“To make a long story short, I lied to him that it belonged to my little cousin, you, and that you lost while in the store with my mom. Mark can be a bit of a pushover if you know how to get to him.” Kimberly says as Olivia beams below her.
“Thank you so sososo much, Kimmy!” The toddler says, her excitement getting the better of her as she fidgets in place. Kimberly can’t help but stifle a giggle as Olivia realizes the display she’s causing.
“It’s no problem, glad to help my former babysitter.” Kimberly says, playfully tussling Olivia’s messy mid length hair, much to her dismay.
“Can we go back to the apartments, now? I wanna grow back up again.” Olivia asks, her childish disposition becoming remarkably natural as she starts pace in very small circles, her excitement starting to mount.
“About that… I was on my way to a baby sitting gig of my own right now. My friend Miss Chen asked if I could watch her Niece, Charlotte.”
Olivia sobered out of her toddler state and with a measure or unexpected maturity says “You can’t cancel or just call in late?”
Kimberly takes a second to think as Olivia stomach starts to gurgle. “Dang, what have you been eating to cause you so much stomach issues, Liv?”
“I dunno, I was a grown ass man not an hour ago and I had a decent lunch, it‘s gotta go somewhere.” She says, blushing a bit as her youth starts to creep back into her mannerisms.
“Anyway, it’s Charlotte’s birthday. I’ve gotta watch her so that they can get her surprise, her other mom’s coming back from overseas. It’s a whole deal and I promised I’d be there soon.” Kimberly looks at her watch and her eyes go wide. “Speaking of soon, I’ve gotta move.” She picks Olivia up, to which she does not resist. “How’s about this, you go with me and have a bit of fun at a 4 year old’s surprise birthday party for an hour or two and I’ll take you home, or you can waddle your way back and risk being kidnapped or something. What do you say, kid?”
Olivia felt a mix of feelings as she was essentially being told her ultimatum as Kimberly seemingly made the decision for her, but she still wanted to voice that decision.