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It was because of Ms. Marie that Sunny found herself off her usual path this evening.

“Go on, baby,” she said with a kind smile. “You always workin’ hard. I can watch the boy. Just don’t forget you young too, hm?”

Ms. Marie was one of the only neighbors that Sunny liked. She was an older woman with a dark complexion and long, dreaded hair she usually kept beaded and piled on top of her head. She never asked personal questions. She never seemed to be judging them like most of their other neighbors around the block, and she always offered her hand in simple ways. Once she noticed Sunny’s fern was taking over the balcony and she showed her how to trim and tame the plant. She’d invite them over on the weekends when she cooked and showed Sunny a few of her favorite recipes to make for herself. Raening even loved to help her bake cakes and straighten her giant collection of books. Sunny often wondered if Ms. Marie had grandchildren. She certainly treated them as part of her own family.

So there wasn’t much arguing when Ms. Marie insisted Sunny take a day to herself. “You have any friends, huh? A boyfriend? You remember how to have fun, actin’ like you a mama all the time?” Even Raening started pushing her out the door, claiming he wanted Ms. Marie to help him make cookies for a classmate’s birthday. So Sunny reluctantly did herself up in a knit sweater dress (dressing not at all heavy enough, but what could she do?) she’d bought from the thrift store and ventured out on her own without a clue about what she might do with her newfound free time.

Her options were remarkably limited with an empty wallet, though. A movie was off the table, as was taking herself out to dinner or… whatever it was people did with their free time. She’d considered going to the library but it was crowded and noisy today. Passing a lounge of deep bass had her covering her aching ears and eventually, she realized she’d been walking for over an hour. Her feet were starting to hurt and she was a little hungry, so she ducked into a convenience store and settled on a bar of chocolate with some skepticism. She wasn’t a big fan of sweets but… you know, treat yourself?

The real icing on the top of her wild excursion? It was pouring down rain as she stepped through the automatic doors. Sunny stared up at the sky in disbelief. It’d been clear for most of the day. The rain practically materialized just to spite her. She huffed a silent curse and took off at a run to find somewhere to wait it out. Luckily, there was a gazebo just inside the park across the street. By the time she reached it, she was out of breath, huffing and puffing and wiping her wet curls out of her face.

Sunny turned in a slow circle as she gained her breath, taking in the assortment of winter blooms that surrounded the gazebo. She wiped the rain from her face and hugged herself tightly, then sank onto the bench. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. As the silence fell over her, only the rain against the pavement and the foliage playing around her. Sunny began to relax.

… and she watched the rain alone. “Okay…”

“That rain came on fast, didn’t it?” Alexander said, his voice pitched gently as he spoke to his daughter, joining the strange woman under the gazebo. He’d been at the playground across the way, letting his fifteen-month old daughter play; she was bundled up to the nines in her little puffy jacket and warm pants with little snow boots on. Juliette was on his hip, her little arms wrapped around his neck, and both of them were soaked in rainwater. Normally Alexander would have taken the stroller, but Juliette had wanted to walk when they left the house, and it had been clear enough then to let her.

“Hi,” Alexander said as he let his daughter down, holding her hand as she stood beside him and partly concealed behind his leg. The little girl gave a sort of shy wave, but didn’t come out. Juliette had no problem making friends on the playground, but she was shy and cautious around adults. Alexander thought it might have had something to losing his husband, but he wasn’t sure how much of it had really impacted the little girl who had been barely more than an infant when the other man had died.

The young woman didn’t give him the worrying tingle that she would be likely to kidnap his daughter or do her harm, so he didn’t stop Juliette when she finally stopped hiding behind his leg to wander out a little, not quite close to the woman, but closer. She peered up at her, sucking on a thumb, her curls wet and sticking to her face where they hadn’t been covered by her woollen winter hat. “That’s Juliette,” Alexander said by way of introduction, then “Say hello, sweetheart.” The little girl waved with her free hand, not being a big speaker yet, and Alexander smiled. “I’m Alexander. I hope you don’t mind some company while we wait out the storm.”

If it didn’t let up soon, he’d call an Uber to get them home; they didn’t live that far away from the Park, but Alexander had no desire to let either himself or Juliette get sick with the flu, and was quite sure walking home in the rain with a toddler would be more than a little uncomfortable, since they were dressed for the cold, but not rainfall.

She heard their approach before the greeting reached her ears. Call it a hypersensitive awareness of her brain searching for danger while she lacked attention. Heavy steps thrashed in the forming puddles and steadily sounded closer. Sunny turned just as the father lunged out of the rain.

He looked a little familiar. She studied his face as he caught his breath. Nothing really stood out apart from his sharp features. Actually, no– she was seeing it better now that the rain wasn’t pelting his face. He reminded her of a raccoon. All the shadows cast from his angular face were narrow like the animal’s bone structure and his eyes were just as dark. Tired, probably… and alone. No one joined him under the gazebo apart from the little girl he carried in. That rang a little more familiar to Sunny– single father, toddler daughter, she was sure she’d seen them at the park on numerous occasions, Rae-ning might have even been the one to find the girl’s lost toy under the slide.

Sunny’s hand raised just as slowly as the man’s daughter in the returned greeting. He introduced the girl as Juliette and himself, Alexander. That’s when Sunny remembered: Mr. Robinson. He lived in the area with his daughter, one of the other few single parents she’d taken note of in the neighborhood. Maybe it was paranoia, but she felt obligated to at least remember the faces of other parents and their kids. There were a lot of people in the world that weren’t so kind to children. She knew that very well… and any parents could benefit from someone watching their back that understood how important that loved one was.

“I don’t mind at all,” she replied as her dark gaze fell onto Juliette staring up at her. A small lift of a smile appeared on her lips and she held out her hand for the little girl to shake. “Hello, Juliette. I’m Sunny Song,” and to her father, “Hello Mr. Robinson–” Oh, probably a little weird to know his name before he told you. She hated that she wasn’t the best at talking to people.

“Sorry,” She quickly tucks a strand of wet hair behind her ear with that raised hand. “Some of the other moms told me before… I bring my little brother here all the time. His name is Rae-ning.”

Speaking of… she began to wonder how his Me-Day was going. She couldn’t say hers was worth mentioning when his was filled with sugar and icing. The most exciting thing about her day of watching the rain water the plants would be hearing about his little adventure. Maybe she should wait out the storm and let him have the entire day. That sounded better to her than finding a way home now.

Alexander smiled just a little as the woman waved back to Juliette; he expected his daughter to return to him after the exchange, but she continued to stand there, staring up at young woman, sucking on her thumb. Alexander knew it could be a little intimidating to be stared at like that, even (sometimes especially) by such a small child. He was about to go and pick her up, when the woman introduced herself as Sunny Song, and he smiled for a moment; then it faltered in confusion when she greeted him by his surname.

At the explanation and apology, Alexander sighed in resigned irritation. “Of course they did,” he said dryly. He swore the housewives that frequented the park were the absolute worst gossip mongers; he’d learned quickly not to say anything to any of them that he didn’t want repeated. All they did know was that he was the single father of his daughter, after he’d lost his partner. They didn’t even know said partner had been a man, or that it had been in a mugging. Those were things that Alexander had decided to keep to himself, and was glad he had.

Alexander had also been pleased to learn that he wasn’t google-able. When they’d married, they’d both changed their surname to Robinson, allowing anonymity from the masses. Joshua had made a small fortune when he’d created a popular mobile game, raking in a hefty amount from micro transactions before selling the ap to a big company for several million. Alexander had inherited it all when Joshua was murdered, ironically for the twenty dollars he’d had in his wallet. Those thoughts were depressing, though, and Alexander’s face echoed his dark thoughts as he stepped forward to pick up Juliette and hug her close.

“Rae-ning,” Alexander echoed quietly, thinking it sounded like ‘raining’, which was an interesting contrast to the young woman’s name of Sunny. “I think I’ve seen you around.” Alexander admitted, brushing Juliette’s curls away from her face before sighing and setting her down when she wriggled impatiently to be released. He watched her as she wandered around under the gazebo, prepared to dart after her if she looked like she was going to end up in the rain. The little girl seemed content to poke at the leaves that were blowing around, though, so Alexander relaxed a little.

“You have a very pretty name,” he offered. It wasn’t something he would have considered naming Juliette, but it suited the young woman across from him. Not because she seemed bright and cheerful like the sun, but because she was intense like the sun, and he had no doubt she could likely burn him as easily as the summer sun could, too. “Where is your little brother?” he asked after a moment of thought, his tone expressing his curiosity, but not intense enough to force the woman – Sunny – to answer it if she didn’t want to.

Alexander’s tone softened Sunny’s visage with a flicker of sympathy. Though rather than apologize again, she simply bowed her head a fraction.

She understood his irritation. When she and her brother first arrived in Greensbrooke it took little more than two visitors bearing plates of welcome treats for her to understand the intent was to gather information on them. The nosey housewives didn’t like that she kept to herself. They might have even been insulted by her crossing the street entirely to avoid talking to them as she walked Rae-ning to and from school. Sunny imagined that was really when the rumors started up. It was suddenly common knowledge that you shouldn’t talk to “that Song girl.” They assumed she was probably more interested in sleeping with their silly husbands, wanting to break up perfectly happy families just because her own was so miserable.

In reality, Sunny only preferred to talk to their husbands because they gave her straight answers. They didn’t care who she was, where her parents were; if she had a boyfriend, or how old she was– but they got their ego stroked a little when they received a simple thank-you for helping her find the god damn grocery store. Never mind her being a decent human being, those women would talk about anyone they didn’t dig up any dirt on. She wondered if Mr. Robinson was also a victim of their outrageous claims.

Hopefully not. He seemed nice enough. “Thank you,” she replied awkwardly as he complimented her on her name. Luckily none of those housewives were around to see her blushing. They would have had a field day with that. She was happy, however, to be asked about her brother. Her dark eyes peered off into the park as if she wished Rae-ning were running towards them now.

“He’s working on a baking project with our neighbor.” Sunny gently tapped her cheeks with her cold fingers to help soothe the warmth. “I was commanded to have my own day and well–” A hand waved absently to indicate the literal rain upon her parade. “I ended up here with a bar of chocolate I don’t even know why I bought.” She frowned slightly as she considered her reasoning.

“I don’t even like sweets, but…to be honest,” She tried to smile but it was obvious she was feeling a little embarrassed, “I probably don’t know the first thing about having time to myself either.”

Alexander smiled softly at Sunny’s awkward acceptance of his compliment, turning his gaze away from her blushing face to give her some semblance of privacy. He took the time to thoroughly check on his daughter; the little girl was still squatting down, playing with some of the crunchy leaves that were on the gazebo, his daughter mumbling to herself as she picked up the leaves, squished them, broke them up, and tossed them around. Alexander smiled gently at her, before returning his attention to Sunny when she began speaking once more.

Smiling, Alexander chuckled lightly. “When my mother or sister-in-law take Juliette, I have no idea what to do with myself.” The little girl also went to day-care a couple of days a week – Alexander didn’t want her to be completely unsocialised when she started school – but those were the days he tended to do housework, or a big shopping trip; they were planned around, and he kept himself busy for the four or five hours before picking his daughter back up. When his mother-in-law or sister-in-law took her, that was less planned out and he tended to find himself twiddling his thumbs and counting down the time until he could collect her again.

Alexander’s eyes sparkled with mirth as he shook his head. “Chocolate is a weakness of mine, but I’m not overly fond of sweets most of the time.” He paused for a moment, before quietly sharing, “My partner was rather obsessed with healthy eating, and it has kind of stuck.” He smiled again, the expression small and reserved, as he glanced back at Juliette to check on her. She wasn’t where she had been and he felt a moment of heart frozen terror before he spotted her three feet to the left of where she had been, pulling leaves out from under a seat. He breathed a soft sigh and moved quietly to set himself down on the bench not far from where Sunny was seated.

“What do you do while your little brother is in school?” He asked, looping back to the original subject. “Don’t you have time to yourself then?”