Chapter 71

It was a Friday night and I wanted to do something fun with the ladies. Sunny and I had been spending a lot of time together. When I asked her what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to have a sleepover. I thought that sounded like a great idea.

"Can you grab that last bag?" I asked Sunny.

"Yep."

We carried the bags filled with goodies for our slumber party into the kitchen. The sleepover was a distraction method. Sunny was missing her parents and I knew she was a little bummed she didn't get to be with them on their honeymoon.

"Okay, we'll start with the cookies," I said.

"And then we'll make popcorn?" she asked.

"I think we should wait to make the popcorn until we watch the movie," I said. "Did you decide what movie we're going to watch?"

"I think we should watch ‘The Lion King'," Sunny replied, her eyes gleaming with enthusiasm. It was one of her favorite movies. She had seen it countless times yet never seemed to tire of it. I hadn't watched it since I was a kid.

"Lion King it is!" I confirmed, laughing at the excited squeal she let out.

"Are we going to do our nails?" she asked.

"Yep." I nodded. "Why don't you set up the nail station at the table?"

She grinned. "Okay."

She grabbed the bag with the assortment of nail polish we had picked out together. The two jars of nail polish remover would be an incentive for the other ladies to allow her to paint their nails hot pink. It was just for a night, and it was going to make a sad little girl very happy.

I pulled out the ingredients needed to make the cookies. Sunny scooted a chair over to help.

"Did the fundraiser work? Is the library saved?" she asked innocently.

I sighed. "I'm not sure. Since I was fired, I don't get to know stuff about what's happening with the library. I have to wait and find out with the rest of the city."

I had taken a gamble with my actions at the fundraiser, and now I was left wondering if it had been the right decision. Would the library be saved, or had I only succeeded in making matters worse? The money seemed pretty pointless now.

"Last year, we took a field trip to the library," she said. "I loved it. It was so big. And I liked the way it smelled."

"Me too," I said, nodding. "It smells like history."

"And it was so quiet," she whispered. "Our teacher told us we couldn't talk. We made it a game."

I smiled at her words, struck by the simplicity and beauty of her memories. "Did you win?" I asked.

"Of course." She grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I'm the best at being quiet. Tommy Hughes, though, he spoke within two minutes and lost, the dork."

We both laughed. "I bet he did," I said, chuckling.

"Are you going to work at another library?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Well you're too young to retire." She was wise beyond her years.

"I know. I'm not retiring yet."

She nodded. "Is Archer your boyfriend?"

"Yes, he is. Maybe I should put on the movie."

"Is he going to come to our slumber party?" she asked, not missing a beat.

"Nope. It's girls only."

That seemed to make her happy. For the next hour or so, Sunny and I were lost in baking cookies.

Rylee and Karen got home.

"Oh, it smells good in here," Karen commented.

"We made cookies," Sunny declared. "And we're ordering pizza."

"Sounds like my kind of dinner," Rylee said and snatched one of the cookies. "Is Lauren coming?"

"She should be here soon," I said, nodding. "Sunny will be doing everyone's nails and I've already rented the movie from Amazon."

"What movie?" Rylee asked, eyes narrowing. "I'm not watching ‘Mamma Mia' again. I'm sorry, but I can't be humming those songs for the next week."

"‘The Lion King'," Sunny answered proudly, beaming at her announcement.

Rylee clapped her hands together. "Oh, I love that one!"

The enthusiasm in the room grew as the aroma of baking cookies filled the air. It was turning out to be a perfect sleepover.

Just as we were deciding which toppings to order on our pizza, the doorbell rang. Sunny rushed to answer it before I could move from my position.

"Go keep an eye on her please," I ordered Rylee.

Rylee chased after her.

"It's Lauren!" Sunny yelled from the front door.

Lauren walked in with a large bag slung over her shoulder and a cheerful smile on her face. "Hello, ladies! You better not have started without me."

"Look! We made cookies!" Sunny exclaimed.

"And I've brought ice cream," Lauren replied, pulling out a couple of boxes from her bag and holding them up like trophies. A cheer went around the room as she swung the bag off her shoulder and placed it by the door.

"I am so ready for this sleepover," Lauren said, throwing herself onto the couch, kicking off her shoes and hugging a cushion. "What time's ‘Mamma Mia' starting?"

"We're doing Lion King," Rylee said triumphantly. "Sunny's choice."

Lauren nodded. "Excellent choice."

"We'll watch it after we do our nails." Sunny grabbed Lauren's hand, dragging her off the couch, and led her to the table where she had carefully arranged her collection of nail polishes. "Pick a color!"

Lauren laughed and browsed the available colors. "Wow, you've got a great selection here. How about glittery blue?" she asked, holding up a bottle.

"Like a mermaid's tail!" Sunny praised. They immediately began their nail-painting session.

"You should go pick your color," I said to Rylee.

She shot me a dirty look. "I just got my nails done," she hissed.

"I told you we were doing our nails," I reminded her. "We agreed. Be a good aunt for the kid."

She rolled her eyes. "Great. Fine."

Leaving her cookie half-eaten on the plate, Rylee reluctantly made her way over to the nail polish arrangements. Sunny was already applying the glittery blue on Lauren's nails with a laser-sharp focus. Karen was patiently waiting for her turn.

Rylee huffed at the multitude of colors Sunny had lined up. "I don't see why I can't just keep my nails as they are," she muttered under her breath, skimming through the small, bottled rainbows.

"Because it's part of the fun!" Karen called out from across the room, smiling at Rylee's disgruntled expression. "Haven't you ever been to a sleepover before?"

We all knew we were going to do whatever it took to make Sunny happy. Nails could be redone but this memory would last the kid a lifetime.

The pizza arrived, halting the nail painting. We ate while Sunny chattered on about a million subjects. The mind of a child was refreshing sometimes, and the more she talked, the more I smiled.

After pizza, Sunny declared it was movie time. Lauren's ice cream proved to be a hit, and we all sat on the couch, eagerly scooping up the frozen treat as Sunny cued up the movie, pride shining in her eyes. Her sleepover was headed for success.

"Now, everyone ready?" I asked the room. A sea of nods responded. With a push of a button, "The Lion King" started.

Sunny had brought out her stuffed animal collection and distributed them around, insisting every good movie required a stuffy snuggle. Rylee ended up with a stuffed flamingo that she named "Pinkerton," while Lauren clung to a stuffy she named "Snowball," a tiny, white bear Sunny had owned since her third birthday. Karen and I got twin turtles, Shelby and Sheldon. I would have preferred the flamingo, but whatever, I wasn't going to make a stink about it.

As the opening credits rolled, Sunny turned off the lights and shooshed us all, even though no one was talking. The only light came from the TV screen and the soft glow of fairy lights we had strung up earlier at Sunny's insistence. She was all about setting the right mood for her party.

The room filled with the nostalgic sound of "The Circle of Life," and we settled in for the movie loosely based on Hamlet. I considered mentioning it, but I doubted Sunny cared about the movie's Shakespearean influences. No one else did.

Halfway through the movie, Sunny asked me to pause it. "Can we have popcorn now?"

I nodded. "That's hakuna matata with me."

I stood up, stretched my legs that had almost fallen asleep, and sauntered to the kitchen. Flicking on the light, I grabbed a couple of popcorn packets from the pantry. Soon enough, the muffled sound of popping kernels filled the house as the microwave went to work.

"Extra butter!" Rylee called out. "You know how I like it!"

"Got it," I yelled back.

In the living room, they were all discussing their favorite Lion King characters. I smiled.

Hanging out with Sunny this week made me realize how much I wanted a family. More specifically, I wanted a family with Archer. He talked about our kids and dogs and the house. I thought he was joking, but now, I wanted to believe he was serious. I sure was.

I carried the popcorn to the living room and settled in once again.

"Scoot over, Pumba," I muttered to Karen, who was stretched out across the couch, her ice cream container balanced precariously on her stomach as she spooned the last bits into her mouth. She grumbled a bit but shifted enough to allow me some room.

Rylee, still feigning annoyance at Pinkerton, had wrapped it around her neck like a brightly colored scarf. Sunny was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a mountain of pillows beside her.

"This was a really good idea," Lauren whispered. "She's really happy. Good job."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"You're good with kids. You're going to make a great mommy."

"As long as they only want popcorn, heck yeah. I'm mother of the year."

After the movie, we got Sunny up to bed in Jenny's old room. She was beat after the sugar high and then the crash. I suspected she would sleep through the night. We left her door open anyway, in case she needed anything.

The four of us busted out a bottle of wine for the adult portion of the sleepover.

"This was fun," Rylee said. "It reminds me of the sleepovers I had when I was little."

"With less wine though," Lauren said.

Rylee laughed. "Speak for yourself, nerd."

"Did you hear from your old boss yet?" Karen asked me.

"No," I replied. "And I don't think I will. It's done and over."

"Are you going to apply for that job at the college I told you about?" Karen asked.

"I don't know. My library days might be behind me. I can't see myself working in another one. It just wouldn't be the same. My library was special. It wasn't big and obnoxious. I liked the people that visited. But that was my past."

They were all looking at me with sad expressions.

"Guys, for real, it's okay. I'm at peace with it. Whatever happens, happens. I know I'm going to be okay. Something will come along."

"That's different than what you were saying," Karen said.

"I've got savings. Besides, I've been thinking about trying something new. Something different."

"What kind of different?" Rylee asked. "Want me to see if I can get you a job at the bar?"

I laughed. "Not that different. But thank you for the offer. I haven't exactly figured out what I'm going to do, but there's something to be said for a new beginning."

"After being a librarian for so long, anything will feel like an adventure, won't it?" Lauren asked.

I nodded with a grin, feeling a strange rush of excitement at the uncertainty. "Exactly."

Rylee snorted into her wine. "Just make sure your adventure doesn't involve dealing with drunk people at odd hours. Trust me, it's not as glamorous as it sounds."

We all laughed at that. "There goes my big dream," I joked.

We finished our wine and cleaned up before going to bed. Sunny didn't know the idea of sleeping in, even if she stayed up past her bedtime. I crawled into bed and texted Archer. He was at home alone. This week had been tough finding time to spend together. But he knew how important it was to spend some time with Sunny, keeping her entertained.