Accidentally Perfect (15 page)

"Oh, I love princesses, Amanda."

"You can call me Bear, my mommy, and daddy do
, so you can, too."  She gives me a big smile.  Not knowing how else to be, I stand there taking in the view.  "How do
yous knows about pwinecesses
? 
Yous got girls too?"

"No, no girls, no boys either.  My sister loved princesses when she was younger, so I watched lots of princess movies with her."

"Come sit,” Addie calls from her bed patting the spot next to her.

"I want Nafin
to sit on mines bed, bug.  No fair, no fair." 

"Here."  I pick up Amanda and carry her over to her sister’s bed.  "Do you mind if I sit next to you Addie?"  She shakes her head.

"You can call me Bug, everyone does.  I don't mind it now, but when I'm a big girl, you can't be calling me that name because then the boys will make fun of me. I wouldn't want them to because once they get to be big boys then they won't have cooties anymore and that means I can get them to be my
boyfriend, and they want
to be with a girl who people call Bug, so you can call me that now Nathan, but not for much longer.  Okay?"

"Alright, Bug for now, but not for much longer.  I got it."  Sitting here next  to
Addie with Amanda on my lap feels right, it feels as though I have done this a million times before.

"So yous got a sista like me Nafin?"

"Yes, I do.  Her name is Natalie, but I call her Nat.  When she was younger I used to say to her,
shoo Nat the Bat, go fly to your cave,” I
laughed that the memory.  "It used to make her so mad."

"Is she a twin to you like Bear is to me?"

"No, she's my little sister.  She is the best sister anyone could ever ask for.  I can't wait for you to meet her."

"We wanna meets her, huh Bug?"

"Yes, we do."

"Well, you girls will as soon as you guys are all better.  I’ll see if she can come over and play.  I bet she knows how to play the best princess things.  She was a pro at it when she was little.  She may still have some of her princess dresses in the house somewhere.  Do you guys have dress up dresses?"

"Mommy boughts
us some, but we have to share.  We can't ever be the same
pwincesses because we don't evers
have the same dresses.  Mommy is big on sharing."

"Well,
sharing is a good thing to be great at.  Sharing with your sister is the best, because you only have one sister.  No one else will ever have her, just you, so that is something special."

“Do yous like horses Nafin?”

“Yes,
I do.  The house where my sister
lives
is the house I lived in when I was a little boy.  We have lots of horses that go all over the place.”

“We love horses; they are our most favorite animals next to kitties and puppies.”

“Maybe one day I can take you out to the stables where the horses live and show you how to ride them.”

“Do you love our mommy?”  Addie asked

“I believe I do sweetie.”

“Hows comes we never seen yous before?”

“Because I just met your mommy.”

“How can grown-ups be married if they never seen each other before?”

“There is just something special about your momma, Bug.  The first moment I saw her and your Auntie Stella I knew that I had to meet her.  She is the prettiest lady that I have ever seen.  She has the biggest
heart,
and I love how strong she is.  She was so upset when she heard that you girls and your daddy were hurt. You girls are so important to her.  She loves you so much.”

"Yous aren't like Ugly Michael, Nafin
. 
Yous
are nice.  And
yous
are comfy.  My mommy and daddy aren’t comfy like
yous." I laugh at her comments as she wiggles her bottom in my lap making herself comfortable while Addie snuggles into my side.

"You are feeling okay Addie, does your leg hurt?  Do you need me to get a nurse to help you?"

"I'm okay Nathan, but can you please tell us a story?"

"What kind of story?"

"Your favorite princess story.
  Do you have a favorite story, Nathan?"

"Yes, I do."  I pull Addie into my
side,
and I smooth Amanda's hair.  It's been years since I have had to pay attention to anything princess, but lucky for me, I remember everything.  "My favorite princess of all time is Belle."

"Oh, I likes her Nafin, I likes her a lot."

I rest my head back and close my eyes while I recount the story of the beauty and the beast.  "Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Belle.  She lived in a small village."

“But Belle didn’t care that he was a beast, she saw the good in him.  She knew in time, everyone in the village would see the good in him as well.”  When Brad and I arrived at the girls’
room,
we heard the hum of Nathan’s voice.  Quietly opening the door to a crack, Brad and I stood there listening to my husband tell the story of Beauty and the Beast.  Both the girls are curled up sleeping soundly while Nathan continues on with the tale.  I shut the door gently.

“Go home, Brad.  Can’t you see that everything is fine here?  Go get some rest.  I don’t think you should go into work tomorrow.  Just go rest.  I will let you know if anything changes.”

“Those are my girls, Laney.”

“I know, Brad.”

“He’s comforting my girls.”  His voice sounded broken.

“They will always be your girls, but don’t you think it’s okay for them to be his girls, too?”

“The jury is still out on that one.  But I’ll go.  Give them a kiss.  Tell them I would have done it myself but they were already asleep and I didn’t want to wake them.”

“I will, now go.”  Brad turns to
leave,
but I grab his arm to stop him.  “They love
you,
Brad.  You will always be their superhero, but every little girl can have more than one.  It doesn’t mean you mean any less to them.  The love a daughter holds for her father is a love that will never falter, no matter how many other men come into her life, her father will always be her first love.” 

He nods his head and walks away. 

I slowly open the door and walk into the quiet room.  Both girls are still sleeping on Nathan while he rubs his hands over each of their heads. 
“Hey,” I
say in a soft voice.  “How are they doing?”

“Well, since I am a bonafide
knower of all things princesses, I think I passed their test.  Well, that and I may have told them my sister is a pro at being a
princess,
and she may be able to teach them a few things about pink, purple, tulle and sparkles.”  He gives a small smile. 

“Sweet.
  Here let me get Bear off you.  She doesn’t need to be asleep on you.”

“You will not do any such thing, sweet girl.  Do you know who much it means to me that they feel comfortable and safe enough to allow me to hold them while they’re at their most vulnerable?”

“Well, that’s true.  Other than Brad and Stella, no one has ever held them while they slept.  No even as babies, they were either in my hands or theirs.”

“What can I say? I have a gift with the ladies.”

“Yeah, Mr. God’s Gift, I’m sure you do.  I’m sure if they were little boys then the situation may be entirely different.”

“Hey now, I’ve been known to sweet talk the male population, too. Don’t doubt my mad skills, baby.”

“Oh Jesus Nathan, am I going to have to fight off not only the harpies that are gonna come out of the woodwork, but all the queens as well?  I’m not sure I’ve got that kind of fight in me.”  I give him a wink. 

“Oh baby, I know you do.  Come and give me some sugar then crawl up in Amanda’s bed and try to sleep.”  I walk over and give him a kiss. The kiss was slow and passionate.  Maybe I was teasing him, knowing that he couldn’t do anything about it with my girls on his lap.  He growled and pulled away from my lips.  “That is gonna cost you, sweet girl and I have a memory like an elephant and don’t you forget it.”

“Never,
” I say and climb up on the bed getting comfy under the covers.  “I love
you,
Nathan.”  My voice is soft.

“I love you too Laney Bear.”

“Love you mama.” 
Addie’s voice is small as she cuddles in closer to Nathan.

“Yeah, loves yous
.”  Amanda chimed in.  They didn’t make another peep, and neither did I as I drifted off to sleep.

The night was anything but peaceful.  The nurses came and checked on the girls what seemed like every hour on the hour.  They weren’t too happy with the fact that they were both in bed with me and not in their own, but I didn’t give a fuck. 
If the girls wanted to hang from the ceiling because that’s what would have made them feel better then that’s what I was going to get to happen. They checked Addie more intrusively since her leg was the most concerning. Her pins looked good,
and her skin wasn’t attaching to the hardware too much; that was a good sign. 

Today the specialist is supposed to be arriving. Hopefully, everything the emergency room surgeons did was right on point,
and nothing more will have to be done.  I wouldn’t have Addie feeling like she was less than what she could be.  I don’t want her to suffer throughout her life while people might stare and poke fun.  Kids can be cruel.  I already know they’re going to have a hard time with the way Amanda speaks.  Kids are going to torture her for the things they don’t yet understand.  Addie doesn’t need to have anything else thrown at her.  I can already see how much Amanda looks up to her, how much Addie protects her.  God wouldn’t put another burden on such a sweet angel, I know he wouldn’t. 

There’s a knock at the door, and I see Natalie poke her head in.  
“Hi, Nate.
  I hope I’m not disturbing you guys.”  Both the girls and Laney look at Natalie and then to me for some explanation.  I’m still sitting
on the bed with both girls tucked in
my lap. 

“No, not at all Natalie.”
  I can see the tension leave Laney at the mention of my sister’s name.  “How did you find me?”

“Well.”  She comes into the room and sits on a chair.  Her brown hair is pulled up in a
ponytail,
and her face is free of makeup.  “I got a phone call from father late last night telling me of the newest situation involving you.  I have to say, this may push the old man over the edge, which, if I’m honest I don’t mind a bit.”  She looks over to Laney.  “I’m Natalie, by the way.  Nate’s little sister.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Natalie, that beauty over there is Laney, my wife,
and these little stars are Amanda and Adele, Addie for short.” Laney gets up and walks to Natalie shaking her hand. 

“It nice to meet you, Natalie.
  Nathan has told me a lot about you.”  Laney gives a small smile. 
“Is it alright if I give you a hug.”

“Of course, gosh, Nate, I like her already.”

“Ladies this is my baby sister, Natalie.  Ah, I guess
girls,
ah she’s your aunt.”  I tell them as I look down at them.  They turn their heads and stare at her.  Nat gives a small smile and wave at the girls.  I see Laney give the girls a nod letting them know it’s alright for them to say something.  These girls are so well behaved.