"Ma, can we go and visit Nana this weekend?"
My breath catches in my throat at the question and I look across the Kitchen bench to a little, chubby-cheeked girl with a small neatly combed Afro. She's wearing a school uniform and has braces in her teeth. In front of her is a half eaten sandwich on her plate and a glass of milk. She looks at me expectantly with her big brown eyes as I try to come up with an excuse why we can't go.
Right behind her, out of the Kitchen area, a man sits busy tapping away on his computer, absentmindedly sipping on a cup of coffee that is beginning to cool down. He's tall, has an athletic build, very short, black, curly hair and his face is clean shaven. His sharp deep brown eyes trained on the screen of his computer. He's snapped out of his little world at the little girl's question and quickly looks at me who's desperately in need of a rescue. He gets up from his desk and walks into the Kitchen taking up the stool right next to the little girl.
With a fake but convincing pout, he asks; "Is there anyone in this house who loves me at all?"
"Me! I do!" The little girl exclaims rather loudly. "Ma does too! Right Ma?"
"Of course daffodil! We all love him very much." I respond.
The man winks at me right before he asks "Didn't you say you were taking daffodil to the lake to collect seashells this weekend?".
"Right. And I can't reschedule that very important adventure. Perhaps I should cancel those plans!" I respond with a sullen look.
"No! I want to collect seashells. We haven't gone to the lake in a long time! Please don't cancel the adventure. Pretty please!" The little girl pleads.
"Anything for you daffodil! Now, go get your bag. You're going to be late for school."
"Yes Ma! Thank you for the delicious breakfast!" She says as she hurries off.
I immediately let out a sigh I didn't even know I was holding in as soon as the little girl exits the Kitchen.
"Thanks for the save Val. Are you per chance free to join us this weekend?" I ask with a small smile.
"Nice try babe but I already have big plans for this weekend!" Val responds.
"Big plans, huh? So you're saying a bottle of scotch, pizza and classical music are more important than us?" I provocatively ask.
"Classical music, maybe not but the scotch, absolutely!" He says, getting up from the stool and walking around the bench to where I am standing.
"You can't keep relying on coming up with things to distract her every time she asks about—" he stops mid sentence not wanting to utter the name. Val looks at me, his expression suddenly serious. "You and I both know Mavie loves her grandma and sooner or later, you'll either have to take her to visit that old... woman or give her a convincing reason why she can't. Convincing for an 8 year old anyway."
Val is right. I can't keep avoiding Mavie's requests to visit her Nana as she so lovingly calls her grandma. But I need time... that's what I keep telling myself anyway.
Mavie comes running back with her cobalt blue school bag hanging over her shoulder before I can respond to Val. She jumps up and Val swiftly catches her, looping her arms around his neck and giggling.
"I'm ready!" She says leaning over and kissing me at the corner of my lips and lightly rubbing her tiny nose on my cheek. "I love you, Mama!" She whispers, pulling back.
"And I love you, daffodil! Stay out of trouble." I whisper back.
Val kisses me on the cheek and walks away holding Mavie with one arm and grabbing the car keys from his desk with the other. I watch them disappear around the Kitchen corner whispering and giggling and I smile to myself. I finish cleaning up and go to my bedroom to take a quick shower before heading to work.
I step out of the bathroom drying my short hair with a towel while looking around for my hair dryer that I could've sworn I left on the vanity the day before. It is under the bed! Don't ask!
A few minutes later, I am all dressed and on my way to work. I dash to the Kitchen to pick my lunchbox and on my way out the door, see the large Family portrait with all five of us from the corner of my eye like I do everyday.
I turn around this time and stare at the portrait briefly when suddenly a question echoes in my mind; "Ma, can we go and visit Nana this weekend?".
The portrait becomes hazy and the room starts spinning and... lights out!
Author's Note:
There's bound to be mistakes and punctuation and grammatical errors. Please overlook them. This is a story I wrote some years ago but I'm doing a revision of it. New chapters will be released as soon as they're ready!
Stay beautiful!
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