As I walked to the ice cream stand I had one of those thoughts you sometimes have for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I realized that I have never once thought of cheating on my partner. Not that temptation hasn’t presented itself, and really for no other specific reason than the simple fact that I have never wanted anything more than her in my life.

-------

“Next please,” said the ice cream vendor, tearing me away from my thoughts. I ordered a single scoop of mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone, grabbed a handful of napkins, and turned to walk away. It was then that I noticed a woman over by a wooden swing set. I could see that she was laughing by the expression on her face but I was too far away to hear the sound. As I searched for the object of her laughter I saw that she was pushing a young girl on the swing. The two were laughing together, oblivious of the world around them.

I slowly walked closer, trying to be respectful and not stare at the pair, but unable to take my eyes off of them. The woman, who was hunched down as she waited for the swing to return from its flight, had short, curly brown hair. Truth be told, she looked as if she had just woken up with her hair all disheveled. “Just woken up but with better things to do than mess with her hair,” I thought to myself.

As the sun started to set it lit up her face, shot a streak of gold through her hair, and even seemed to brighten her smile. With each push of the swing, the little girl at her arms length squealed and chortled with delight yelling, “higher Mommy, higher!” The woman laughed (a laugh that rang through my entire body) and pushed the little girl just a little bit harder.

I walked even closer, oblivious to the ice cream in my hand as it began to melt and run down my fingers. The woman stood up with her back to me and slowly stepped back from the little girl on the swing. “Mommy needs to rest for a second sweetie, kick your feet and see how high you can go on your own.” The little girl chortled her acceptance and started to kick her feet wildly.
With her back to me I allowed my eyes to wander from the woman's mussed hair, down her neck and to the small of her back, eventually noticing that both of her hands were resting on her hips. All the while she watched the little girl intently. “What small, delicate hands,” I thought to myself. She was wearing a mustard-colored tee shirt and faded jeans that looked to be about two sizes to big for her, they barely hung off of her hips and allowed for the hem to drop past her sandals and rest in the sand below.

Watching her closely left me breathless. Flashes of her smile, her laugh, and her fluid movements as she pushed the little girl on the swing all raced through my mind leaving me with that familiar tickle in my stomach. That tickle you get when you sneak off during a party to make love, just out of reach of being caught. Or, while sitting at work or on the subway, you have a quick flash of the romantic evening before. This woman was, in a word, moving.

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The sun was now almost set, giving the tree tops the impression of being on fire, and leaving a shred of the evening sky painted purple. Suddenly the woman turned around and was looking directly at me. No sooner had she turned than a smile spread across her face and she began shuffling through the sand toward me.

“There you are,” she said. “We were starting to think you forgot about us.” I smiled at her, feeling a flush blossom across my face. She took my hand in hers and moved it closer to her, slowly licking the ice cream off of my index finger.

“Momma, Momma,” came frenzied shouts from the direction of the swing set. I quickly bent down and grabbed a hold of my daughter’s hands, sliding her up my body, around my back and onto my shoulders. My ears were now filled with giggles and happy squeals. “Ice cream?” came the question from my shoulders.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, “do you think she’ll part with it?” I winked at the woman to my side who replied, “Okay, you can have it but what one word does Momma not want to hear on the way home?” “Oops!” shouted the little girl as she was presented with an ice cream cone wrapped with a handful of napkins.

My partner turned to me, put her fingertips in my back pocket and kissed me gently on the cheek. “Wanna head home?”

“Home it is,” I replied as I kissed her, and we started to walk out of the park and onto the path toward our house.

-------

“Oops!”

:clap:

Oh, Shannon, that was extremely moving and wonderful! You capture all that is beautiful and real about love in so many forms.

Thank you. You touched me today and I am better for it.

Nice job . . .

. . . that's a kicker of an opening paragraph!

i'm gonna have to do better at herding my stray thoughts . . .

Awwwwww ...

Great story, Shann. And nice twist on the ending there. :thumbs:

Ailsa

Wow- it still makes me cry! Very sweet, and I can hardly wait to see photos of that little girl.


Cindy

Thanks you guys. I was a bit leary about posting anything but a few *nudge, nudge - wink, winks* had me give Peter the okay and promptly hide myself away safely.

Seems to have been a good experience, might even try it again, and most definitely will start encouraging others to do the same.

And hey now that this crazy forum is working again, isn't it about time for another Tipu entry anyway?

Shannon ...

An oldie but a goodie.

It was the time that you feel the most important day of your life. This is becoming extremely moments that you had a great day with your mother. It was started when you buy ice cream that the man talk with you.