She loves the park," she explained quietly, leaning down to kiss the top of her daughter's head.
(IShoop-shoop-dedupe)
(Whoops)
Sebastian laughed it off, shaking his head while Ella squealed I’m edxitement. “Don’t worry about it.”
Layla reached for her friend, leaning out of her mother’s arms to hug the littler girl. She giggled and bubbled her name excitedly.
“Should we let them play here or go to the playground?” Devon wondered, glancing up at him with a small smile.
“Here,” Sebastian decided, “I’m a little worried about the one year-old using the playground.”
“True,” Devon murmured, a slight blush rising to her cheeks. She hadn’t even thought of that…
A small chuckle escaped his lips as he leaned back, watching the two children. Ella burbled happily, her blonde curls askew as she returned her little friend's sloppy embrace.
"Mommy! Mommy, put me down? I want play with Ella!" Layla giggled excitedly, grinning up at the young mother.
Devon glanced over at Sebastian, tiling her head in question. "Are you okay with Ella playing on the ground?"
“Yeah,” he answered, setting his daughter carefully down at his feet. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Devon nodded and followed suit. Layla squealed happily and tottered over to the littler girl, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. Her mother chuckled softly at the sight, casting a glance up at the man beside her out of the corner of her eyes.
Sebastian was too busy watching the two—specifically his daughter—with such fondness and adoration that the deep worry lines slipped from his face. His eyes shone, shirking their perpetually sad appearance as he looked upon the light of his life.
Devon smiled at the sight of the happiness of the man beside her. He looked nice when he smiled… She shook her head and turned back to watching the girls playing. It was really sweet, actually. She never got to see her daughter playing with other kids.
He exhaled softly, leaning forward to ruffle his daughter’s curls. “Play nice, Ella, okay?”
The little girl burbled happily.
“She’s so cute,” Devon chuckled softly, watching the girls. “I love her little curls…”
Sebastian nodded in agreement, suddenly quite sheepish as a result of his behaviour. “So, Devon,” he started, turning towards her. “How’re you?”
Devon glanced back up at Sebastian as he spoke, giving him a tiny smile. “I’m doing pretty well. Not much going on right now, I guess. What about you?”
"I'm doing okay," he answered, twisting the truth as much as he could without making it an outright lie. "Busy. How's your car holding up?"
“It’s good. I haven’t had any problems with it since you fixed it. Thank you,” Devon said.
"No problem," Sebastian smiled, "That's my job. I'll admit, it was a bit of a surprise to see you there."
“Oh, yes, definitely. I don’t know you worked there,” Devon admitted with a small shrug.
Sebastian rubbed sheepishly at the back of his head. “Yeah.”
Devon gave him a small smile and turned back to the kids. She chuckled softly as Layla played peekaboo with the younger girl, giggling when she made her laugh.
Sebastian fished for something else to say, sensing that the conversation was about to run dry. "Oh–I heard that they're thinking of doing a field trip of sorts at the daycare. Parents have to come if their kid is going, of course."
Devon glanced back up at Sebastian, blinking as she slowly remembered that. “Right, right… It was the Children’s Museum, right? Are you thinking of going with Ella?”
Sebastian gave a little shrug. "I mean, I'd love to, but I don't know if I can get off work. I'll figure something out. What about you?"