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Stephanie clung to her neck like she was even younger, like she was a baby again, uncharacteristically still in her arms. Her halo of blond curls in disarray, staring at the other kids in front of them, captivated and quiet, which she had only been during a handful of times in her life.
The other noises of the playground had all faded into the background, and the other little girl blinked up cautiously.
"I've never seen Cass want to come here so bad before she met Steph." Dick's voice was piping and reedy, brimming slightly with energy. He was about her age, maybe a bit younger, with messy hair like Stephanie's, but black as ink, his skin bronzed by the summer sun. His expression was guileless. "I guess we really don't don't compare to your new friend, huh Cassie?"
Cass, her hair black as her brother's, brown-eyed and silent in her tiny black tee and tutu, gazed up. Round-eyed and quiet as an owl.
Barbara smiled as best she could at her and set Stephanie down. Her trance broken, Steph shrieked with glee and ran off into the playground, kicking up a cloud of red dust that seeped into her tangled hair and new dress. Cass smiled tentatively up at Barbara in turn, before taking her hand in her own small, sticky one.
She made a long, garbled noise in her throat, before frowning, then sighing.
"Are you telling me 'thank you'?" Barbara guessed.
Cass nodded.
"Alright. You're welcome, kid."
Cass smiled again, a little broader now. Then she turned on her heel and followed Steph, striking out into the sunlight like a little black dart, the two girls' voices rising with joy as they began to play.
"It's nice to see Steph happy now," Barbara opined, pushing her round, oversized glasses further up her nose. Her hair was ponytailed, and she was, to her dismay, as skinny as Dick -- though at least he was shorter. She was holding out hope that puberty would keep their height difference intact. "When we first got her, she was only two and she still almost took my hand off at the wrist when I tried to hold her. Dead mom, felon dad..."
"Kinda the same thing with Cassie," Dick remarked. The two of them approached the playground slower than the younger kids; he picked her book up out of her hands and curiously studied the cover. "But she was like a stray cat, you would never see her unless she wanted to be seen, and was always running away and stuff."
At the top of the slide, Cass snuck up on her friend, tagged her, and then immediately slid down in a fit of giggles, despite Steph's outraged baby-yells.
Barbara sat down on the swings. Dick, unable to sit still for as long as she'd known him, instantly tumbled into the one next to her and began to pump, going higher and higher with each stroke.
"You'd never believe it now, though!" he called breathlessly, jumping up to stand on the swing itself, clutching the chains in his laughter. Almost falling a few times, clinging to the chains with gasps that made his eyes go wide.
She laughed too, though not without affection, pushing her glasses up her nose and opening her book back up. Kicking her feet under her as she sat, the swing creaking gently.
The air was rich with early-summer warmth, the scent of green leaves and lilacs. Only a few soda cans lay scattered in the grass, dogs barking in the distance and parents calling, an ice cream cart beginning to set up nearby, and in in the morning light, Barbara absently looked up now and again to see her friend, his small silhouette bathed in light.
For some reason, this brought warmth to her cheeks.
She never had been able to name the reason he made her smile; it went beyond the satisfaction she took from Cass and Steph's innocent joy. He was endlessly making her laugh even when she rolled her eyes; even though she knew he and his sister had been sad, and though she sometimes still saw that sadness in his eyes, it seemed to be eased by her presence. It touched her, that that very act of simply making her smile would make him happy in turn.
When he jumped down from the swings, he almost instantly turned around to sit back on them again. But this time, he just sat with her, still kicking the dirt, still fidgety, but now not moving.
Barbara thought he was waiting for something.
"D'you wanna play?" she asked, lowering her book. "D'you want me to come with you?"
"S'okay." He toed the tip of his sneaker in the dust. "I just like being with you."
Her cheeks colored -- which she immediately tried to hide.
"Aww." She reached out and tweaked his nose, making him whine indignantly. "You're just a big dummy-dumb."
"And you're mean. I dunno why I spend any time with you."
"Same."
They both looked at each other for a moment. Then both instantly broke down into laughter.
The girls came back only a few moments later, Steph launching herself into her lap and almost knocking her off the swing. Cass giggled quietly, sitting down on the dry earth between them, her face and pretty tutu filthy.
After a moment, she pointed at Barbara's book.
"What is it?"
She kept pointing.
"You want her to read it out loud and stuff?"
Cass nodded.
Steph looked delighted, sliding down next to her friend in an instant. Peering up expectantly.
Barbara looked at Dick.
"You don't mind?" she asked, unusually quiet. He just shrugged, beginning to smile again.
"Sure, I mean, if you like it, it should be okay for me too, right? 'Cause we're friends?"
"Sure." Tentative once more, she smiled back.
When she spoke, the girls listened. Dick leaned his head into her shoulder and she reached a hand out to grasp his swing. Pulling him toward her until when they swayed, it was in unison -- as though in their little happiness upon that summer day, they were one.