"Spo Daddy!" Arsenio said while sitting on Adriana's lap.
At the end of her knees was a large notepad and she was writing on it with a black marker. It was full of words Arsenio wanted to see written out. Alfred had been entertaining him this way for many days and he was learning to read from it.
"Daddy," she said and began to write. "Is spelled D-A-D-D-Y."
"Spo Daddy Iyohyouu!" Arsenio said. "Pees!"
Adriana laughed. "So you want to write your Dad a letter, then?"
Arsenio nodded and smiled.
"Okay," Adriana said and started on a fresh, new sheet of paper that wasn't covered in random words. "What shall I write, my dear?"
"Uhhh...." Arsenio said, while thinking.
It was so cute, Adriana started to laugh again.
"Daddy," Arsenio said.
"D-A-D-D-Y," Adriana wrote neatly.
"Iyohyouu lot!" Arsenio said, trying to speak very clearly.
"I...love...you...a lot," Adriana said as she wrote the sentence.
"Bess Daddy!" Arsenio said.
"And...you...are...the...best," Adriana wrote. "Best Daddy."
"Annn...." Arsenio said, thinking again. "Daddy bess hok!"
"Hug?" Adriana asked.
Arsenio nodded. "Hok."
"And....you..." Adriana kept writing. "Give...the...best...hugs."
"Ya!" Arsenio said, happy to be understood. It was exactly what he wanted to say.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"Um...Bye!" Arsenio said conclusively.
"We'll write...Love...Arsenio," she said and finished the letter. "I'm sure he'll love it."
Arsenio smiled and Adriana kissed him on the cheek.
"So, your Daddy gives better hugs than me?" Adriana asked.
"Ummm...." Arsenio said and then nodded. He was very honest.
She smiled and held in a giggle.
"But, Mommy bess keees!" Arsenio said.
"Awww," Adriana said. "Best kiss? You too, little one. So now what would you like to do?"
"Watch Chowee!" Arsenio said.
"Oh...I don't know what that is...I'll have to ask Alfred when he comes back in," Adriana said. "I'm sure we can find something to watch though."
Arsenio crawled off of Adriana's lap and she went over to the TV to turn it on and grabbed the remote. The news was on.
The shocking images of a very malnourished little boy came up on the screen. His legs had no fat or muscle and he sat staring listlessly as the reporter spoke.
"Madagascar's drought crisis has led to widespread famine throu-" she said, and Adriana quickly changed the channel as a famished little girl showed up on the screen.
Slowly she turned to Arsenio, and he turned to her. He had been looking at the screen and listening.
"Mommy..." he said and reached forward to her.
She picked him up and held him in her arms for a few seconds and then he pulled back a bit to look up at her.
"Famey?" he asked her.
