Becky had it all planned out in her head before she even shared it with Rachel. They would leave extra early and take the Metro all the way from Fairfax-GMU stop to L’Enfant. Since that stop was the first on the Orange Line they’d have seats, and they would not have to change, just get off and go up to the Mall. Seemed simple to Becky.
Rachel was more skeptical. She agreed it was a good plan and showed a lot of mature thinking and understanding of public transportation and schedules and locations, but she was skeptical. She did not think Mrs., Middleton would let her take Sidney and Frankie, and she doubted if Mrs. Thomson would be so free with her kids either.
Great idea, slim chance.
Tomorrow was Friday. The Inauguration was on Tuesday. Becky did not work on the weekends and Monday was a holiday, ML King Day. If she were to pitch the plan it had to be Friday afternoon and she had to have an answer then.
Candace Thompson and Sara Middleton were friends in high school in Richmond, had drifted apart, lost touch during their college years, but were recently reunited in Fairfax. Sara was a human resources officer for a bank and her husband was on the faculty of George Mason University. Candace was recently divorced and relocated from Seattle by her employer, a software company. The friends embraced their reunion and Sara did all she could to help Candace settle into the community including finding her a house only a block from hers and a great babysitter.
Becky had been caring for Sara’s children for a couple of months when Candace arrived. Becky suggested her friend Rachel, and for nearly a year now the four women have looked after the every need of the Thompson’s two daughters and the Middleton’s son and daughter, all of elementary school age.
Thursday afternoon, Sara called Candace, to see if she wanted to eat out that evening. Hank was out of town at a conference, she could have Becky and Rachel keep the kids at her house and order pizza. When the two women met at Born Restaurant in Vienna, they we genuinely glad to see each other. Out on a Thursday night reminded Candace of their years in high school when every weekend started on Thursday night.
Several times during dinner, the subject of the Inaugural came up, once as the two toasted the end of the Bush Years, and other when Candace lamented the loss of Hillary Clinton one more time, and again when they talked about the racial divide at their high school and in their community. They had not grown up in the South of the 1950’s but rather the south of the 1980’s and in many ways it had not changed and maybe still had not changed. Maybe it would not, they both thought.
After dinner the two women strolled along Maple Avenue and Sara brought up the Inauguration again, saying what an historic moment it would be and being down there on the Mall would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Candace picked up on what Sara was thinking and volunteered the suggestion that they should make sure their children got to attend. They talked about how neither had planned to be out of their offices that day, but probably could.
Then Candace suggested Becky and Rachel take them. The two women stopped and said the same things at the same time about level of confidence, age of responsibility, familiarity with the Metro. Sara wondered if Hank would be ok with it?
They walked back to their cars and said good night and drove to their homes, Sara following Candace nearly all the way. Becky and Rachel had the children all asleep in their respective beds when the two mothers arrived home. Becky left first, stopping to pick up Rachel a few minutes later. They were both filled with confidence at their good job and how easy it would be to win approval for their grand adventure.
Just before Sara went to bed, she called Candace to thank her for the evening out, and then asked her how things were at her house. Candace replied that they couldn’t be better. There was a slight pause, and they asked each other how about the girls taking the kids to the Inauguration. Then they both answered that is would not only be alright, but probably a very good thing to do.
Sara said she’d ask Becky the next afternoon if she and Rachel would be interested. Candace said she hoped the two girls would want to take the adventure to see history.