Page 39 of Sharkbait
“See if our girl will come back to the phone real quick, will ya?” I ask.
“Rissy?” she calls off-screen. “Daddy wants to say goodbye to you.”
Iris comes back in view with lightning speed, gnawing on her granola bar. She grabs the phone from her mom and holds it at the perfect angle so I can see directly up her nose.
God, I love this kid.
“Hey, Daddy-O!”
“Hey, girly. You game for another chapter ofMarla the Mermaidtonight before you go to sleep? I can call you at eight thirty your time.”
“Totally! I brainstormed a new adventure for her.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I think in chapter six, Marla and a scuba diver meet in a sea cave, and they get married and have hybrid mermaid scuba babies.”
“Interesting!” I try to keep a straight face. “But hey, in our last chapter, don’t we have her in mermaid school playing with her fish friends?”
“Yeah. Next chapter is a time hop. Life moves fast, Dad. Try to keep up.”
It sure does.
“I’ll try. Listen, I booked my flight today for my next two visits, so we’re all set for some fun in the sun. And... Mommy and I finally worked out the details for your Thanksgiving trip. I’m counting down the days until you’re here with me.”
“Yay! ‘Iris and Daddy’s Two Weeks of Philly Fun!’” she squeals.
“Is that what we’re calling it?” I smile.
Iris nods. “That’s definitely what we’re calling it.”
“Awesome. Ask Mom to give you some extra hugs for me until I can give you a real one myself, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Love you, Rissy baby.”
“Love you too. Peace out, cub scout!”
She kisses her fingers, shoots me a peace symbol, then ends the call.
I let out a long exhale and face the liquor shelf for a moment.
I close my eyes.
She’s changing every damn second.
And she’s right. Somehow, I gotta keep up.
“How you doing, hottie?” Calliope calls over the bar. “You okay?”
I turn to face her. “Me?”
“Yeah, you, Hottie McKegstand. Sounds like you’ve got some moves.”
I place a menu down. “She told you, huh?”
“Oh, she told us, alright.”
