Snapshots

Vegetable Soup

I'm balled up in the side of the closet, hiding. I scoot back some more and let the clothes cover me. The room's door slams open, and I try to stop moving. There are loud stomps as a person comes into the room.

"I wonder where Sasha is," mommy says, loudly. "Could she be under the bed?" The sound of covers being pulled off the bed filters into the closet where I hide.

I cover my mouth to stop giggling. I have a really good hiding spot; she'll never find me.

"Oh no, she's not there!"

I giggle silently, I really tricked her this time.

"Could she be in the closet?"

The closet door suddenly swings open. I scream and try to escape her grasp by scrambling between her legs.

"Oh no, you don't! I found you. I win." Mommy is smiling as she pulls me into her tiny arms. I giggle as she starts to tickle me.

"Okay! Okay! You win," I scream, laughing. Mommy smiles down at me before releasing my arms. She sits down on the floor and covers her heart, breathing heavy.

"Are you okay, mommy?"

The pained look drops off her face as she looks back up at me. "Of course, baby. Momma's just getting old. Why don't you help your old mommy up, so we can set the table for dinner." I grab her hands and pull her to her feet easily; I am very strong.

Mommy is really tall! Taller than daddy, but daddy is bigger. Grandma says mommy is thinner than a toothpick and that a strong wind would blow her away. I'm not sure what she means by that, but I don't want the wind to take mommy away. She is also really pretty. She used to be a model. That's how she met daddy; they worked together. Daddy told me that mommy's chocolate skin caught his attention, but her wide smile helped him talk to her. I always giggle when he says she has chocolate skin because people aren't chocolate, but he always tickles my stomach and tells me that he knows I'm chocolate because I'm so sweet.

I follow mommy downstairs and head straight to the drawers to get out four spoons. I count out loud as I put them on our small, square table. Mommy has been teaching me numbers, and now I can count to ten without her help. I grin and look up at mommy, but she isn't looking at me. Her face is scrunched up as she looks down at the pot of soup she is stirring. She's never happy at dinner time. She hates her vegetables more than I do, but daddy says we have to have vegetables for dinner.

I wrap my arms around her tiny leg. "It's okay, mommy. We can both not eat our vegetables, and daddy won't know!"

She looks sad as she smiles down at me. "But, daddy always knows when I don't eat."

I nod. Daddy has super vision and is really smart, nothing ever gets past him. "What if we say we ate before they came home! Then, he can't say we didn't eat our vegetables!"

She squats down in front of me, looking very serious. "Don't ever lie about eating. That's a very big no no. Okay?"

I nod, looking down. I always make mommy mad when I'm trying to cheer her up about food. She grabs my chin and makes me look up at her.

"Say it out loud. Now."

My throat hurts and tears fill my eyes. "I won't ever lie about eating. I'm sorry." She wipes away my tears before pulling me into a hug. I wrap my arms all the way around her and bury my face into her shirt.

"I'm not mad, sweetheart, but lying is very bad."

She pulls me back into a hug. We're sitting like that forever before daddy and Nessa walk in. Mommy lets go and stands up first. Daddy asks why I'm crying, but mommy just shakes her head at him and turns off the stove. "Dinner's done. Why don't you wash up, honey. Vanessa, after you put your book bag down can you move the pot to the table for me?"