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The last day of school came faster than anticipated. Callie Taylor Shipman, having successfully completed the third grade came running out of her class as the bell rang, and sprinted at full speed towards the exit. The thing about school getting out was that Callie knew exactly who would be waiting for her at the entrance of the school.
Jackie leaned against her black SUV parked in the pick up lane, most parents would often sit in their cars enjoying the aircon while they waited for their child. But Jackie took it upon herself to park, even though the crossing attendant often yelled at her, and she would wait to see little Callie running out the school gates.
The past few weeks had been a chaotic mess within the Taylor-Shipman household, with Summer Break fast approaching little Callie was jumping off the walls with excitement one second and then sobbing, leaving tears on her chubby cheeks as she mourned the inevitable fate of the school year ending.
Callie was a sensitive child, Jackie had learned early on that she got that from Shauna. As much as Callie reflected her own sass and teasing personality, Callie was equally Shauna’s copy. And every time Callie cried, Jackie couldn’t help but think of her wife when they were in elementary school. It hurt her heart back then and it hurt even now. The Shipman women tend to have that effect on people, especially with their sad brown puppy eyes.
So Jackie found herself standing outside of her car, with a happy meal purchased and placed in the back seat next to Callie's booster seat, and she made sure to bribe the worker with extra tips to throw both kinds of toys in the box. Jackie was making sure her baby girl got a good end of year.
When Jackie saw Callie running towards her, her first thought was Oh no, something was off. But then she saw the smile plastered on her face and her hair which had been neatly tied up in to pig tails was now coming undone. Her little back that hung off her tiny frame bounced up and down as she sprinted toward Jackie.
“DAD!” Callie exclaimed.
“Hey baby,” Jackie leaned down to let the girl run into her arms as she hugged her tightly, “Happy Summer Break!” Jackie congratulated Callie as she kissed her chubby cheek repeatedly.
“DAD! Stop you’re embarrassing me!” Callie whined.
“Aw bug” Jackie made a show of being sad, “I guess if I’m embarrassing then I won’t give the gift I had waiting for you.”
Callie’s eyes widened as the word surprised. Yeah, she definitely was her daughter.
“No! Dad I was just kidding, I promiseeee” She tried to convince Jackie,
Jackie snorted, “Alright give me a tight hug and then we’ll get you buckled in and you can have your surprise.”
Callie threw her arms around Jackie, her arms wrapping around her mom’s neck as she hugged her so tightly that Jackie momentarily thought her air-circulation had cut off. Though she was not going to tell her daughter that.
“Alright baby, thank you. Ready for your surprise?” Jackie said as she unlocked the car door, and dramatically opened the back door. Callie peered over the high suv on her tippy toes to see what was in the back seat and then her eyes locked with the famous bright red box with golden arches.
“Oh em gee! Dad, did they have the Adopt Me toy there??” Callie asked excitedly. Jackie looked around as her daughter’s voice rose with excitement, and the nearby parents side eyed them while children walking by had slowed their paces to see the toy that Callie was screaming to the world about.
“Hope in bub,” Jackie instructed.
Once the girl was settled in and buckled, Callie instantly grabbed the happy meal box bypassing the food and snacks and attacked the toys as fast as possible. Jackie rounded the car and opened the drivers side and settled inside. As she started the car she turned around,
“How was the surprise?” Jackie asked with a smirk.
“DAD! YOU GOT THEM ALL? HOW!?” Calie exclaimed.
“It’s a secret, thought between you and I, I had to fight a few kids to get them all.”
Callie giggled, “No way! You’re pranking me.”
Jackie just shrugged smugly, “I don’t know Cals, they might have not let me go back to Mcdonalds any more”
The drive back home was short, they lived close to the elementary school Callie went to. It had been intentional when Jackie and Shauna had moved her seven years ago. For Jackie, and Shauna, it was important that they were present in their daughter’s life. They’d both grown up with absent parents for most of the time. While Jackie’s parents threw money at everything to fix issues, Shauna’s mom had been picking up late shifts most of the time. Half of excuse was money issues, but also Shauna had once confided in Jackie that she thought it was because she thought her mom couldn’t handle being in a home alone when it was the same house she’d purchased with her dad.
So when it came to Callie's schooling, Jackie and Shauna divided their time evenly. It was important for them to let Callie see both their parents picking up responsibility but more importantly, let her see they actively chose to be a part of her life. Their routine for most of the school year had been that since Shauna’s work was more flexible in the morning, Shauna would take Callie to school, and since Jackie would pick Callie up from school (she had purposely put a clause in her contract that child care flexibility was nonnegotiable).
By the time Jackie pulled into their street and parked the car, Callie was bouncing off the walls of their car with excitement to start her Summer Break. Before Jackie had the ability to tell her to slow down, she had managed to unbuckle herself and run to the front door. She knew Shauna would be inside, and the door often left unlocked because this had also become a routine.
As Callie ran inside the house, Jackie followed after her with Callie’s bag on her back.
“Baby we’re home!” Jackie called out.
“WAIT! Don’t move I have to grab my camera” answered Shauna from deep inside the house
This had also become a routine. At the start of the year, Shauna and Jackie would make Callie pose with a sign that read “First Day of __” and at the end of the year they would repeat the tradition. It was something Shauna was deeply passionate about. She stated that when she and Jackie are 80 and Callie is off being a global superstar of some sort, they will be able to look back at it and reminisce. It wasn’t like Jackie would ever say no to her wife, but also she let her wife explain the rational.
Anything to hear her wife talk about something she was passionate about.
“Calz” Jackie called out, “Come here before Mamma gets upset you didn’t want to take a picture.”
“Ugh do we have to?” Callie whined. She was desperate to start playing (probably roblox).
“Yes, Mcdonalds said they would take the toys back if you didn’t”
“NUH UH” Callie said as she stuck her tongue out. Jackie couldn’t help but laugh. A year ago, Callie would have actually fallen for that trick, but now a year old and wiser Callie was able to pick up Jackie’s tone and jokes. Though it made her sad how fast she was growing up, it was also so sweet to see how bright her daughter was–the brains were definitely from Mrs Brown.
“Alright! Sorry for the delay. I found the camera. Smile Callie!!” Shauna said as she came down the stairs with the camera strapped around her neck. She held the camera up to her face and through the view finder looked at Jackie and Callie both smiling with the same goofy smile. Though Callie’s smile had a few missing teeth and a little tongue poking out in between the missing teeth.
“Can I go play now?” Callie asked, looking up between her parents. Jackie looked towards Shauna to see if her wife was content with the picture.
“Sure hon, go play.” And with that Callie ran up stairs, her feet slamming against each step as she went to her room to add her new toys to her collection.
“Hi baby” Shauna finished walking down the last few steps and stepped close to Jackie to give her a soft kiss. Once their lips met, butterflies that Jackie had felt at seventeen erupted once again. Jackie pulled back just slightly and looked at Shauna with soft eyes.
“Hey”
“Last I remember. McDonald's only gives one toy per happy meal?” Shauna said as she raised her eyebrow.
Jackie’s mouth opened and then closed, and a hint of pink coated her cheeks.
“Well they accidentally put in an extra toy because they forgot they put one in already” Jackie lied, though it was not believable at all.
“And they forgot about it, what? Seven times?” The smirk on her wife’s face was evident she found the whole thing endearing though the humiliation of being caught red handed didn’t lessen her embarrassment.
“Whatever” Jackie whined.
“Wow you sound like our daughter now”.
Jackie stuck her tongue out before she said, “I just wanted to make sure she didn’t end the school year crying.”
“Aw Jax” Shauna melted at her seeing her wife being so sweet. “I think we are spoiling her”
“Hmm. She is a good kid, plus it’s the end of the school year.” Jackie said before she paused for a second and smirked and said. “Plus she is sensitive like her mother, have to make sure to appease the little dictator like mother dictator”
Shauna gasped and smacked Jackie’s arm, “SHUT UP!”
“Now who sounds like Callie” Jackie teased.
Shauna rolled her eyes with fondness as she walked towards the kitchen to place her camera down and finish up her last assignment for the day she turned around and said, “Oh yeah I promised Callie that she could go on a rollercoaster this summer. And guess what? She wants Dad to also be on it.”
Color drained from Jackie’s face, “No. Shauna! Baby!”
Jackie called out to Shauna’s retreating figure, “You’re kidding right? Babe. Hello?”
Jackie was left standing in the doorway reeling from the new information the mother dictator had just dropped on her. She thought this summer would be a calm one on the basis she’d wanted to make sure her sentimental daughter wasn’t traumatized by the end of the school year, little did she know her own daughter and wife would be terrorizing her with the plans of a rollercoaster.
Jackie was utterly fucked.