CHAPTER EIGHT #2
“Not when it comes to fairy parties, apparently,” Will said, trying not to laugh at the exasperation he heard in her voice. “You’re going to have to paint me a picture.”
“It will be easier to do that when you can see what I’m talking about. I’ll show you in more detail when you stop by. But in addition to that, I want a face painter. Do you know of one?”
Will hated to disappoint her again with his lack of information, so he offered up the first thought that popped into his mind. “You might ask Rose. She used to color all the time and, I believe, has moved into painting. She might be able to help you out.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. She’d make a beautiful fairy, too. Good idea,” Amy said. “Let me write that down. She’s supposed to be here tomorrow, so I’ll ask her.”
Hoping he’d come up a few notches in Amy’s opinion of his abilities, Will was still a little uncertain how this was all going to come together. “Um, there are no such things as male fairies, right?”
“Well, of course there are,” Amy said. “I figure I’ll get you an outfit like Peter Pan’s except with wings.”
The mouthful of coffee Will had just taken spewed all over his monitor and desk. “Say what?”
“You need to be in character if you’re going to be at this party,” Amy told him. “You should probably be able to wear a pair of women’s tights. Finding green ones might be a bit of a challenge though.”
“Green tights?” Will could barely get the words out. He was trying to be a better daddy, but he was going to have to draw the line at green tights. He really didn’t think being a better daddy required him to chuck his manhood card out the window.
“Yep. You’ve got some long legs though. Probably will need the long and leggy ones. Any chance you’d shave your legs? I know from experience that wearing tights with hairy legs can be a bit bothersome.”
“No. Absolutely...no. Just no. No.” Will managed to get the words out. He waited to hear her disappointed response, but the only thing coming from her end of the phone was gasping breaths, and he realized she was laughing at him. “Very funny.”
She erupted into full-fledged laughter then. Finally, she composed herself enough to say, “You should have heard the horrification in your voice. I only wish I could have seen your face.”
“Horrification? Is that even a word?”
“Of course it is. My word. It’s a cross between horrified and mortification.”
As she dissolved into another fit of giggles, Will found himself smiling and then laughing with her.
Partly because he was relieved, but mainly because her laughter was so infectious.
It had been too long since he’d laughed like that.
It was like something slowly loosened within him.
The tendrils of negative emotions from the past six years slowly began to unwind themselves from around his heart, and, for the first time in far too long, he felt happiness.
“Okay. Point for you,” Will said when their laughter finally died down. “You really had me going there. You’ve got a mean streak in you.”
“Ah, admit it. You thought it was funny, too,” Amy said.
“Well, yes, once I realized I really wasn’t going to have to wear green tights. I would never have lived that down.”
“On the plus side though, you probably wouldn’t have had too many women chasing after you.”
“True, but I think the women are the lesser of two evils in this particular situation.” Will leaned forward to snag a tissue from the box on his desk and began to wipe up the coffee he’d sprayed everywhere. “Are you planning to dress as a fairy?”
“Definitely. I’m already planning my and Isabella’s costumes. Which brings me to my next point.”
“You have points?”
“Yes, I’m an organized person who enjoys making lists. Focus.”
“I can respect that,” Will told her. “I, myself, prefer things to be well organized.”
“Well, this will be as organized as a party with twelve six-year-olds can be.”
“Twelve? How many did we invite in total?”
“Fifteen. Twelve have responded already. The others still have some time to reply, so we might end up with all of them. Plus her cousins.”
“That seems like a rather big party, isn’t it?”
“Yes, maybe a little, but we couldn’t just not invite some of the girls from her class last year. At this age, it’s kind of an all or nothing situation. But we didn’t invite any boys.”
“Well, that’s a relief. I’d hate to see how you’d want to dress them up.”
“Haha. I’m not in the habit of emasculating young boys.”
“Just thirty-something men?”
“Yep. Now, back to my next point,” Amy said. “I need your credit card.”
“Okay. I’ll give it to you tomorrow when I come by to see the spot you found.”
“I really wish you’d give me a budget for this party. I don’t want you to get your credit card statement and fall over from shock.”
“Exactly how much do you think it might run?” Will wasn’t at all worried about being shocked at the cost of the party.
He’d already decided he’d pay whatever it took to give Isabella the party of her dreams. He knew he was supposed to be cutting back on indulging her, but it seemed important to still give her this.
“I don’t know for sure, but definitely not over a thousand. Maybe not even five hundred.”
“That’s fine. Just buy whatever you need to make this party memorable for her. Don’t cut corners. If you want something, buy it. Don’t worry about the cost. Believe me, unless you’re buying her a brand new car, my credit card can handle the cost.”
“I won’t disappoint you. I think you’ll see that you got your money’s worth.”
“Seriously, Amy, I’m not worried about that. Just have fun and buy what you need.”
“Sorry, I’m just not used to operating without a budget or keeping an eye on the bottom line.”
“Well, enjoy yourself,” Will told her. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out. “And I don’t want to hear anything more about money.”
Amy sighed. “Okay.”
“Do you have any more points we need to discuss?”
“No, I think that was it.” Amy paused then said, “Do you find Isabella’s birthday difficult because her mom died the same day?”
Will was a bit surprised by Amy’s question, and it took him a few seconds to come up with a response.
“Actually, Delia didn’t die on Isabella’s birthday.
After she collapsed, they put her on life support.
She was on that for two weeks, in hopes of giving the baby more time.
Unfortunately, her blood pressure began to climb, and soon it wasn’t safe for Isabella to be inside.
They ended up delivering her just before midnight.
We discussed it and made the decision to wait until the next day to take Delia off the life support.
Everyone agreed that it would be better for Isabella to not have her birthday be the same day as her mom’s death. ”
“I didn’t realize that. I’m sorry, by the way, for your loss. I’m not sure I ever told you that.”
“Thank you. It’s been a long road, but I think things are changing. And it’s partly due to you.”
There was a beat of silence before Amy asked, “Me?”
“Yes. I’ve seen how Isabella is with you and realized that I haven’t been the parent I should have been with her.
I’ve had my reasons—none of which are really valid—but I’m working to change that now.
She’s just soaked up the love you shower on her.
She’s not even your child, and you love her.
I knew I needed to do better. She deserves that. ”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Yes, she does deserve that, but so do you. There can be a really special bond between a daddy and his little girl. I hope the two of you find that now.”
“I hope we do, too.” Will wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure exactly how to put it into words. But then the moment passed.
“Well, I need to go. I told my mom I’d call her tonight,” Amy said. “So you’ll come by tomorrow, you think?”
“Yes. I’ll drop Isabella off at Laurel’s and then come over before I go into the office. Will that be okay?”
“Hopefully we’ll be done with breakfast by then.”
“Oh, I forgot about that. How about I come out around ten instead?”
“That would work much better. And don’t forget your credit card.”
Will laughed. “Spoken like a true woman. I won’t forget.”
As he hung up the phone, Will tried to analyze what he was feeling. The lighthearted conversation with Amy had been just what he’d needed. But he didn’t know if the other feelings swirling around in his heart had to do with what had transpired with Isabella or something more.
~*~*~