“He was still asleep when I left. Anne’s going to bring him over in a little bit.”
“Malasadas!” Kekoa said, pulling a pastry out of one of the boxes. It was fried golden brown and sparkling with sugar. He bit into it with the enthusiasm of a kid.
“Is it good?” Akemi asked.
“Oh yeah,” he mumbled, still chewing. “Broke da mouth.”
“They’re the same ones we used to get with Dad,” Oakley said. “They haven’t changed a bit since we were kids.”
Akemi blinked rapidly. “You drove all the way up the coast?”
“No. That old shack is still open, but the business expanded.They make everything at a bakery down in Hilo now. I picked them up myself today, but they’ll deliver once we figure out our regular order.”
“That’s brilliant, Oakley. Thank you.”
“Excuse me?” A timorous voice made them all look towards the door. “Are you open?”
“We are now!” Oakley said. “Come on in!”
Their first customer was a slight woman; the toddler perched on her hip was easily half as tall as she was. Just looking at the young mother, Akemi could feel her exhaustion. The circles under her eyes were as dark as bruises.
“Welcome,” Akemi said. The woman was trying to read the menu mounted up behind the counter, but her toddler was squirming and fighting to get down. “Would you like to see our playroom?”
“Sure. Thank you.”
“Come on through.”
Akemi and Oakley traded places; Oakley went behind the counter to load golden malasadas into their display case, and Akemi showed the young mother the bedroom that they had converted into a playroom for toddlers.
Out of everything that they had created, this was the space that Akemi loved the most.
A short wooden door separated the playroom from the main room. Adults could easily see in and out, but the toddlers were contained. Inside, the entire floor was padded. Kekoa’s cousin Lani had painted a gorgeous mural on one wall, all local fish swimming over a coral reef.
Most of the enrichment materials were thrifted. They had a beautiful wooden play kitchen that some local kids had outgrown, an activity wall that Akemi had made with zippersand light switches and other fun things, and a massive pile of foam blocks for building.
Kekoa had constructed a toddler-size table and chairs, and they’d equipped it with big pieces of paper and egg-shaped crayons.
“Wow.” The mother put down her baby, who headed straight for the blocks. “This is amazing.”
“Thank you. I’m Akemi, by the way. What’s your name?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m Bella. And my son’s name is Bodhi.”
“Glad to meet you both. I have a son about the same age as yours.”
“Really?” Bella looked around. “Where is he?”
“Kaleo decided to sleep in today, but my sister will bring him down…” she glanced at the clock on the wall, “any minute now.”
“I wish my baby would sleep in,” Bella said with a weak little grin.
“I can keep an eye on Bodhi for a minute if you’d like to go order.”
“Really?”
“Of course! That’s what we’re here for.”
“O-okay. Thank you.” Bella edged gingerly out of the room, glancing back at Bodhi about once per second like she expected him to start wailing. She kept it up all through the process of ordering food and a drink. Then she settled at a table in view of the playroom.