Chapter 10 #3
Dad had some advice when they got her home.
“Don’t do too much with her. Just let her rest. And if she can tolerate it, give her some ice cream rather than food.
It’ll be good on her belly, and she’ll enjoy getting away with something that she normally wouldn’t be allowed to do.
” He told him he’d buy some on the way home.
“Not ice cream but popsicles. That way it won’t settle in her belly wrong. ”
“I’ll get her all the popsicles she can eat.” Dad hugged him and then thanked him for calling them. “It was Reagan who mentioned it. I was going to call you when we heard anything, but he said it would be better if we called then. I love you, Dad.”
“And I love you, son.” After another quick hug from his mom, they were headed out of the hospital.
After stopping at the store, he was armed with any kind of treat that she’d want.
Putting her to bed after they got home, he sat in the living room and had himself a little meltdown, too.
Her first boo-boo with him around, and he thought he’d done all right for himself.
“What are you going to do when she starts dating?” He said that was easy, she wasn’t going to be dating at all.
“What are you going to do, become your big bad tiger when the boys start coming around? That’ll go over well.
You’ll have her so angry with you that you won’t be able to be around her for her being pissed off. ”
“That’s better than her dating. Besides, you don’t know what men like me would do to a little girl like she’s always going to be to me.
If I have to sit outside her door as my tiger, I’m going to do it just to keep her safe.
I failed today, but I won’t again. She’ll have all her parts just where they’re supposed to be so long as I’m around.
” She told him that he was being goofy. “Maybe I am, but I want her to know that I’m going to protect her at all costs. ”
“Well, I hope we have a houseful of little girls just so you can protect them. I wish I had had someone in my life who would have protected me. But then I might not have had Harri, and she’s worth any price I had to pay for being married so young.
I’d do it all again.” He kissed her on the mouth.
“Not that I really care, but what was that for? You’re going to be happy with a houseful of girls? ”
“So long as you carry them and they’re healthy, I don’t care what we have. They could all be human for all I care.” She said she’d not thought of them being cats. “There’s a chance that they could all be something different, but like I said, I don’t care.”
“I love you so much, Zeno.” He told her that he loved her as well. “I am looking forward to the next fifty years with you or so.”
“Same here. We’ll have a good life, and our kids will be perfect. Even if they’re not, we’ll love them to pieces.” He thought of the next few years and hoped they’d have more children soon. But it was up to her and her body. That’s the way it should be.
Harri woke up once in the middle of the night. She wasn’t sick but hungry. Giving her a choice of treats, she decided on a grape one that he loved as well. When she went back to sleep after eating it, he was happy to watch her sleep. Whispering to her, he kissed her on the forehead.
“You scared me a little bit. I’m all right now, but let’s not run down the stairs again.” She told him, “Okay,” and he had to smile. “I love you, Harri. You’re the best part of your mom.”
“I want to have a little brother or sister soon. Can you talk to mom about getting one for me?” He promised her that he would as soon as she was all healed up. “Good. I want a puppy, too, but I don’t think that’s going to work with you being a cat, huh?”
“I never thought about that. We had a puppy when I was a kid that sort of grew up to love us all.” She told him that she wanted to see his kitty soon, and he was all right with that.
The sooner she got used to him being around, the less afraid she’d be if he had to save her from something someday.
“You rest now, and I’ll talk to you in the morning. I love you.”
“And I love you, Dad.” When she rolled over and went to sleep, he sat there for twenty minutes just thinking about what she’d said to him.
He’d treasure this night forever because she’d called him dad.
Going to be with Anna, he decided that he didn’t care if they moved into a bigger house; he knew that they’d have to soon if the kids started coming, but for now, he was as happy as he could be living in the little house with his tiny little family.
Harri was still complaining the next day, but since she was able to eat her treats then, she seemed to be all right.
After she laid on the couch all day, he decided that they needed to get something for dinner rather than have Anna cook again.
She would do it, he knew, but there was no reason for it when things were still going on with Harri.
She would have school the next morning, and after getting with Reagan to find out if she should go or not, he left it up to them.
If she was feeling better, there was no reason for her to stay home.
But he did write her a note saying that she wasn’t to go out at recess nor have gym for the next week.
There was no point in her having another headache when there was no reason for it.
Harri seemed to be all right with the idea of her going to school, too.
“I miss my friends.” He said that was why he went to work so that he could be around other people. “Do all police officers hang out together all the time, Daddy?”
“Not usually, but some do. In a small town like this one, it stands to reason that we’ve become close.
I think that’s true for all small town stationhouses.
There are just a few of us, and we seem to get along fairly well.
” She called him daddy again, and he couldn’t help but feel proud of that.
“You will probably be in the same group of classmates until you graduate from high school. They’ll be lasting friends too. Ones that you’ve grown up with.”
“I’d like that.” She was watching television when he got up to go into the kitchen. Anna was in there looking in the cabinets. He told her his plan for dinner, and she smiled at him.
“You’re ruining us for cooking at home. But I can’t help but be all right with it.
It’s better than having to come up with something to eat and then cook it.
I’m all for not having to cook tonight. What were you thinking?
” He told her that he could have just about anything delivered.
“Then we’ll figure it out later. For now, I want to pamper my kid and hope she doesn’t get hurt again for a while. ”
He was all for that. He’d been terrified when she’d fallen down the stairs and had hit her head.
He wondered how other parents did it and decided that he didn’t want to know.
He had his own little pity party this morning, and he never wanted to feel like that again.
Helplessness wasn’t something that he did well with.