Of course, not everything I did at that age with my family was training. Both my parents and both Uncles were determined to give me a healthy childhood, if not a normal one, and that meant plenty of interaction with other children and activities that were just for fun. Of course, that wasn't exactly easy for any of them to arrange for me. Mostly, this was done when Daddy and my Uncles arranged to 'drop by' and join whatever outings Mommy was taking me on, showing up in disguise that we immediately saw through, but was good enough to fool anyone else. I still remember my favorite outing, though...
Coco's eyes were wide as she stared out from under her motorcycle helmet, strapped in tight to the sidecar of Carmelita's motorcycle. It had been a year since she'd been adopted by Sly and Carmelita, and they considered that to be her birthday now, making her five years old. As such, they had decided on a special celebration, and Carmelita had arranged to get that day and the two on either side of it off, so she'd have a full three days to spend with Coco. The first day had been spent just the two of them enjoying themselves together as mother and daughter, playing games, watching movies, and sewing together. Today, however...today they were going to the carnival.
Carmelita had provided a good amount of change for the various attractions, intending to let her fully enjoy herself. At the end of the carnival, they'd be meeting up with Sly and the others, as Murray had apparently spent all of the previous day baking her the perfect cake. Carmelita supposed that, as fond as Murray was of sweets, he probably knew quite a bit about baking by now. If not, they could always buy a cake after watching whatever chaos would ensue with the one Murray made. But for now, the carnival.
Carmelita had gone for more relaxed attire for this trip, with tight fitting black pants and a black jacket over a tight fitting white shirt for riding the motorcycle, comfortable in it for walking around in. Of course, the outfit was bound to get her hit on at some point by any single teenagers at the carnival, but she figured the nightstick hanging from her belt would tell them she would hit back.
She smiled softly to herself as she watched Coco rush from one booth to the next, eager to try anything and everything to win prizes. She didn't do too well at the shooting gallery as she still struggled with holding a gun, but Carmelita was happy to win her a plushy there, taking it from the hippo running the stand when it was handed over. Of course, then Coco wanted to win her a plushy, and went straight to the dart booth.
...Carmelita would never figure out how Coco was able to pop 25 balloons with three darts, and neither would the poor booth turtle...
After that, Coco clutched her pony plushy tightly as she scampered around the carnival. It was of approximately the right size and color for her to use as a body double, and Carmelita was certain it would be used that way at some point. Carmelita, meanwhile, stared oddly at the raccoon plushy that Coco had won for her. She had a hard time believing it was coincidence that it was wearing a blue vest.
She was just putting that out of her mind as Coco ran up to her, tugging on the nightstick to get her attention. "Mommy! Mommy! I got you something!"
Carmelita chuckled softly. "Oh?"
"This way!" Coco promptly began tugging Carmelita along behind her.
Carmelita rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be led, only to pause as she saw Coco was tugging her towards a kissing booth. "Seriously?" she demanded irritably.
"Bought you a kiss!" Coco squealed happily.
Carmelita stared at Coco for a time, then smirked. While she wouldn't normally go for something like this, getting to watch Sly squirm when they met up later by telling him Coco had arranged for her to kiss someone else would be worth it. Smirking, she walked up to the booth and leaned towards the raccoon there-
Her eyes narrowed as she remembered other details she'd seen. "...really, Sly?" she growled out. "A kissing booth? That's your idea of good cover at a carnival?"
Sly chuckled, his brown jacket and pants hiding much of his physique. "What gave me away?" he asked softly.
"Murray running the shooting gallery and Bentley running the dart booth," Carmelita responded. "The first three booths we stop at just happen to have you three running them?"
Sly smirked as Coco burst into giggles. "Our shift ends in a few minutes. We'll be joining you."
"You mean you actually got a job here for the day?" Carmelita asked, shocked.
"Anything for our little girl," Sly replied sincerely. He then lifted his hand, trailing one finger through the air in the direction of her face, miming stroking her cheek. "And you, Miss Fox. Now you wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you? She did pay a full dollar for the kiss."
Carmelita stared at the incorrigible thief for a time, thinking about their past interactions. For the past year, she'd spent more time in the ringtail's company than she'd ever thought she would, and nearly all of it had been amicable, rather than hostile as it was the few times they'd crossed swords on cases. During that time, she'd gotten to know Sly and his Gang far more than she would have cared to if not for Coco. And she'd come to an odd conclusion.
She absolutely hated Sly Cooper the Master Thief, since he represented both her own failures in trying to fix the crime problem of the world and a world that law could not completely control. But Mr. Cooper, the father of Coco, was someone she could respect and even admire to a certain extent. And as much as she hated to admit it, Sly Cooper the civilian was someone she'd grown to like, and have certain thoughts about she felt she really shouldn't. Then again, getting as far in her career at 20 had meant sacrificing socialization when she was younger, meaning she'd never really dated...and now she technically had a kid with him. Certain thoughts were inevitable, and as much as she fought admitting it, he was easy on the eyes.
Her eyes lit up as she suddenly realized the opportunity Coco had given her, both to indulge her own desires and make Sly lose some of his confident swagger, all without actually giving anything away. As such, she reached past Sly's jacket, grabbed him by the tie he'd chosen to wear for some reason, and yanked him forward, locking lips with him, her tongue lunging past his lips as he gasped in shock.
She held the kiss for a full minute as she felt him start to run out of breath, before finally pulling back. "Think she's disappointed?" she breathed softly.
"Uh...I...uh..." Sly stammered out, completely poleaxed.
"Nope!" Coco proclaimed as she lowered a camera Carmelita hadn't noticed she was holding.
"You give me that camera, Coco!" Carmelita gasped out, her cheeks reddening as she took off after her.
Sly, for his part, slumped back in the booth with a goofy grin on his face. "...what a woman..."
When Mommy finally calmed down, all five of us gathered together to ride rides and enjoy other activities. The high point for the others was when I fell into Uncle Murray's pink cotton candy. For some reason, when I popped out of it I had the urge to call myself Pinkie Pie. I didn't act on it, though.
After that, we stayed for the fireworks...and then went out to dinner before enjoying the cake Murray had made. Best birthday ever.