The Eye of a Hurricane

Lin

I looked in on the girls before I went to bed myself. Luna was curled up next to her sister and Isabel had her arm draped around her. I could tell Isabel was fiercely protective of her younger sister. She'd had to pretty much single-handedly look out for her in Puerto Rico. I wanted Isabel to be able to be a kid while she was with me. She didn't need to worry about Luna's bath time and making sure she behaved. I was determined to give her a break.

Pippa texted me to ask how things were going. I told her about our trip to Target and how ravenously the girls had eaten at dinner. Both seemed underweight for their ages. I made a mental note to make doctor's appointments for them both the next morning. Chris had two kids so I'd ask him for a recommendation.

Pippa and I texted back and forth for fifteen minutes or so. She wanted to meet the girls, so I told her we could meet for lunch the next day. I plugged in my phone and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke much earlier than I usually do without an alarm. I didn't want the girls waking up in a strange place not knowing what to do. After brewing some coffee, I started making some pancakes. Soon, I heard noise in the hallway. Isabel was first to appear.

"Ummm...Uncle Lin?" she asked hesitantly from the hallway.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Luna wet the bed," she reported. Wet the bed? How did I deal with that? I turned off the burner and walked down the hallway, following Isabel. Luna was standing by the bed, crying softly.

I knelt down in front of her and she started crying harder and shied away from me.

"She's afraid you're mad," Isabel reported. "Daddy used to give her the chancla."

I stood up and sighed, remembering from my Puerto Rican upbringing that the chancla was the dreaded spanking with a slipper. I couldn't imagine spanking a kid just for wetting the bed.

"Luna, I'm not mad at you," I reassured her. "It was an accident. Let's get you cleaned up."

I held out my hand but she wouldn't take it, not trusting me yet.

"I'll do it," Isabel said, taking her sister's hand. I nodded and let her take her sister to the restroom.

"Will she take a quick shower?" I asked Isabel, and she confirmed a yes. As Luna was whisked away, I carefully pulled the sheets and comforter off the bed. The urine had seeped through to the mattress. Well, that would take care of the bed question. I hadn't thought to put down a rubber sheet. I tossed the bedclothes into the washer and then grabbed the dirty pajamas and underwear. Luna seemed to be calming down now. The girls got dressed and finally made it to the table for some pancakes.

"Can we have some syrup?" Isabel asked politely.

"Of course," I said, and grabbed it from the fridge. Soon, the girls were both chomping down on their pancakes.

"We're gonna go eat out for lunch," I told them. "We're gonna meet my friend Pippa."

The girls were excited to get to eat out. Apparently they didn't get to that much. We met Pippa at my favorite Puerto Rican restaurant, thinking the girls would probably like a little taste of home.

We got there before Pippa, so the girls started looking over the kids' menu at the table. Isabel read all the options to her sister and told her she should get vegetables instead of french fries. I saw Pippa walk in and waved her over. She smiled and weaved between the tables.

As she reached the table I embraced her warmly, then turned to introduce my nieces. They smiled up at her and waved.

"I heard you had a big shopping trip yesterday," she said to the girls. "What did you get?"