Page 26 of 3 Daddies to Go

“Did she tell you that you missed out on all the fun? I told her to tell you that.”

“Don’t worry, she told me. I promise I’ll try my best never to miss a campout again, okay?”

He holds out a pinky. “Swear you’ll try?”

I latch my finger with his. “Promise.”

Damian nods, satisfied by our legally binding pinky swear. “I’m going to go have some breakfast now. But after, I’m going to show you that I mastered the monkey bars!”

“You did? That’s great, Damian!” He’s been trying to make it from one side to the other for weeks. “I can’t wait to see!”

He disappears into the mass of kids grabbing their breakfasts. The spread is usually pretty good here. Our chefs, again all volunteers, prepare pancakes, French toast, and eggs every morning. The other options vary. Today, I spotted some delicious-looking muffins. Sometimes if there’s anything left over after all the kids have eaten, I’ll grab myself something. I might need to sneak a muffin later. I’m pretty sure they’re lemon poppyseed, which are my favorite.

Auburn and I stand off to the side, our eyes scouring the tables of children. There are about two hundred kids who come through every day. Breakfast is our busiest time of day. I think we have about a hundred fifty right now. Most will stay for lunch, but only about fifty actually stay until we close down at five.

The program is open to kids ages one to eighteen. There aren’t a ton of older kids, since most of them end up getting jobs by the time they turn fifteen or sixteen so they can help out their families. Today, I only see a small table with four kids over fifteen. The vast majority of our kids are in the one to eleven age range. The really young ones are in a nursery with a few of our local college volunteers. They get credit towards their early education degrees for helping out.

“Does it ever break your heart?” Auburn asks suddenly. “Seeing all of them?”

“Every single day,” I say.

She nods.

“Me, too. I can’t imagine living like this, you know? What if they didn’t have the program? So many kids don’t.”

I wrap my arm around her. Auburn is six months pregnant and extra emotional these days, especially when it comes to the kids.

“We can only help the ones we can help,” I say. “There are other programs in place, and Sunshine is expanding. We’re doing what we can so that all kids get the same experiences, without worrying about their family situations.”

Auburn wipes away a tear.

“I’m sorry, I’m not normally so …” She places a hand gently over her stomach. “I just can’t imagine my baby being in this situation.”

“We can’t always help it, but at least you know you have a support system if you ever need anything.”

“Thank you, Kendall. You always know what to say.”

I give her a quick squeeze. What I don’t tell Auburn is that the same questions she asked keep me up at night. It gets so bad that I come up with these ridiculous plans to fix everything. Some of them might actually work, if I had the startup capital.

Those are dreams for another life, though. For now, I need to focus on the kids in front of me. I can help them by keeping them safe and making sure they have fun all summer long.

The earliest kids to arrive are starting to finish their breakfasts. We allow drop-off at seven in the morning for the parents who need to get to work, but we don’t start serving food until eight. Breakfast lasts until around ten. We never turn away any kids, though, so even if they show up late, there will always be food for them. Lunch starts at noon, so there’s always another time for a full belly.

Auburn still looks a little worse for the wear.

“Why don’t you go start activities today?”

She brightens.

“Are you sure? I know it’s your day, and I’m supposed to be on breakfast duty for another half an hour.”

I shrug.

“I’m okay watching the rugrats eat. You go have some fun. But careful fun. Don’t do anything that might hurt you or the baby.”

“I won’t, promise. Thank you, Kendall.”

Auburn gives me a quick hug before retreating into the program center. Sunshine bought up the old elementary school when Boone built a new one a few years ago. It’s the perfect place for a program like this. The classrooms act as activity centers, there was already playground equipment, and there’s a gym and a cafeteria inside for when it’s raining. Plus, the town donated the contents of the old library to the program, so we have a fully stocked reading area.