The Field Trip

I'd never made it so far out of the house, so far away from Daddy and his nursery, from his plans and his machinations. The back fence seemed so close, close enough to reach out to and to touch, close enough to get splinters from... splinters that Daddy could take care of. Daddy always took good care of me, didn't he? He'd take the splinters out, remind me I was silly for having ran when I should have stayed, and I'd end up back here anyway. Why was I running away again?

~~~

Her hand hesitated, only inches from the fence.  He watched from the doorwall, curiously.  She had run out in only her nightie, a sheer material that clearly showed the pink of her crinkly diaper.  She was so... obvious.  So adorable.  Daddy stepped out onto the patio and followed her path over to the fence. 

"Where are you going, princess?"

~~~

"Nowhere Daddy..." 

But my answer was distant, faint, like I didn't believe the words I was saying anyway, like I was talking nonsense and silliness and ideas that could never come true. I was going nowhere, right? The fence, what was over there, did that even really matter? And if it did, could I even get my feet to move?

~~~

Daddy took her hand and led her away from the fence while he spoke. 

"Clearly you were coming out here to play on the playscape, right?" 

The playscape in question was small and plastic and meant for a very young child.  She would barely fit, let alone have any fun.  But why else would she come outside?

~~~

"Uhhuh." First, it was quiet, contemplative, but when I said it again it was as though that was the only way this could possibly have occurred, like it was obvious that this was all there was to it when it came to reasons to come out here. 

"Uhhuh, Daddy!" I didn't know why I let go of his hand; part of me thought it was so I could run to the fence, to dive over the wood, be safe, be free. But most of me knew it was for one reason and one reason only: Daddy told me to go play. And Daddy always knew best.

~~~

Daddy watched her play on the playscape, smiling brightly at all the changes his wife had gone through and thinking about all the diaper changes yet to come.  This afternoon, her sister would be visiting - the one he had fallen in love with years ago.  Now that his wife was nothing but a little girl, all his dreams could come true.  A new wife, a new baby.  They would be the perfect family.