Isabelle Campbell
“Why were you and my dad yelling last night?”
“Oh, he just gets on my nerves sometimes. And he tickles me, which makes me scream because I’m… well, a little too sensitive.”
“Oh, okay. My dad’s been acting weird lately, but I like it.”
“Weird?”
“Yeah. He’s been really affectionate.”
“He’s just trying to make up for lost time.”
“He even plays video games with me now. And I know he loses on purpose.”
I smiled. That was such a Colin thing to do.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course you can.”
“I never thought I’d have a mom again.”
Kids… they always find the most random moments to break your heart and rearrange your emotions completely.
“I’ll never replace your mom, Joshua. But I’ll do my best to love you more and more every single day. And I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to call me Mom.”
“But I want to call you Mom! You do everything my mom used to do. And I can tell you love my dad, Hanna, and me too. So yeah—you’re my mom!”
He said it with so much conviction it actually startled me.
“Okay,” I said softly, lowering my head as tears welled up. “In my heart, you’re already my son.”
I hugged him tightly and closed my eyes. We stayed like that for a few seconds before—
“Mom! Mom! There’s a monster in front of us!” Hanna shouted.
I opened my eyes and saw a man wearing a mask. For a moment, I panicked—until Joshua said, “Oh no! We have to run! We’ve got thirty seconds!”
“Run? What do you mean, run?”
“That’s the man who took over my dad’s body! We have to go now!”
“I’m scared!” Hanna squeaked, hiding behind me.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll protect you. It’s just your dad pretending to chase us—he’s gonna tickle us until we cry.”
“Is that really you, Daddy?”
“I don’t know any Daddy!” a deep voice boomed, and of course I recognized Colin instantly.
The things this man comes up with…
“I’m gonna tickle you so much you’ll be begging me to stop!” he roared, laughing as Joshua grabbed our hands and practically dragged us out of the room.
Long story short: the two kids were screaming and pulling me along, laughing hysterically, without even seeing him without the mask.
I decided to join in on the fun, and we spent several minutes running through the mansion while Colin pretended to almost catch us.
I’d never felt anything like it. The truth was, Hanna had never experienced this kind of playful affection from any man before—she’d been too little when her father still lived with us. And now, with Colin in her life—and Joshua too—I finally knew what it felt like to belong to a family.
“Stop! Stop!” Hanna laughed so hard she could barely breathe.
Whenever Colin realized it was too much, he’d let her go and move on to Joshua. Then it was my turn—and of course, he knew exactly how much I hated being tickled.
We laughed until our stomachs hurt, and afterward, Colin finally pulled off the mask, pretending not to remember a thing—that something had “taken over” him. His little performance, just like Joshua had warned me.
“Just wait, Colin Adams—you’re gonna pay for that!”