Counting To Fifteen [Grey's Anatomy]

chapter thirty nine - a dilemma

Daisy was peeved that Mark was taking over as the parent.

It was a stressful role, sure, but Daisy liked it. Daisy liked taking care of Calypso and being the one Calypso came to when she needed help or comfort.

But now Mark did everything.

Mark helped Calypso with her homework and Mark taught Calypso how to tie her shoes and Mark read Calypso bedtime stories and it was so frustrating to Daisy.

Daisy didn't know how to do anything other than take care of Calypso. It wasn't like she was trying to be difficult, but she just couldn't regress back into simply being a little kid again, being just Calypso's sister again. She didn't know how to step back and let anybody else take care of Calypso.

She liked playing parent anyway. Being a kid wasn't something that Daisy enjoyed.

Er...that was half true. Daisy mostly hated everything about being a kid.

But she was convinced that kids movies were the greatest thing ever.

Presently speaking, Daisy was sat on the couch watching Finding Nemo. It intrigued Daisy to watch so many kids movies she hadn't ever seen during her childhood, and it made her feel like she was keeping in touch with her innocence.

Kids movies always had a happy ending, and that made Daisy happy. It eased her anxiety, too, to know that she didn't have to worry about the climatic problem being solved. She knew everything would be perfect by the end of the movie, and all the characters would be happy. Daisy sort of wished real life was a kids movie, too.

While Daisy was entranced by the fish on the screen, Calypso was entranced with the city of Seattle.

The girl had her nose nearly pressed against the large glass window that spanned the living room, looking out onto a dark city with pinpoints of light everywhere she looked.

"I bet there are a billion people out there." Calypso spoke softly. "Or...or two billion people. I bet two billion people live in Seattle."

"There aren't even a billion people in the United States." Daisy pointed out to her little sister, Calypso frowning.

"Oh...a million then. I bet there are a million people in Seattle."

Daisy knew that was far from accurate, but she decided to keep quiet and let her sister continue to fantasize about the big big world.

"How many people do you think live in Seattle?" Calypso turned from the window to look over at her sister.

"Hmm, fifty."

Calypso grinned widely, shaking her head. "That's not possible. There are way more than fifty people here. There's, like...a billion."

Not a billion, Daisy corrected in her head. But she smiled anyway for her sister, turning her attention back to the TV screen.

Daisy was so interested in the clownfish trying to find his son and his sort of dumb blue fish friend. Daisy wondered if fish had feelings in real life.

"Caly." Mark spoke from the kitchen, holding up the week's newspaper as Calypso turned from the window.

The seven-year-old let out a loud groan. "I don't even need those anymore. 'Cause if you think about it, it's already May, and school is gonna be over in a month and then it'll be summer and nobody ever reads in the summer."