Run, Girl (If You Can)

April 2024

Keeley and Aaron sat next to each other during the twins' spring recital at school and tried their best to keep the younger kids quiet. They were far too squirmy and had no interest in watching their older siblings sing.

Oliver wasn't quite five yet and Nathan's third birthday passed only a week ago. Those two were a lot closer in age that Keeley had bargained for—dealing with two babies at the same time was a handful—but she was grateful to have Nathan. Now they were officially done having kids.

The Singletons, sitting next to them in the audience, seemed to be somehow mocking their predicament by smiling smugly. Both of their children were involved in the recital so they got to sit back and watch carefree.

At least the Quinns were suffering as well. Liam was onstage but their two-year-old daughter Elsa was trying to escape.

They had ended up choosing the same school as their friends when it was time to enroll their son in kindergarten because they were too lazy to look into other options. Or so Aiden claimed.

Aiden was only able to get away with private school tuition because Nova had become an unexpectedly popular graphic designer with her own business. Alice and Roger's children went to public school and so did Kyle and his wife Selena's.

The fourth graders came forward to sing their song and Violet had a solo. Cameron grabbed Nathan, who was trying to run, so Aaron could film it. Keeley gave Oliver her phone to play a game on (after turning it to mute) so she could pay attention as well.

She sang her part like an angel and both her parents had huge, proud smiles on their faces. She had always been talented at anything to do with music. Violet sang, played the piano and violin, and did ballet because she liked the kind of music ballerinas danced to.

Needless to say, the Hales attended a lot of recitals. And sports games. Kaleb played a different sport every season and loved them all, though so far little league baseball seemed to be his favorite. He was pretty good too. His coaches always gushed about his pitching ability.

Keeley had never been busier, especially since she had been back to work since the school year started. Nathan insisted on going to preschool with his brother even though he was still two. Thankfully they had a class open up for younger kids.

Her dog trials were coming along well but she still had a few months to go at minimum before she could write her paper on it and move onto monkeys. Which was the last step before humans.

She freaked out if she thought about it too much. Her dream was so close she could almost taste it but she didn't want to get ahead of herself. Living in the moment was important. Her kids would only be this young once.

Keeley clapped so hard her hands hurt after the song ended and made sure to cheer extra loud. Violet heard her parents yelling her name and turned bright red though she had a slightly proud smile on her face at their praise

When the recital ended, she gave both of her kids a big hug. "You both did great! And your solo was the best one, Vi."

"Thanks Mom!" they chorused.

"Did you video it like you said, Dad?" Violet asked eagerly.

Aaron smiled at her proudly. "I did. We can watch it again when we get home if you like."

She clapped her hands together. "Ooh, yes!"

"Good job Sissy," Oliver said as he reached out to hug her. "You sounded pretty."

He had called her Sissy since he was little. 'Violet' was hard for a baby to say and he heard other people referring to her as 'sister' all the time. The name stuck. Nathan, ever copying his brother, called her Sissy too. She didn't seem to mind.

At least Sissy was better than Kiwi. Keeley shook her head with a slight smile at the memory.

"Thanks Ollie." Violet looked around. "Where's Noah? I wanted to ask him what he thought about my solo."

Keeley was about to say she didn't know when a small figure launched itself at Violet from behind. Noah. He had a crazy grin on his face.

"You were awesome! Nobody sounded better than you, Vi."

She smiled happily at the compliment and turned around to return his hug. "Thank you! You really think so?"

"Uh huh. You sing even better than my mom," he said seriously.

"You better not let her hear you say that," Keeley said with a laugh.

Jennica went back to work auditioning once Logan was in preschool and had landed a few major roles in Off-Broadway productions. One talent scout was so impressed they helped her get into that actors' guild all the Broadway stars were in.

She was currently in rehearsals for a Broadway show premiering next month. It was an ensemble role but she was too excited to care about that since hardly anyone made it to Broadway at all. She had rubbed it in her mother's face extensively.

Fear flashed in his dark eyes. "Please don't tell her, Aunt Keeley!"

She reached out to tousle his hair. "I won't. I was only teasing."

Noah seemed relieved and immediately went back to chattering about the recital. "You were definitely the best solo but I liked the song the third graders sang too. And did you hear Logan? He was the loudest kindergartner there was…"

Keeley watched them interact fondly. Noah was more of a chatterbox than Violet could ever dream of being but she always had an indulgent smile on her face when he went on. It reminded her oddly of her relationship with Aaron sometimes.

Those two weren't into any of the same things but they always still found endless topics of conversation anyway. The past couple of years, any time the Hales and Singletons went to the park together Violet and Noah could be found swinging on the swings and talking.

Whenever she was close enough to catch a bit of their conversations she was always surprised by how randomly philosophical they were. There was no rhyme or reason to their pattern at all.

Unlike Violet, whose sole focus was music, Noah was interested in a little bit of everything. Jennica had complained more than once about how many different activities he had tried and quit.

The only thing he seemed to ever stick with was karate. His mother was grateful because it helped get his energy out. Logan had followed in his footsteps and started karate over the summer. He loved it but his form was all over the place.

Keeley had been right about those two years mostly apart being good for them. They both branched out a little. Noah had more friends and Violet, still shy, had focused on learning her instruments.

But there was nothing concerning about their closeness now. They still sought each other out whenever their lunch periods overlapped and when their families got together but they didn't freak out when the other wasn't around anymore. They were growing up.