Shara had picked the twins up early from Karissa and Will's home. Today was a Saturday and her first Saturday off in awhile. She was thankful, because she couldn't wait to spend it babysitting her niece and nephew - Maya Amber-Marie and Luc Ryan. Since the day they were born, Shara had taken on her role of doting aunt seriously, loving every moment of the twins' development and each new discovery. And each time they all learned that the twins were more and more like their mother - which also meant they were like their Aunt, she smiled.
"I have a whole day planned for us," she smiled as she held the twins hands.
"Doughnuts!" Luc cried. "We want doughnuts!"
Shara laughed. "Didn't your mother give you breakfast?"
The twins both shook their heads. "She said you get us breakfast," Maya said. "Doughnuts?" she asked softly.
Shara's dark eyes twinkled. "Okay, doughnuts! And chocolate milk!"
"Yay!" the twins squealed with delight.
Shara took them to the Galaxy Diner where she knew they had fresh doughnuts and many different varieties. She ordered for them, after they looked at pictures and decided the ones they wanted - Chocolate with colorful sprinkles! Shara opted for a Bavarian crème filled doughnut. As the waitress brought them with the chocolate milk, Shara smiled as the twins devoured every crumble of the doughnut and every sprinkle.
"So what do you want to do after this?" she asked.
"Park!" Maya cried. "Want to play at the park!"
Luc nodded his agreement.
"Okay, then I'm going to make sure we take a picnic lunch with us," she replied. As the waitress came back, she asked. "Do you make picnic lunches to go?"
"Well we sure do, honey!" the waitress replied, smacking some gum. "Just let me know what you want and we'll put it in a basket."
"Sounds perfect!" she smiled. It took her no time to choose a few items. Within minutes the waitress returned with the basket.
After taking care of the bill, Shara took the twins to the park. As they got closer they passed several interesting stores and a few street vendors. She couldn't resist getting the twins a pair of dog and cat toys that sounded real, and even moved a bit.
She picked a spot near the playground and almost instantly the twins were off, running toward their favorite things - the slide and the jungle gym. Several other kids and parents were there enjoying the cool autumn day. As Luc made a jump to the top of the jungle gym, many of the kids and parents gasped with surprise. Shara merely smiled as she approached.
"Take it easy, Luc, you don't want to scare everyone around you now," she laughed.
"Okay, Aunt Shara. Sorry," he replied.
"That's okay," she replied, as she turned toward Maya who was giggling as she slid down the rather large slid.
She knew the other parents were talking about the twins. It was inevitable - it happened even to her and Karissa when they were young. But what those around them didn't know was that those they were talking about could hear them easily.
After awhile, Maya tugged on Shara's shirt. "Why they talk about us?" she asked, her eyes gazing up at her Aunt yet pointing to a couple of parents sitting on a blanket nearby.
"Because they don't know better," she replied. "Were they saying anything mean?"
Maya thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. "They just surprised. Never seen kids like us before."
"It just means you're unique," Shara smiled, scooping her niece into her arms. "And that's a good thing. It means you're not like anyone else. You're special!" With that she kissed the little girl.
Maya giggled. Suddenly, Luc came up. "Play Hide and Seek!" he said excitedly. "I wanna play hide and seek!"
"I think we can do that!" Shara smiled as they walked off the playground and toward the grass and trees. "You two go hide!" she said as she closed her eyes.
Immediately, she heard more giggling and little feet running off. She immediately started counting to twenty.
"Ready or not, here I come!" she replied, being greeted by yet more giggling.
As she walked around, she pretended not to know where they were and dragged it out for a bit, just to egg on their excitement. But she knew they were above her in the branches of a tree. Suddenly, when they least expected it, she jumped up beside them.
"I found you!" she said as they burst into more giggles.
They played a few more games of hide and seek followed by games of tag. When they finally sat down for lunch they were more than a little hungry. They were still drawing curious looks from those that had watched the games, but they were looks of interest, not malice.
After eating, they all lay back on the grass just beyond the branches of the tree and looked up at the sky, gazing at the clouds and making shapes from them. But eventually, they left the park. On their way out, Shara bought them each a balloon and an ice cream. As a final bit of spoiling, she took them both to McCairn's Kids Depot and bought them each a book after wiping them off.
Now fully spoiled for the day, Shara took the twins home. The sun was beginning to set as they reached the door. Karissa immediately opened it.
"So how was it?" Karissa asked looking at the twins holding their balloons, books and toys.
"We wanna go again!" Luc chimed in.
Shara smiled as Karissa laughed. "I guess they had a good time."
"We had the bestest time!" Maya smiled.
Karissa laughed again as she scooped the twins up into her arms. "It looks like you did!" She kissed both of them. "I hope you're hungry. Dinner's on the table. We're having macaroni and cheese."
"Yay!!!" the twins cheered.
"Want to come in and join us? I had planned on it," Karissa said, her brown eyes twinkling.
"Well, if you put it that way," Shara said, following Karissa into the house.
"Will and I want to hear all about today and how much you spoiled the twins," she said.
Shara smiled. "Well, it is the prerogative of the Aunt to spoil her nieces and nephews, right?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Karissa replied.
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