One Little Bit

by Tey Holden

  The Manor and the cottage had independent alarm systems. Since the law offices were located at the Manor, the alarm system was only activated after everyone left for the day. The cottage was protected by an alarm system, which had motion detectors around its perimeter. Once the alarm was set, if an intruder approached, the alarm would sound and lights would go on all around the perimeter of the cottage. Everything was controlled from either the upstairs or downstairs, but in a very concealed form. If the alarm system was activated, it would send a signal to the local monitoring center who would, in turn, call the corresponding authorities in the area. When Karen saw the demo, she was delighted.

  “Wow! This was a great idea. It gives me peace of mind.”

  “I know, sweetie. I know. It’s actually a lot better than I expected. I think we should keep the alarm on whenever we are home and not just at night.”

  ***

  A few weeks after they were home, the women had a get together to express their gratitude to all the people who signed the petition submitted to the judge, and in general to all who, so altruistically, had taken their side in the hearing. The gathering was held in the Manor, in the section that had remained as a house. Absolutely everyone came.

  By this time, Alex was already two years old and as beautiful, vivacious and smart as ever. As the only daughter of two extremely intelligent women who were totally dedicated to her, Alex had developed an extensive vocabulary. To the women, Alex’s precociousness seemed normal, but friends and acquaintances marveled at how well Alex spoke at such an early age.

  One Saturday morning, while Karen was sleeping, and Addy had gone to the bathroom, Alex slipped into their bed. When Alex got under the covers, she noticed that Karen was nude. “Mommy Karen where are your jammiez?”

  Karen was startled when she heard the sweet tiny voice so close to her. “Alex! What are you doing here?”

  Alex was very expressive when she spoke, a trait she had picked up from Addy. She sat on the bed, and opened her huge eyes, and with her hands, palms up in front of her as if demonstrating the obvious, she spoke. “Awex want Mommy.”

  “What’s going on here?” Addy, who a few minutes earlier had walked into the bathroom nude, was now wearing her robe. When she heard Karen’s raised voice and Alex’s response, she came to the rescue carrying Karen’s robe, which was also kept behind the bathroom door. She casually let it drop on the bed.

  “She woke up and wanted to be with us!” A very panicked looking Karen explained.

  “Well, looks like you found us!” Addy couldn’t help smile. Karen smirked. “Come here, little girl. Now that you’ve found us, what do you want to do? Do you want to go downstairs and help me make pancakes while Mommy Karen gets up?” Addy looked towards Karen and the robe on the bed while trying to get Alex’s attention to the pancakes and from Karen’s awkward situation.

  “Yez! Panquakez. Awex help.” She leaped from the bed into Addy’s arms.

  Karen kept looking at Addy, hoping that the ‘naked’ question would soon be forgotten. Karen had the comforter up to her chest covering herself. Addy smiled again enjoying the situation. She had told Karen many times that they would soon need to start wearing at least a long t-shirt to bed because something like what had just happened could happen. Karen looked pathetic caught in her own game.

  “Okay, let’s go make those pancakes.” Addy put her down on the floor and took her by the hand as they left the room and went downstairs. Alex was already too heavy to be carried especially when going downstairs.

  “Kay, M’Addy.”

  Alex began calling her M’Addy, and Addy loved it. It happened because when they were teaching her how to say their names, Alex would repeat “Mamamama” endlessly and would never get to the Addy part, so Addy emphasized that part, but the most significant parts were the many ‘Ms” in the “Mamamama” and the ‘ddy’ so when Alex put that together it became “Mamamama…..ddy” which eventually turned into M’Addy.

  Karen didn’t like it. “I don’t think it’s right. I think she should call you Mommy Addy.”

  “Ker, I don’t mind. It’s her very own way to call me, and I like it. I think it’s original and very cute.” Karen consistently corrected Alex, but there was no way Alex would call her anything other than M’Addy. Apparently, for Alex, M’Addy was a lot easier to say. Addy was sure that if Alex could find a way to shorten Mommy Karen, she would have. Since there was no shortcut for that, she figured a way around it. With the years Karen became Mommy, and later Mom, and Addy always remained M’Addy. Addy would then kid her. “At least I have an original name. You, however, have become plain, good, old Mom.” Since, Alex knew that Karen preferred that she called Addy, Mommy Addy, she always referred to Addy as Mommy Addy in her conversations with her Mom.

  As they were leaving the bedroom, Alex resumed her questioning. “M’Addy, why iz Mommy Karen naked?”

  Karen rolled her eyes as she dropped back on the bed. Oh God! This kid doesn’t give up! She’s just like Addy. She remained attentive to see if she could hear Addy’s reply. She loved how Addy always came up with the most ridiculous answers and Alex always believed them without any further questioning. She was hoping that Addy would be able to tackle this one also.

  “Well, Alex, last night Mommy Karen was complaining about being too hot. Maybe she took off her clothes to be cooler.”

  “Were you hot?”

  Addy smiled. Alex was too smart. “Just a little, Alex.”

  “You zlept naked?”

  “No, I didn’t, but maybe I would have if I had felt warmer, so don’t be surprised if you ever find me also without my jammies!” I need to cover myself, just in case! “So, would you like some juice while we get ready to make the pancakes?” Addy wanted to change the subject desperately now.

  “Yep!”

  “Let’s see what cartoons we can find on television. Aah! Look, Sesame Street, yes!”

  Karen came downstairs wearing her robe. Addy looked at her smiling and raising her eyebrows. Karen came around, slapped her on the butt and kissed her, keeping her hand in the gluteus area that she always found so appealing.

  “Saved by the bell, huh?”

  “I freaked.” She whispered.

  “I know. You should have seen your face.” Karen smirked and Addy continued with her ‘I told you so’ grin.

  “Ker, what do you propose doing so that we won’t have a repeat of this morning?”

  “If you are indirectly telling me to put on pajamas or a t-shirt, forget it. Not gonna!”

  Addy smiled. “You sound like a child, do you hear yourself?”

  “What about you? Are you going to dress up again?”

  Addy pursed her lips. “I don’t want to Ker, but we need to do something.” Addy seemed troubled.

  “Addy, I like the way we sleep. I like to feel you and to get close to you. It feels good. I feel connected to you when I do. I like to caress your back, and when you put your leg between mine I love to feel your—.”

  Addy put her hand over Karen’s mouth. “Ker! Stop! You’ve got me going now. You are not the only one who likes to feel skin and craves to be touched!”

  “So, I got you going now? Craving to be touched, Ms. Addy?”

  “As if you didn’t know!” Addy smirked.

  “Like this? Let me show you the convenience of nakedness.” Karen opened her robe and was about to touch her, but Addy held her hand.

  “Ker! Alex is right there in the living room.” Addy pulled away Karen’s hand and slapped it.

  “I never said it was inconvenient. We just need to be more careful.”

  “We’ll lock the door, and we’ll teach her to knock and wait.”

  “I don’t know if that’s going to work. We have a very curious child.”

  “Addy, I draw the line. No one, not even our little rascal is making us give up our intimacy.”

  Addy knew Karen was right and said nothing more. The day passed without any further comment about the happening and the
women thought and hoped that the matter was forgotten, as it tends to happen with most little kids.

  ***

  On account of the incident, Karen talked to Alex about knocking on the door when the door to their bedrooms was closed. Alex crossed her arms in front of her and pouted. “Why?” She was incredibly cute in her ‘I’m mad’ pose.

  “Because it’s the right thing to do. When people see a closed door, they knock and ask if they can come in. People don’t just walk into other people’s rooms without permission. People don’t want just anyone coming in at any time. Nice, polite people knock on the door and wait until they are allowed to come in.” Karen carefully repeated the speech.

  Alex wrinkled her nose in disgust. “But it’z … Awex!” Alex was exasperated not being able to understand why she, the princess of the house would not be allowed into her moms’ room, why would the door be closed, and much less why would she have to knock and wait to be allowed in.

  “Yes, you are not just anyone, but it doesn’t matter. When we want to enter a room and the door is closed, we always knock first and wait until we are allowed in the room. Is that clear, little girl?” Karen again repeated the drill.

  Then as if it was the brightest idea in the world that had not occurred to anyone, Alex said, waving her little hands palms up in front of her, again as if trying to explain the obvious. “Then don’t close the door, and Awex don’t need to knock.”

  Karen was already losing it. “Alex, if you see the door close. You stop and knock, is that clear?”

  “But Awex don’t want to!”

  “Well, Alex has to!”

  “Why?”

  “Because Mommy says so!”

  At a certain point, Addy intervened taking Alex away. Looking back, she saw Karen blowing a sigh of relief and rolling her eyes as she walked away to the living room. “And she’s only two! I don’t know what the future holds for us with this one!” She exclaimed.

  The knocking, however, was not happening. Alex was determined and continued to show up unannounced. She once again found them under similar circumstances. Finally, they opted for locking the door. Whenever Alex showed up and tried to come in and the door was locked, Addy would say that the knob was broken and that they had forgotten to fix it.

  About two weeks later, Alex attempted to come into the room. The door was locked and the women scrambled for their t-shirts. Karen was in bed as Addy opened the door. Outside was Alex, buck-naked.

  Addy put her hand over her face to cover her smile. “Little girl, where are your jammies? What are you doing with no clothes on?”

  “I waz hot, like Mommy Karen.” Addy bit her lip, made an about-face to hide her face, then turned to look at a petrified Karen while Alex climbed on the bed. Addy had never seen Karen’s eyes opened so wide, while obviously trying to get some response from Addy as to what to say or do. Addy grinned to the point that her face was hurting.

  “Umm, I think I’m going downstairs to make coffee, baby. I’m going to let you deal with this one since the two of you seem to be the ones having temperature problems.”

  “Addy!”

  “Sorry!” Addy turned and left the room.

  Turning to Alex. Karen tried to explain. “Okay, missy, you cannot sleep like this because it’s not right.”

  “Why?” She pouted and frowned. She looked adorable.

  Oh God! Karen didn’t have a clue as to how to respond. “What if there’s a fire and we have to run out?” Alex was wide-eyed horrified by the thought of a fire. Addy was downstairs, but she could hear the conversation. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “A fire? No!” She wrapped her arms around Karen’s neck. Oh God! I screwed up, how can I fix this?

  “No, baby, there’s not going to be a fire. There’s no need to be afraid.” Then Karen took the opportunity to discuss the safety procedures of what to do if there was a fire. Addy kept laughing downstairs. That woman and her safety issues are going to damage that child for life.

  Alex lay in bed with Karen, cuddling to her and listening to the fire escape plan instructions attentively. “I think we are going to practice a fire drill soon, so that we all know what to do. And by the way, as you can see, I’m wearing my jammies.” She pointed to her t-shirt. “Also, if I were not wearing any jammies because I was hot, since I sleep with Mommy Addy, if she saw me with no clothes on, she would remind me to put something on, right? But you are over there sleeping by yourself and we already agreed that if there is a fire we need to go out and meet in front of the house, right?”

  Downstairs Addy could already see another problem coming. If Karen continued with this line of conversation, soon Alex would be frightened and might want to sleep with them. Oh Dear! This is going from bad to worse!

  Alex was very expressive. She learned this from Addy, who was exactly the same way. She opened her huge eyes and replied. “You can brink my jammiez.”

  “How would I know that on that particular night you were hot and took off your jammies?”

  Alex remained thoughtful. “But I like it like thiz.”

  Karen smiled, understanding her daughter perfectly and almost wanting to say ‘alright go ahead sleep naked.’ But she had to say the right thing. “Yes, Alex, but it’s not right for a little girl to sleep naked.” Only for big girls! “And besides you have very comfy jammies, or is it that your jammies are uncomfortable?”

  “Yez, they are tight. I can’t move like thiz.” She stretched her arm to demonstrate that a sleeve would restrain her movement. Karen, sadly, understood her. “I like it like this better.”

  “Well, in that case, we are going to have to get you bigger pajamas.”

  Addy decided to interrupt the situation upstairs. “Alex!” She called from downstairs. When Alex heard her, she ran downstairs.

  “Little girl, what are you doing still undressed?” Addy sounded stern. “You go immediately upstairs and put on some clothes. Little girls don’t go around undressed. We are going to have a long talk later.” Alex didn’t like it when Addy became angry. She adored her mom and didn’t like to make her mad, it seldom happened but Alex worried when it did. Alex ran upstairs and got dressed. Then she came back down in her pajamas and sat down to watch her cartoons. She kept looking at Addy out of the corner of her eye. Addy saw her but pretended not to see her. She liked to maintain the parent-child relationship even though the two were always playing.

  A few minutes later Alex came to the kitchen with a somber face. “M’Addy, do you ztill wove me?”

  Addy chuckled, picked her up, sat her on the kitchen island, and planted a humongous kiss on her cheek. “Baby girl, I adore you. What would ever make you think that I didn’t love you?” She gave her another kiss as Alex, who was all smiles now, wrapped her arms around her neck.

  “You were mad.”

  “I was mad because little girls don’t go around nude, but that has nothing to do with me not loving you. I want you to remember what I’m going to tell you now forever. Can you do that?”

  Alex nodded, still sitting on the kitchen island between Addy’s arms. “I love you, and I will always love you, even when I’m mad at you. Will you remember that?”

  Alex smiled and nodded again wrapping her little arms around Addy’s neck, and kissing her.

  “Umm! I love your kisses!”

  At that very moment, Karen was coming down the stairs and caught the pair hugging and kissing. Karen smiled going straight for the coffee pot.

  Addy picked her up and placed her down. “Now go on and watch your cartoons while I make your pancakes.” Alex ran happily towards the television. The world was fixed again for the little one.

  Addy turned to talk to Karen. “All the trouble you get us into, woman.”

  Karen smiled lovingly. “Hush, make your pancakes, love slave. Admit it, you love me naked.” She whispered the last part of her sentence on Addy’s ear and again patted her butt in the usual manner. Addy could do nothing, but smile.

  ***

&
nbsp; A few days later, in the afternoon, they heard a noise upstairs and not knowing what to make of it they went to see what was going on. They found Alex with a toolbox trying to fix the doorknob of their bedroom. Both women looked at each other.

  “Do you suppose this means something?” Karen asked glancing at Addy.

  “Well, she sees you fixing things around the house all the time. So, for now, let’s just think of it as being determined.”

  “What are you doing little one?” Karen inquired.

  “Fixing the door. Itz boken. I want to zleep with you becauze of the fire.”

  The women looked at each other and Karen rolled her eyes when Addy gave her a menacing look. “You and your safety ideas. Let me handle this one, would you?” Karen threw her arms up at Addy’s response.

  “Alex, there’s not going to be a fire, and little children are not supposed to sleep with adults.” Addy explained.

  “Why?”

  “Oh, for many reasons. Let me see—.”

  Karen crossed her arms and waited. Can’t wait to hear this one!

  She got another look from Addy. “Come on let’s go downstairs and talk.” Karen went down behind them. She sat on the sofa and pretended to browse her tablet.

  “Well, let’s see, reasons for which children can’t sleep with adults. Oh! Here’s one, children may be crushed in bed by the bigger adults.” Karen chuckled. Oh, sure that’s much better than if there is a fire! At least with the fire, I was able to explain safety rules, and she knows what to do now.

  Addy continued, knowing exactly what Karen was thinking, and knowing that she had to fix her statement. “What if you were in bed with me and I rolled over like this,” Addy demonstrated, “and I landed on you and crushed you? You wouldn’t like that, would you?” Alex’s eyes grew large, and she shook her head.

  “Another reason is that adults may be sick, or they may not smell good.”

  “But you zmell good. I like the way you zmell, and Mommy Karen likes it too. Are you zick M’Addy?”

  Addy looked at a smiling Karen who sat across from her, still pretending to read and trying very hard not to laugh. Apparently, Miss know-it-all, Addy, was having difficulty in the child psychology department as well. Addy smirked.