Riding to Vanity Fair

Quarantine

Mary squeezed my hand and looked up at me with childlike innocence. She never truly lost that. "Dad? What is Covid-19?"

"I don't know! This is the first I'm hearing of it too! And by the looks of it, the daft news reporters won't tell us anything else about it." I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but it was no use. Mary wasn't having it.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO US? WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO STELLA?! SHE'S HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD NOW, WHO KNOWS WHAT HER GUIDELINES ARE-" She shouted as she jumped off the couch.

"Mary, love!" I cooed. "It's fine. Calm down. You're acting like a child. You're in your 50s now, y'know! Listen, it's gonna be alright. Stella will be just fine. She's a hardworking, strong, and sweet woman. Just like you. Just like your mother."

She smiled. "You think so?"

"I know so. Now promise me you won't be so bored?"

"I promise."

I give her a quick kiss on the cheek as a goodbye. I almost don't want to leave her. My poor baby girl seems a bit...dare I say depressed by herself.

The absolute second my hand reaches for the doorknob, I get a very important phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Paul."

"Nancy! Oh, I was just coming back. How are you, love?"

"Actually, about that..."

"Also, Mary and I saw this thing on the news. It's called Covid-19. Strange, huh?"

"Yeah, that's the thing, Paulie. I saw that too. We have to quarantine."

"You'wha? What do you mean?"

"Apparently because you were over there instead of here means you have to quarantine over there. We won't be seeing each other for a little bit, I'm sorry..."

"But you don't have it! I don't have it!"

"I know. It's not fair."

"I'll call you every day. I'll send all my loving to you."

"Ha ha. Thanks, that means a lot. I'll do the same."

I sigh in a mess of mixed emotions.

"Dad? You're still here?"

"Um..."

I retell the tragic story once more, slowly watching her face drop.

"Oh."

"So yeah. It looks like I'll be staying here for a bit longer. Are you upset?"

"No, no! I love your presence! It's just...are we really not allowed to leave the house at all?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far..."

She sighs. "What are we gonna do, Dad?"

"Hey, hey, hey. There are lots of fun things we can do! Think about it..." I went upstairs and searched the closet. Come on, there's got to be something!

And then I found it. Or at least, John would've been happy.

"See, we can play board games!"

She smiled. "Yeah, that will be fun. But don't cheat!"

"Hey, I'm not the cheater! That was all Johnny!"

I looked around. "You know what else we could do?"

"What?"

"Maccaritas!"

She giggled. "Maccaritas!"