Yeah, that'd be cool, Milo texted back, trying not to let his anxiety about hanging out with someone not overwhelm him.
Throughout the weekend, it became increasingly difficult for Dark to pretend like he didn't have a cold, but thankfully his I survived cholera and tuberculosis immune system wasn't too badly affected. He still didn't feel good, and did what he could to take it easy, but in comparison to his daughter he was basically healthy. Ivy, though, unfamiliar with being sick, spent a miserable few days feeling worse than she probably ever had, since in her life she had only been sick a small number of times. Even after Daizi also caught the cold, as she predicted, she and Dark agreed the hardest part wasn't their own mild illness, it was helping to comfort their toddler who was difficult to keep happy. Still, even by Tuesday, she also seemed to be on the mend and was slowly returning to her usual temperament.
On Saturday, Claire met Alec at the park, this time dressed in shorts and her Strawberry Shortcake shirt tied up just high enough to show a sliver of her midriff and a cream-coloured sweater tied around her waist. It was a little bit more casual than she would've wanted for a second date, but they were doing a scavenger hunt, so she wanted to be able to move and not dress so warmly that she sweat. Looking a little casual was vastly preferable on a second date than looking visibly sweaty. And once she was hanging out with Alec, anyway, she stopped worrying about it and just enjoyed his company. Sometimes, when she thought she had a newt spotted, she'd grab his hand and run towards it. Once, what she thought was a newt was just a stick, and she laughed so had with Alec she leaned against him for support. Just like the week before, she didn't want to go home once the date was over, and found herself desperately wanting to think of just one last thing to do, but they had already eaten, and gotten ice cream, and found all the newts, and spent time on a bench just talking. It was, ultimately, time to go home, but as she left she promised to call him... before lingering for a few moments to see what he would do. Then she hugged him a bit tighter than she had the week before and waved goodbye, finally actually leaving.
Between the stress of going back to work and her sick child, Daizi nearly forgot about Mother's Day altogether. Her part of the planning was so brief, and had been completed early enough, that when she woke up on Sunday to her husband telling her to stay in bed while they cooked dinner, she needed to be told why he was refusing to let her involve herself in any morning chores.
