Smoke, Lies, and Goobyes

2

Smoke, Lies, and Goodbyes 2

The door clicks open, causing Mingus to cower into me again.

"Well, who are you?" Asks a smiling man, jet black hair cropped short, brown eyes sparkling, and height that even scared me a little.

"I'm Mingus. This is my mommy." I gasp a little, looking from Alice, who is being a perfect angel, to Mingus looking at the doctor.

"Hi mom, I'm doctor Black, nice to meet you." He smiles, a glint of what appears to be fangs. Not vampire fangs, but large k-9's.

"I'm Laura." I say, almost afraid of this guy.

"What seems to be the problem Mingus?" He asks, sitting on the rolling stool and moving himself towards us. Mingus only looks up to me, his eyes sparkling in that way they do, waiting for me to explain.

"He and his dad were wrestling a little too roughly. We just want to make sure he's okay." I say, smiling to the older man. "Show him your arm Mingus." I say, prying his arm from his chest, holding it out to the doctor. With his big hands, he carefully and nimbly plays with it until he smiles to us.

"Well Mingus, you are perfectly fine. Might hurt for a few days, but you look tough." He smiles. "Are you tough?" Mingus nods his head like crazy, bobbling up and down. I can't help but smile for a second before the doctor leans over to my ear. "It might bruise a little and swell some, but nothing's broken." I nod, smiling and pulling Mingus up onto his feet, setting him down.

"Your insurance covered the expense." Says the smiling woman at the desk.

"Thank you." I say, pulling Alice and Mingus by the hand out to the car.

"Mommy?" Asks Alice and Mingus at the same time before giggling.

"Whaty?" I ask, looking in the mirror at them.

"Ice cream?" Asks Mingus, Alice clasping her little hands together in front of her, sticking her bottom lip out.

"Fine. But don't tell dad!" I say, watching Mingus nod before I turn into the Dairy Queen.

"Cake!" They both shriek as I open the door, watching them walk in front me before following them to the counter.

"Welcome to Dairy Queen, what can I get for you?" Asks a nice man, shaggy blonde hair hanging in his eyes.

"Two small birthday cake blizzards and a small fudge sundae." I say, pulling out my wallet, paying, and then herding the children over where they grab their ice cream skittering to a booth. We eat and chatter about what they'll be doing in school tomorrow.

After our ice cream, we head to the car, going back to Norman's and taking Mingus up to bed and singing him twinkle twinkle little star.

"Goodnight Mingus." I say, kissing his forehead.

"Night night mommy." He says, sighing a slightly, drifting to sleep. Quietly, I slip out of his room, get Alice, and off we go to home.

"You were such a big girl today!" I say, lifting her into the air and blowing on her tummy.

"I like Mingus mommy." She says, climbing up into my bed on Danny's side.

"Me too." I say, looking over and shutting off the lamp. Alice puts her little arm over my tummy, her head on my chest.

"Alice," I whisper, shaking her shoulder gently, waking her up.

"You gotta get up for school." I chuckle at the sight of her hair in a mess of curls and all over.