Page 90 of Baby Blue
He chuckled. “Say it.”
“What?”
“You know what.”
Anne laughed. “I love you, Blue!”
That was all it took for him to finish. He’d come full circle. Falling on his side in exhaustion, he gathered her into his arms and felt her kiss his chest. It didn’t matter that they were in a hotel. No matter where they were, as long as they were together, he was home.
“Where is she?” Blue yelled as he came in the door. “Where is she? Indigo!”
Two faces peered out of the doorway to the den. “She’s in the sandbox, Dad,” Polly told Blue and pointed out the back door.
He went straight through the house, Polly and Toady following. When he stepped into the kitchen, Anne caught sight of him. “What’s wrong?”
“Look at this!” Blue held up the bag he brought his uniform clothes home in. Anne took it, opened it, and started to laugh. “It’s not funny!”
“Yeah, it kinda is!” she said, still laughing.
“No, it’s not,” Blue argued. But Anne kept laughing and before he could get out the back door, he was laughing too. “It’s really not funny,” he said, gasping for breath. “But it kinda is.”
The back door opened and he found himself looking down at his little daughter. “Hi, Da. Oo gah pesent?”
Anne, Polly, and Toady had gathered behind Blue to hear what the little monster had to say for herself as he said, “No. I don’t have a present. What I have is a bag full of clothes and mustard. Mustard, Indie. Where’d the mustard come from?” Blue asked her, trying to look serious.
She held her hands up and shrugged. “I nah know.”
“Oh, you don’t know. So who put the mustard in my clothes?”
“Powwy?”
“No, I didn’t, Dad! I swear!” Polly screamed. “Why are you lying?” she yelled at the two-and-a-half year old.
“I nah wye. I nah gah no wyes. Oo puh da musard in you cwothes, Da?” Regardless what her birth certificate said, a darling she was not, at least not in that moment.
“IndigoDarling Wallace,youput mustard in my clothes. Now they’re ruined. What am I supposed to wear to work now, hmmm?” Blue asked, trying hard not to laugh.
Indigo looked up at him, planted her feet shoulder width apart, and put her hands on her hips, then lifted one hand to wag a finger at him. “Now Da, oo gah ma da fada gah do fah fah. Oo know oo gah,” she said, her face serious and her brow furrowed, shaking that finger at him furiously.
“What did she just say?” Toady asked.
Blue shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea. No more mustard in my clothes, you understand?”
Indigo rolled her eyes. “Ootay.” Then she turned and ran down the back steps and back into the yard.
Blue looked at his wife. “Can you get that out of my uniforms?”
“Yeah, but they may still be stained.” On her way to the laundry room, she called back to him, “By the way, Patty’s coming for dinner.”
“Good! We haven’t seen her in a week,” Blue answered, reaching for an apple. He was chewing a huge bite of it when Anne came back, and she marched right up in front of him and gave him a big kiss. “What was that for?” he asked, grinning.
“For being the best-looking guy I know. Oh, and Delores called. She wanted to know if she could come by this weekend and bring the kids something.”
Blue was glad DeloresBingham had held to her word and was involved in Indigo’s life, and she treated Polly and Toady like they were her grandchildren too, even though her own daughter had only asked to see Indie twice. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her as long as it wasn’t full of sugar, that would be fine. She’s going to ruin their teeth,” Anne said, wiping apple juice from the corner of Blue’s mouth and licking her fingers.
“Yeah. Every time she comes by, they’re up until two in the morning burning off the sugar she’s put into them.” Blue took another bite, chewed, and swallowed, all while Anne stood there, her forehead resting on his chest. “You liking the new job?”
