Page 30 of Escaping the King
“Can you say, hi, Sheila?”I prompted my daughter.
And right on cue, she said, “Hi seewa.”
We had to giggle at her proud pronunciation.
“Very good, Daniella.And what is your mom's name?”the woman asked Dani.
I was fairly sure Dani didn't know the answer to that.So, I'd have to make up a new name to tell Sheila.
“Biss-Elle!”Dani shouted and I was plenty shocked.I hadn't taught her that, but somehow, she'd picked it up.
“That's right, honey,” I said to Dani and kissed the side of her head.I looked at Sheila and said, “You can call me Giselle if you like.”I gave her a smile.
“All right, Daniella and Giselle.Pick whatever table that tickles your fancy.”She leaned in and said, “I'd stay away from the back corner if I were you.Those guys can let the f-bombs fly, if you know what I mean.”Her eyebrows waggled and made Dani laugh.
“Thank you, Sheila.We'll pick a spot.”
After that, she left us to our own devices.I chose a booth so I could cage Dani in.And if she got tired, I could lay her down on one of the bench seats.
In no time, Sheila was at our table, handing us menus.Dani's was a paper one.“Can she have crayons?”Sheila asked, still holding them in her hand.
They were in a small box, and I loved that.A clean, germ-free pack of crayons we could take with us on the road.
“Yes, thank you.”
Sheila nodded and handed Dani the crayons.
Of course, Dani acted as though Sheila had just offered to pay for her entire college education.
“Oh, fanks you,” she said and dramatically hugged the teensy tiny box as though no one had ever given her a more precious gift.
“She loves to color,” I explained to Shelia.
“I can see that,” she laughed and shook her head.“So dang cute.You're one lucky momma.Lemme tell ya.”
I nodded in agreement before Sheila left our table.
I quickly looked over the menu and picked out what to order.Then I helped Dani color her paper menu while quizzing her on the different colors of the crayons.
“Have you folks decided on what you'd like?”
I gazed up at Sheila and gave her our order.She didn't write it down, just nodded and walked off.
We kept coloring and talking.Dani asked me to draw some bunnies.And, of course, she had to name each one of them.
There was a mommy bunny and a baby bunny and then—a daddy bunny.
“Dada?”she scrunched up her nose and looked at me.
And my freaking heart cracked.
I'd taken my baby away from the only father she'd ever known.
“Yes, a dada bunny,” I said, hoping that she would drop this subject.Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
“My dada.”Her little hand landed on her chest.In exactly the same place mine ached.
I wondered if her heart ached like mine did right now.Or, once she realized she'd never see her dada again, if it would start to hurt.
