The Harlin Family: Santa's Little Helpers

A Season For Love

“Are you a daddy?” Lark asked, once they pulled into the parking lot and started to get out of the car.
“No, angel. I’m not.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I can’t be a daddy without a mommy.”
“What ‘bout Mommy?” Lavender asked. “You be a daddy with Mommy.”
Jerrick chuckled nervously but Rhianna looked over at Lark and felt concerned. The look on her oldest daughter’s face told her that a confrontation was soon at hand. Lark’s eyes were suddenly shooting daggers into the back of Jerrick’s head. Rhianna changed the subject. “What do you girls want for lunch?”
The subject was seemingly forgotten until after the waitress had taken their orders and the girls sat coloring some pictures. Lark suddenly looked up and glared at Jerrick for a few minutes. Rhianna, discussing the progress of her latest book, did not see her daughter and was caught off guard when the girl spoke.
“We already have a daddy!” Lark said definitely.
“Lark, honey.” Rhianna knew where the conversation was sure to go from here. “We’ve talked about this.”
“But I already have a daddy. I don’t want another one.”
“That’s fine, honey. No one said they wanted to take Daddy’s place.”
“But he said…” Lark began as she pointed to Jerrick and her eyes filled with tears.
“I said that I’m not a daddy, angel. That’s all,” Jerrick said understandingly. “I do have some little nieces and a nephew though. And I think one of them might be about your age.”
“My age?” Lark asked with skepticism. “Are they my friends?”
“Well, I suppose if you met them and liked them they would be your friends,” Jerrick said with a smile. Rhianna gave him a smile, relieved that he had so elegantly changed the subject and they had not created a big scene.
“Can we, Mommy? Can we play with my new friends?” Lark asked excitedly, for she called every young child her friend.
Rhianna looked first to Lark’s eager face, then to Lavender who seemed oblivious to the conversation and finally to Jerrick who looked completely amused. “Well, I…” Rhianna began.
“Actually,” Jerrick interrupted. “Perhaps now is as good of a time as any to reveal my secret motive behind asking you girls to lunch.”
“A secret motive?” Rhianna eyed him warily.
Jerrick suddenly seemed to squirm in his seat but gained composure quickly. “Well, kitten,” he began.
“Mommy’s not a kitten,” Lark said in disgust as she wrinkled her nose.
Jerrick chuckled. “No, she’s not.” Turning his attention back to Rhianna he said, “Anna, I hesitate to bring this up because I know it’s a delicate subject but…” He hesitated and Rhianna wondered what he might possibly say.
“Yes?”
“Well, this is the thing. My family has been hounding me incessantly about not having a wife or even a girlfriend.” Rhianna nodded, still unsure of his venue for conversation. “So I was wondering, if you didn’t have other plans, if you and your girls would like to accompany me to my parent’s cabin for Thanksgiving?”
“Spend Thanksgiving with you?” Rhianna asked, surprised at the suggestion.
“Me and my family, yes. Everyone is planning to be there; Joey’s family and Andy and his roommate. And I was hoping that maybe you would enjoy role playing with me. Just for the weekend. You know, to get them off my back for a while.”
“I wanna go!” Lavender smiled.
Rhianna thought for a moment. She had no family, outside of her great-aunt Sophie who was in a nursing home. Her mother-in-law lived in another state, and given Rhianna’s current mood toward the approaching holidays, she had no desire to entertain visiting her in-laws. The proposition Jerrick made was enticing. Her girls would receive a good Thanksgiving memory, and she could sit back and ignore her surroundings. Plus, she would have Jerrick to help keep her mind off past memories and the loss of her husband.
“There will be kids for the girls to play with and Joey’s wife, Mindy, will be there.”
“You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend for the weekend?” she asked after a few minutes.
"Crazy idea, huh. What do you say?"

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Santa's Little Helpers

1 comment: