Part 3: Chapter 2

A Date

Saturday, April 25, 2020
	Steve and I have had a date! How you ask. Our newlywed renters, Cherise and Jacob, offered to feed and watch our children at their place. Seems that last week they caught wind that we’d asked Shannon to limit her contact with the outside world and for Paul to stay off our front porch, so now they’re open to being part of the family. 
	Last Thursday night after the kids went to bed, they even played some avant-garde games with us in our kitchen: one called Exploding Kittens and another called Zombie Apocalypse. Turns out that at work Jacob has to sign a statement saying that he hasn’t been near anyone outside his immediate household. According to Cherise, they debated and debated about whether that included our family or not. Cherise said it must include us because we all live together on the same property. Jacob said it couldn’t include us because we seemingly took no precautions against COVID. Perhaps this is what the crying in the car was about. 
	However, all that has changed now that the Belles have learned we aren’t completely disregarding COVID mandates. We’ve seen the statistics. We’ve listened to the news. We aren’t meeting in large groups—not unless you count our growing Sunday morning service.
	The children are ecstatic about going to the Belles’ place to be watched. It’s like a field trip to them. Opal brings a backpack full of craft supplies that Auntie Bev put on our front porch for Easter. Theo takes his laser tag guns. And baby Johnny takes his pacifier and a truck.
	Steve orders tapas from our favorite restaurant and drags the fire pit and chairs into the front yard where he sets up candles, music, and a blanket in case I get cold. We have civilized adult conversation without miniature people interrupting us every other sentence. We eat bacon-wrapped dates, spinach manchego croquetas, arugula salad, sweet potato fries, spicy adobo chicken wings, and Mexican chocolate soufflé. Am so unused to eating leisurely that I gobble down the rich food so fast and am immediately bloated and gassy.