A Family Back Together

[Ishigreensa]

"Well, April takes after you, you know?" He told Mary.  "She has a good heart even if she can't always communicate it very well."

 

April let Malee get a few more handfuls of flowers, but then stopped her.

"Sit my lap," she ordered a little sharply.  "Come on.  You do this."

She then tried to show her what she was doing and trying to get her to try.

"Don't be sad.  Practice and practice, and practice.  Then you get this."

She continued trying to show her little sister as long as her sister was patient.

Of course, it would take more than two hours before most kids would finally get how it works without needing any help at all.

[Shy-Diapers]

Mary smiled. “I hope they always get along this well.”

Malee frowned when April was a little sharp with her. She wasn’t used to it, and it just felt like scolding from her strict foster home and orphanage. 

Malee tried to do what April was doing, but she lost interest pretty quickly. She didn’t like to sit still when there was so much grass to explore. She frowned and fidgeted, a little nervous to get up from April’s lap. 

[Ishigreensa]

April noticed that she was getting fidgety.

"What's wrong?" she asked.  "Do you want to run off and go play?  I can continue to make the flower things and let you go run about if you want."

She smiled at her.  She had not meant to be mean about getting her sister to sit in her lap.

She helped Samantha up.

"You can do what you want, sis.  I'll be here finishing this crown of flowers for you.  I want you to have it once I'm done, okay?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Malee didn’t really understand what her sister said, but she understood it was ok to go. She smiled and hugged her sister before heading off. She started to run, but was out of breath soon. 

Malee plopped herself down in the grass, giggling at the soft feeling the blades had. She laid down and started to roll around, laughing and giggling to herself. 

[Ishigreensa]

Rick looked over at the girls and smiled.

"Yeah, it would be great if they got along like this all the time, wouldn't it?"

 

April continued working on the flower crown for her sister when she suddenly heard something to make her look up.  She breathed in relief when she realized her sister was just giggling and rolling around in the grass.

She went back to work on the flower crown she was making for her sister.

[Shy-Diapers]

After a while of rolling around, Malee was tired and out of breath. She looked around and shuffled back to her parents. She wiggled close to Rick and smiled. Her hair was covered in grass and leaves, and she had grass stains on her clothes and arms and legs. She was out of breath, but she was having a lot of fun. 

[Ishigreensa]

Rick smiled at her and put her in his lap.

"Just relax, sweetie," he told her.  "You wore yourself out, playing."

Eventually, April noticed that her sister was back with her parents, and she was done with the flower crown.  She came over and put the flower tiara in the girl's hair.

"For you," she said simply to her sister.

Rick looked at Mary.

"Well, I think the girls are done playing.  Do we want to go back now?  Maybe stop off somewhere on the way home and get them a treat?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Malee smiled and nodded at Rick. “Malee have fun!” She said smiling. She hugged Rick and giggled. “Like palk!”

When April brought the crown over, Malee smiled in amazement. “Sank Aplil!” She squealed happily. She giggled and felt the crown on top of her head. 

“That sounds good. We can stop by the ice cream place on the way home.” Mary said smiling. 

[Ishigreensa]

April smiled when her sister thanked her.  

She thought she sounded a little bit babyish, but that didn't bother her at all.  Actually, it sort of fit in her mind since the little girl also wore pull ups and seemed to like rolling in grass more than playing on the swings or slides at the park.

She nodded at her parents when they mentioned ice cream.  It had been a while since she had some.

 

Rick picked Malee up and patted her back.

"I'll carry you until I get tired, then we'll let you ride in the wagon, okay?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Malee smiled and hugged Rick. The park was a lot of fun! But it was kind of exhausting. “Malee like palk.” She said to Rick. She smiled and watched all the trees as they walked. 

At the ice cream shop, Mary let the others get what they wanted. “What should we get for Malee? Vanilla or strawberry?” She asked Rick. She knew those two would sit well with the girl’s stomach and wouldn’t make her sick. 

[Ishigreensa]

April looked up at her mother.

"Can I get whatever Malee is having?  I don't want her to see me eat something and want that too, and then she can't have it because it makes her tummy hurt.  I'll get my favorite another day, if that's okay?"

Rick smiled at April and patted Malee's back.

"We can ask her to choose if you don't think either one will cause her tummy to hurt," he told Mary.  

Rick pointed out the strawberry ice cream and the vanilla ice cream to Malee.

"Which one?" he asked her.

[Shy-Diapers]

“Pink!” Malee said smiling. The link ice cream looked so good to her. She looked hopefully at Rick, excited to get something that obviously seemed like a treat. 

“You can get whatever you want honey.” Mary said smiling. 

Once the ice cream was ready, Mary set it all down on a picnic table. Malee quickly started to eat her ice cream with the spoon. It was good! “Mmmmm!” Malee squealed. 

[Ishigreensa]

April smiled as she also got the pink strawberry ice cream.  

"You are good girls," Rick told the children.  "I'm really glad that you took care of Malee at the park," he told April.  "...And I'm really glad that you enjoyed yourself at the park," he tapped Malee on the nose."

April looked over at the bathrooms.

"Can I go?" she whispered to her mom feeling shy about telling her needs in public.

[Shy-Diapers]

Malee smiled at Rick. She laughed when he tapped her nose. She was really enjoying the day so far. She thought for a while trying to figure out how to say what she felt. “Malee like sis.” She said, intending to say ‘this’. “No like hospital.” She said with a smile. 

Mary nodded at April and nodded her towards the bathroom sign inside the ice cream shop. 

[Ishigreensa]

April heard her say I like sis, and on her way to the bathroom, she smiled.  She thought her sister liked her.

She rushed in and went to the bathroom.

Rick smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, hospitals are not generally very fun.  They just help us feel better so we can come back out and do things we like."

[Shy-Diapers]

“Malee like sis.” Malee said smiling. ‘Here’ was too hard of a word for her to say, even though that’s what she meant. She was trying to say that she liked America, and her new home and family. She was a really happy kid now that she was out of the hospital. 

[Ishigreensa]

Rick smiled nodded.

"I'm glad you like your new home, honey," he said.  "We've been looking forward to you coming home for so long."

He patted her leg.

After some time, April came back and sat down with her family again and patted Malee on the shoulder.

"Thank you for saying you like me," she said smiling.

[Shy-Diapers]

Malee looked a little confused at what April said. She didn’t say anything though, mainly because she didn’t know what to say. 

Mary stayed quiet. She didn’t know why April was saying that. It didn’t hit her that she misunderstood Malee. 

[Ishigreensa]

April sat down next to her mom and leaned her head against her mom's shoulder.

"Mama, if Malee doesn't speak English very well yet, is she going to go to school this next fall?" she asked.  "And can I take my friends around sometime this summer and show them my little sister?  I've talked a little bit about her at school, so a couple of my friends are a little bit interested in meeting her."

[Shy-Diapers]

“It depends on how her body is sweetie. If she’s still very weak and can get sick easily she’ll need someone to come teach her at home. But if she is better, she can go to school, but she’ll be in special classes to help her learn English.” April explained. “And so long as your friends aren’t sick you can bring them around. Though don’t be surprised if Malee gets overwhelmed.”

[Ishigreensa]

April frowned.

"I thought she was all better," she said sadly.  "It's already been so hard for her, having to stay at the hospital for so long and not having as much fun her first year in America with us.  Isn't there anyway to speed up her being better?"

She looked over at Malee.

"I'll be careful to only introduce one or two friends at a time to her.  I don't want her to get upset or get sick again."

[Shy-Diapers]

“She’s almost all better honey. She’s well enough to be out of the hospital, but her body is still weak. Remember how daddy doesn’t want her going up the stairs or running a lot by herself because she’s still weak? This is similar. She can get sick easier because she’s still getting better. There’s nothing to do but be patient and aware of what she needs.” Mary said smiling. 

“You’re a great sister for caring about her so much.”

[Ishigreensa]

April nodded.

"She didn't like being carried up the stairs though.  She said my name and kept trying to get down.  I saw her."

April giggled.  "She wants to be healthy enough to do things right now!"

 

Rick smiled.

"Well, she's a little girl.  Of course she wants everything to hurry up.  You aren't really that much different and you are a few years older than she is."

April blushed and nodded.

"I know."

[Shy-Diapers]

Mary smiled. “I think she looks up to you. She seems to follow you around a little puppy.” She said chuckling. 

Malee smiled up at her parents and her sister. She couldn’t understand everything they were saying, but they seemed happy and that made Malee happy as well. 

[Ishigreensa]

April smiled.

"She's my baby sister, now.  I have to think about and protect her where I can, especially if you or dad are busy or something, right?"

She moved closer to her sister and put her arm around her.

"My sister," she said possessively.