Page 131 of Daddy, Take Me Away
“Okay.” I agreed.
She walked toward the emergency exit door and opened it.
“Can you count in Mississippis?”
“One Mississippi,” I started.
She exited the door and I made it to “three Mississippi” before I got worried.
I ran back through the door and into the restaurant. Her Daddy stood when he saw my concerned face.
“Hazel goed on a naughty adventure!” I blurted out.
Elliot
Kneeling in front of Tinsley, I took her hands in mine. “You did the right thing, baby.”
“We’re so proud of you, Teenie,” Tyler assured her.
“I tattled.”
My heart hurt for her. She just felt things so big. It was hard to understand that sometimes doing the right thing didn’t always feel good. Thankfully Dawson caught Hazel before she’d gotten too far. Our plans for the morning had been canceled. He’d texted us to apologize and explained today was the anniversary of Hazel’s grandmother’s death. She was grieving and processing the best way her Little could. I assured him we understood and had done my best to explain it to our Little one, but the news had just made her feel worse.
“You did tattle, but tattling when someone is being unsafe is okay. I promise tomorrow Hazel will be so thankful you did. Even though she really is a grown-up, she still could have been hurt. Someone could have tried to hurt her because she was alone, or because she was feeling sad, she could have hurt herself because she wasn’t thinking clearly,” Tyler explained. Bless him.
Tinsley nodded. I hated that she looked so down, though.
“Can I use my good girl dollars to buy her a stuffie?”
“I think that’s a beautiful idea,” I told her. “How about at the shop with all the bears on the roof?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yas.”
“Oh, a shop with bears on the roof?”
“Yas-huh, Uncle Tyler. We can show you,” Tinsley said, standing and taking his hand. He snagged my hand. “Thank you for sharing the sweetest Little girl in the world with me.” I kissed the back of his hand, much like I did Tinsley’s.
“I’m glad you’re here with us.”
Tinsley led us all the way to the shop, her determination admirable. I waved at the woman who owned it, and she came over to help.
“Well, hello, my new friends. I’m so glad you came back to visit.”
“We need to buy a special stuffie,” Tinsley said, cutting straight to the chase.
“Oh, well, I have a lot of those. Who is it for?”
“Hazel. She’s having a hard day.”
“Aw, poor Hazel. I bet she’s so glad to have a friend like you to love her on hard days.”
Bless you, random woman who knows the perfect thing to say to our hurting Little girl.
“Do you know why she is having a hard day? Is she sick?”
“No, her grandmother died a year ago today and she has big feelings.”
“Oh my! I have the perfect stuffie for your friend. I just got this one in.”
