𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘

𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 - 𝟎𝟏𝟑

We arrived at the nursing home soon after. This was one of my favourite places to be. Most people here were kind and outgoing, most staying to themselves. This was an LGBTQ nursing home so I always felt welcomed. That's one of the things I love about this place.

I walked in, going to the front desk to greet Katie and sign in. "Good morning Katie!" I chirped, filling in my name and writing the date.

"Good morning Dahlia, who's this?" She tilted her head towards Raeni with a smile. I looked beside me to see her fidgeting with her fingers.

"This is Raeni. Raeni, this is Katie. My favorite receptionist ever." I smiled, handing Raeni the sign-in sheet.

Katie sucked her teeth, "Girl I'm the only receptionist you know. Nice to meet you Raeni, will you be helping Dahlia today?"

"Yes ma'am." She responded shyly. Cute.

"Ma'am! I like her already!"

Raeni placed the sheet down. I grabbed her hand, leading her into the main area where everybody hung out.

"Wait!" She stopped in her tracks.

"Yes? Is there something wrong?" I asked, looking at her in concern.

"I'm just a bit nervous. What if they don't like me?"

"I'm sure they will, you're a sweet girl and if they don't then they just don't. You don't need validation from elders, that doesn't define who you are. Hm?" I rubbed her arm, smiling softly.

"You're right. Thank you."

"No problem. You ready?"

"Mhm."

The room was filled with chatter and violin music, some people were crocheting, some reading, some talking while some just did nothing but stare.

I walked around greeting the elders, Raeni just waving awkwardly following close behind. "Hey, Isa, Hello Harriet."

'Hello Darling," Harriet spoke

"It's been a while since we saw you dear, what have you been up to?" Isa continued.

"Nothing much, same ole, same ole."

"That's good honey. Who's your friend?" Harriet narrowed her eyes at Raeni, causing her to tense up.

"Oh right. Raeni this is Harriet," I pointed to the black woman with gray curls in her hair. "And that's Isa." This time I pointed to the white woman with her hair slicked down to the side.
"Nice to meet you." Raeni smiled.

"Nice to meet you, honey," Isa said with a smile, Harriet not saying anything at all. I could tell she was analyzing her. It's what she did to me when I first started here. It was a while before she got to the point where she is now, I imagine it being the same for Raeni.

"Dahlia!" A voice called out from behind me. I turned my head to see one of the nurses, Haley walking towards me.

"Haley!" I called back and pulled her into a hug, rocking us back and forth. " I missed you."

"No, you didn't, " She pouted, "If you did, you would've come and visited me."

"Hush, you know what days I come. You should've called me." I stepped back and pulled Raeni towards me. " This is my friend Raeni, she's going to be helping me out today."

Raeni smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

After a few hours of interacting with the residents and staff, I could see Raeni starting to get more comfortable. Most of the staff loved her and she got along well with the patients.

The whole time volunteering I kept getting pulled to the side and asked if we were dating. I could only shake my head no and smile, most wouldn't believe me though. The fact that we were practically matching didn't help at all.

I love to see Raeni getting more involved, it gives me just a tiny bit of hope that she'll continue doing this with me. I look forward to having quality time with her even if it's just for an hour.
Speaking of Raeni, I looked around to see her, Harriet and Isa having a conversation. I saw Isa point at me and I quickly turned my head as if I wasn't looking. I wonder what they were talking about, why am I involved?

I looked down at my phone to see that it was 4:30 and I had 30 more minutes of volunteering. I took this time to begin saying my goodbyes and gathering my things. Walking over to Raeni, I tapped her shoulder. "You ready to go?"

"Aw man, already? Harriet's and Isa's telling me about how they met." Oh right, I forgot to mention that Harriet and Isa are married, they have been for 60 years. Oopsie.

"That's alright dear, you can hear about the rest next time," Isa said, rubbing her palm on Raeni's hand and Harriet smiling.

"Aw okay, bye guys," Raeni said, waving.

"Remember what I told you, darling," Harriet spoke.

Huh?

"I would never forget it." She smiled before grabbing my hand.

We signed out, saying our final goodbyes before walking out to the car. "I had such a good time, everyone is actually really nice. Thank you for inviting me."

"I told you you would. Do you know think you want to keep doing this?" I asked, getting in the car.
"Yeah, it seems fun. All of that talking made me hungry." She cranked up the car before putting the car in reverse.

"I thought it was just me," I giggled, " Can we stop and get something?"

"Of course, what do you want?"

"Chick-fil-A."

☆ ☆ ☆

Once we pulled into the Chick-fil-A drive thru , I ordered the nugget meal and Raeni got the sandwich. Once again, Raeni refused to let me pay her back and handed me my food. We decided to eat at the park's parking lot.

The memories from our first hangout came rushing back causing me to smile.
"What's got you smiling so hard," Raeni teased, biting into her sandwich.

"Nothing." I lied.

"Well, it's got to be something. Come on, tell me please!"

"Fine, this just reminded me of the first time we hung out, just less wet." I chuckled.

"Oh yeah, hopefully it doesn't rain this time." She reached over and took one of my fries.
"Hey! You have a whole container full that you haven't even finished." I said, folding my arms.

She chuckled before leaning in and kissing my cheek, "I'm sorry love."

"I guess I forgive you."