Raising Quinn

Chapter 2. Never Say Never

"Mama! Wake up!"

Bex felt a light weight beside her on the bed, and little fingers poking her face.  Suppressing a smile, she closed her eyes tighter, and snored for effect, waiting for the perfect moment.

"Mama?" She could feel her four-year-old daughter's hot breath on her cheek.

"Maaaama..."

Suddenly, Bex grabbed Quinn, pulling her into her side, and tickled her belly. Quinn squealed with surprise, and giggled. "Hey! You tricked me!" Her dark  brown eyes sparkled.

Bex laughed. "I couldn't resist." She pressed a kiss to her daughter's soft cheek, snuggling her closer. She would have been content to lay there and cuddle her little girl longer, but the day had to start sometime.  "I guess I better get my lazy butt up and get ready for work," she finally said. "What do you think?"

"Yup!" Quinn chirped, bouncing on her knees. "Daddy made muffins."

"Are they blueberry muffins by any chance?" Bex asked her.

Quinn's eyes widened. "How did you know, Mama?"

"You're wearing them," she laughed. "Did you actually get any in your tummy?" Quinn's mouth was smudged with dark purple stains. "We're gonna have to get you cleaned up before we do anything else."

Bex got out of bed, got dressed, and led Quinn to the bathroom to help her wash up. Then, at last, she let the little girl take her by the hand and pull her to the kitchen.

Andi and Bowie were already at the table, eating their breakfast. "I woke Mama up!" Quinn shouted, running to the table.

Bowie looked up at Bex with a smile. "There's my sleepyhead."

"She's not a sleepyhead, she's a lazy butt!" Quinn corrected, as she climbed onto her chair.

Bex laughed as she bent down to kiss Bowie, then Andi. She took her seat at the table and grabbed a warm muffin from the plate in front of her.

"Finish up your milk, honey," Bowie told Quinn. "Don't spill it."

Quinn picked up her glass and gulped the contents down. When she was finished, there was a white mustache on her upper lip. "Dada?"

"What, baby?"

"Can we get a doggy?" she asked.

"Don't bother, Quinn," Andi warned. "I've been asking for a dog for years. The answer is always no."

Bowie shook his head. "No, we can't get a dog, honey. I'm sorry."

"Please?" Her little lower lip stuck out in a pout.

Bowie sighed. "If it were up to us, we'd get you girls a dog in a heartbeat. But we're not allowed to have pets here. It's against the rules."

"I hate rules," Quinn sulked.

Bex chuckled. Sometimes it was uncanny how much she and Quinn were alike.

"I have to get to school," Andi said, standing up and taking her plate to the sink. She kissed both her parents, and her sister goodbye, and hurried out the door. Andi was seventeen, a high school senior, and always busy these days with one project or another.

Once the breakfast plates were cleared, Bex turned to Quinn. "Who's ready to go to work?"

"Me!" the little girl said. Quinn went to work at the salon with Bex every day. She was her little helper. She even had her own child-sized broom, so she could sweep hair up from the floor, and her own little tip jar on the counter.