"Soccer Aunt powers, activate!"

therealljidol Week 1: When you pray, move your feet

Gavin and Bella throw their backpacks on the floor and go tearing through the house and right out the door to the backyard once we get home. Cathy and I exchange a look and laugh as we move our groceries into the kitchen. She lifts the blinds on the kitchen windows and watches them chase each other up the ladder on the playhouse.

"They'll be fine out there by themselves, right?" Cathy asks me. She turns away from the window and hands me the bag of tortellini we bought especially for the kids.

"It's their swing set," I reply, "what's the worst that could happen?"

I pull out a pot from the cabinet next to the stove, and as I start to fill it with water, Bella comes rushing back inside. Over the sound of the water, someone is screaming in pain.

"Gavin's crying," says Bella. "He fell, I think."

"Oh, jesus fucking christ, not now," I say, and I rush past her and out the door. Behind me, I hear Bella tell Cathy that I said a bad word in the middle of Jesus' name, but Cathy's response to her is lost in the haze of oh god oh god oh god please let him be okay and thank GOD I kept my shoes on going through my mind.