Work Text:
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Guilty brown eyes dart up to Sara’s. Tiny shoulders shrug inside a red cotton T-shirt.
“Your friend here isn’t having fun. She shouted for you to stop three times. Why didn’t you stop? Help her up and tell her you're sorry.”
“No!”
Sara ignores the circles being run around her and instead picks the little girl up, setting her back on her feet. The girl’s mother is just approaching as Sara dusts off the purple jeans.
“I’m sorry for my son’s behavior,” Sara says.
“That’s all right,” the girl’s mother says. “I’m sure he just has a little crush on you, sweetheart.”
“I certainly hope not,” Sara says. “Your girl deserves better than someone who pushes her around. I’ll see to it that he doesn’t do it again.”
With that, she grabs the back of that red T-shirt and tucks her youngest under her arm. She sticks her finger and thumb into her mouth and whistles so loudly the little girl covers her ears. A few seconds later, her older boy trots up to her, sporting new dirt stains on his school trousers.
“Time to go,” she says, shouldering her oversized pocketbook. “Your little brother can’t follow the playground rules, so we’ll have to come back another time.”
Big brother obediently follows. Little brother sinks his teeth into the arm holding him. Sara adjusts her grip so he can’t bite anymore but otherwise ignores him.