“I’ll come to the party,” Olivia mumbles reluctantly. Kimberly beams at her.
“Great!” Kimberly brings Olivia over to her car and buckles her into a car seat. “After the party, we can try to get this figured out.”
Olivia doesn’t enjoy the car ride to the party. Kimberly blasts Top 40 hits at full volume, instead of the classic rock that Olivia prefers. The windows are all rolled down, causing the wind to toss and mess with Olivia’s hair. Olivia’s stomach gurgles again, but she’s unsure of whether it’s from nerves, discomfort, or the growing pressure in her abdomen.
After what feels like forever, they pull up to a cute suburban house. Kimberly rolls up the windows, turns off the car, and then removes Olivia from the car seat. She sticks a finger down the back of Olivia’s diaper again.
“Still dry,” she comments. “I’m impressed.” Kimberly walks into the house, still carrying Olivia. A middle-aged Asian woman is sitting on the floor in the living room, playing with a girl who looks a bit older than Olivia. “Hi, Miss Chen!” The woman, Miss Chen, looks up with a smile.
“Kimberly!” she greets cheerfully. The little girl looks up as well, beaming broadly.
“Kimmy!”
“Oh, who’s your little friend?” Miss Chen asks.
“This is my little cousin, Olivia. There was an emergency and I needed to watch her. Is that all right?”
“That’s perfectly fine. Charlotte loves meeting new people,” Miss Chen says. The little girl, Charlotte, nods eagerly.
“I want new friend!”
“How about you go play with Charlotte, Livvy?” Kimberly says, setting Olivia down. Charlotte gets up and toddles over to Olivia. She lacks the distinct diaper bulge that Olivia currently has, so her potty training is clearly further along than Olivia’s is at the moment.
Olivia does not want to play with Charlotte. She’ll do anything to delay it for even a minute or two. One thing comes to mind, and without thinking, Olivia does it.