Page 5 of The Winging It Holiday Special

Dante scrabbled on the desk for a piece of paper and a pen. This was, like, way above second-favorite-uncle paygrade. This was even above namesake paygrade. “Your mommy and daddy love you, sweetheart. Don’t any of your friends at school have brothers and sisters?”

Gabe was looking at him with wide eyes. Dante shook his head helplessly in answer.

Gabby sniffed. “Julie has a little brother. But he cries a lot and her mom is busy now.”

Out of the mouths of babes, Dante thought. “Babies do cry.” Was that the right thing to do? Agree with her? He was so out of his depth. “Did you talk to your mom and dad about this?” Surely this was something her friend had put in her head? Jenna and Yorkie adored Gabby. There was no reason for her to think otherwise.

Gabby mumbled something incomprehensible.

Dante grimaced. “Sorry, sweetie, can you repeat that?”

“I ran away,” she whispered.

OhChrist.

CALL YORKIE, Dante scrawled on the paper. There was a diagram of a human shoulder on it. Hopefully that wasn’t important. GABBY RAN AWAY.

“Honey, that’s not safe,” he croaked out, over an intense compulsion to shoutOh my God, why did you do that! You go home right now, young lady!“Do you know where you are?”

Something crunched. Leaves, maybe? Did that mean she was outside? It was probably pretty chilly in Indianapolis, even if it wasn’t quite the frozen wasteland Dante had unfortunately become accustomed to. “There’s a park. Daddy takes me sometimes.” Her voice broke. “I don’t know how to get home.”

PARK YORKIE TAKES HER TO, Dante wrote. Gabe was talking quietly but urgently; Dante filtered him out to focus on Gabby.

“Okay, sweetheart, don’t panic, okay?” Dante was doing enough of that for both of them. “You’re just going to stay right where you are and someone’s going to come to you. What kind of park? With a swing set?” He didn’t want her out in the open. What if some creep came by before her parents found her?

“Uh-huh. An’ a climbing wall.”

Good enough. “Good, that sounds like fun. Can you do something for me?”

“Okay.”

“Get behind the climbing wall, okay?” he said, meeting Gabe’s eyes from across the room. Gabe nodded and relayed the info to Yorkie. “Uncle Gabe’s on the phone with your dad. He’s going to come and get you. But I’m going to talk to you until he gets there, okay?”

There was a scuffle of feet on… not gravel. Mulch, maybe? Then Gabby said, “He’s going to be mad at me.”

“I think he’s going to be too relieved to find you safe to be mad,” Dante said, praying Yorkie didn’t make him a liar. “He’s probably really worried and scared.” Dante was having a coronary from halfway across the continent, and he had Gabby on the phone.

“I don’t want to go to the orphanage,” she whimpered. “Can I come live with you?”

Dante’s heart could not take this. Yorkie needed to find his kid stat. “No one’s going to send you to an orphanage,” he promised. “And you know Uncle Gabe and I would love to have you here, but you’d miss your parents. And I know they’d miss you.”

Gabby’s throat made a wet clicking sound when she swallowed. Her voice was thick with mucous. “Julie says Mommy’s having another baby ’cause I was a mistake.”

Jesus Christ, what was he supposed to say to that? Dante was not built to hear things that made him want to fight little girls. “Are you sure Julie is your friend?” he finally said. It was that or put his fist through the wall and he needed his hands to play hockey. “It seems like she says really mean, untrue things about you.” Even if Gabbyhadbeen an accidental pregnancy. How would a five-year-old come up with that, anyway? Obviously this Julie had overheard it from someone else. Best to throw out the whole family.

Gabby sniffed. “Do you think Julie is a liar?”

Dante thought Julie was a big fat liar who was jealous of Dante’s perfect sweet misguided angel niece/step-grandchild. But he was saved from having to say so and therefore probably causing things he’d later have to apologize for when he finally heard Yorkie’s voice through the phone.

Across from him, Gabe relaxed visibly just as the tension seeped out of Dante’s shoulders.

He was sure he or Gabe must’ve said something to Yorkie or Gabby in the way of signing off, but the emotional comedown hit and he went through it on autopilot. By the time he tuned back in, he was sitting on the office love seat.

He shifted a little when Gabe sat down beside him and took his hand, then leaned until his head was on his shoulder. “I think I’m gonna puke.”

Without a word, Gabe got up and retrieved the wastepaper basket. He set it between Dante’s knees and coaxed him to lean over it, then rubbed his back while Dante decided if his body was serious right now. After a few moments of long, deep breaths, the urge mostly passed and he leaned on Gabe again.

“Try not to puke on me,” Gabe said, but he was stroking Dante’s hair, so probably he would forgive him.

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