Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 398: Change

The next two months were the most physically miserable Keeley ever experienced in either of her lives. When she underwent that unethical abortion and surgery in her first life it took about the same amount of time to fully recover but she wasn't dealing with a broken leg or three children who needed her.

Aaron ended up hiring her a home nurse because she really couldn't move around with all of the stairs in their house. She was stuck in bed for pretty much everything except using the restroom.

The home nurse handled pretty much all of Oliver's diaper changes as well since she couldn't exactly get up. To keep from going completely insane, Aaron bought a large screen TV for their bedroom but even that got old.

And here she had been wishing she had more time to relax and watch TV. Ha. She probably wouldn't want to watch anything for the next six months after this.

The twins were miserable because they wanted their mom to play with them. Keeley could read books and watch movies with them but that was about it. They were used to having her initiate arts and crafts, do homemade science projects, bake, and take them out to do things.

Aaron tried hiring a temporary nanny for them but they hated it and fought against her every day for two weeks until the poor girl quit. In the end, Jennica returned to the arrangement they had while Keeley was in the hospital. While their father was at work, they stayed with her.

She was a saint. Keeley would never stop owing her for all of her help.

But she hated feeling this useless. Being stuck in bed this long was even worse than when she was under house arrest for her own protection. At least back then she could move around!

The day the doctor finally moved her from a cast to a boot she could walk in she nearly sang for joy. Getting up and down the stairs was the truly difficult part but at least she could move around. After that the twins were able to stay home with her for the few remaining weeks of summer vacation.

Overall, it was definitely the worst summer she had experienced since the one where her mom and Kaleb died. She didn't want to break her leg ever, ever again.

Unfortunately, there was a decent chance she would have to get another C-section with her next child. The doctor had warned her about the possibility. But she would cross that bridge when she came to it. For now she was happy to be able to get out of bed again.

"Mommy, do I have to go to kindergarten?" Violet asked as she helped her mother make a batch of chocolate cupcakes.

"Yes, baby. But kindergarten is lots of fun. You get to learn more things and go on more field trips than in preschool. Kaleb will be right there with you too," Keeley said encouragingly.

She pouted. "Kaleb always forgets about me at school. Sometimes I play with Noah when we have the same recess time but he's not going to kindergarten with me so I'll be all alone."

Keeley sighed inwardly. She really didn't know how to help her daughter make friends since she had never personally had a problem with it. It wasn't like she could ask Aaron either; he had no desire for friends when he was younger and happened upon them later in life by chance.

Violet couldn't just wait for other people to approach her forever. She would be very lonely that way.

"Why don't you play with Kaleb and his friends?" Keeley asked.

The little girl pulled a face. "They only want to play tag or with balls. I like the slides better."

"There are probably other kids who like slides too. You can always play with them."

Violet snuck a bit of cupcake batter before tragically shaking her head. "They only want to climb up it. I like going down, not up."

Keeley patted her daughter's head, unsure what else to say. Hopefully this was something Violet grew out of. There were plenty of shy kids who found their people later on in life. She couldn't depend on Kaleb or Noah forever. They had their own lives to live.

Oliver chose that moment to make his presence known from the living room. Keeley apologized to Violet and went to see what he wanted. He was hungry AND needed a diaper change. Lovely.

She was lucky though; he was a very relaxed baby. He only cried when he needed something. She had to wonder what kind of personality he would have when he was older based on that.

"Mommy, is there something wrong with me?" Violet's little voice asked hesitantly as she approached where her mother was nursing the baby.

"Of course not! Why would you think something like that?"

Keeley saw the genuine worry in the little girl's eyes and was distressed. Was this her fault for trying to get her to branch out and make new friends? That hadn't been her intention at all!

She curled up next to her mother on the couch and clung to her arm, not meeting her eyes. "I don't fit in at preschool. The kids there don't like me. What if it's the same in kindergarten?"

This was the first Keeley heard of it. She knew Violet typically stuck to herself but she never said anything about the other kids not liking her. Had she been bullied? Or did she take them wanting to do different activities as not liking her?

Kids that young usually didn't start excluding others yet. Everything she had seen indicated that Violet's isolation was a personal choice but she couldn't dismiss her words so lightly.

"Why do you think they don't like you, Vi?" she asked gently.

"I don't like playing what they want to play. After a while they stopped asking me if I even wanted to," Violet confessed.

So that was it. Conflicts at that age could be so simple.

Keeley reached down to kiss the top of her daughter's head. "Sometimes we have to take turns deciding what to play, sweetie. Nobody can have what they want all the time. We have to learn how to compromise."

"Compromise? I've heard Daddy use that word before."

"Your daddy and I have to compromise on some things when we can't agree too. Everyone does it at some point or another. If you play what the other kids want to play sometimes, then you can ask them to play what you want the next time. Can you give that a try?"

Violet nodded seriously. "Okay, Mommy. But I never have to compromise with Noah. He always plays what I want."

Noah was a special case. He was always on the same page with Violet. Sometimes it seemed like he was more her twin than Kaleb since he had inherited his father's dark hair and eyes and they always seemed to be perfectly in sync.

"That's because Noah likes playing what you like to play," Keeley said lightly. "But we can be friends with people who are different from us. Goodness knows, your daddy and I are about as different as night and day."

Violet gave her a skeptical look. "Really? Then why does he love you so much?"

"He likes that I'm different."

He had told her so countless times. That she was different than anyone else in his life had been. They were definitely a strange case of opposites attracting.

"I don't like things being different. I want everything to stay the same," Violet admitted.

Keeley rubbed her head with the hand not supporting Oliver. "Change is a part of growing up, sweetie. But it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes change can be the best thing that ever happens to you."

She shrugged and hopped off the couch. "I'm gonna go see if Kaleb wants to play Candy Land. Let me know when the cupcakes are done. Thanks for making me feel better, Mommy."

And with that, she trotted off as if she had never been upset. Ah, the easily changeable nature of a child. Hopefully she took the advice to heart as she went to her new school on Monday.