One Little Bit

by Tey Holden

  “I have an idea, for you to come into our bedroom in the mornings, but first we need to make a deal.”

  Karen looked up with an expectant astonished look practically holding her breath. Now what?

  “I think this will solve all your problems, so that you won’t have to knock on the door anymore and know exactly when you can come in.”

  Karen was sure that this smelled like disaster.

  “We will call you in the morning to let you know that it’s okay to come to bed with us. How’s that?”

  “Okay.” Alex smiled.

  Karen was stunned. That’s it?

  “But you have to wait for us to call you, okay?”

  The next day they found Alex sleeping on the floor in front of their door. It broke their hearts. “Baby, what are you doing here on the floor?” Karen asked.

  “Waiting for you to call me.”

  Karen picked her up and brought her to bed with them. “Aaawww! Sweetie, you have to wait in your bed. The floor is hard, and it will be cold in the winter, plus what if I’m coming out of the bedroom and don’t see you and I step on you?”

  That was it, Addy was sure that Alex would have psychological problems someday. She would either have fear of fire, of being crushed in bed and now also of being stepped on. Poor kid!

  To solve the problem, they agreed that the safest thing to do was that Alex would stay in bed and that she would call them through the baby monitor, which they still used and would be on for her to call. The next morning a little voice was heard through the intercom. “M’Addy, can I come to zleep wiz you?” Both women scrambled for clothes. They knew Alex would be there in two seconds.

  ***

  At age three, Alex continued to display her inquisitive nature. “Why do I have two mommiez and no daddy?”

  Karen nearly choked on her coffee. Big green eyes looked across the kitchen to Addy with an anguished look. Addy smiled lovingly at the green eyes.

  “C’mere little one. Let’s go out to the patio, and I will tell you all about that.”

  Karen had a very amused look now. Alex ran outside skipping and jumping. Addy passed by Karen and raising her brows said, “don’t tell me you didn’t see that one coming?” When Karen pursed her lips, Addy rolled her eyes.

  Addy met Alex on the patio. “Sit over here with me.” Alex came running and climbed on Addy’s lap. She immediately cuddled to her mom. Karen, who was still amused by the question and couldn’t wait to hear what Addy had to say, followed them outside and sat on the patio to drink her coffee and pretended that she was reading the paper. This was a recurrent happening, since Addy appeared to be the one who had all the answers. As ridiculous as they were sometimes, it always amazed Karen how Alex believed them all.

  “Well Little Bit, this is how it happened. When God in heaven was handing out little babies to mommies and daddies, he saw you and saw how beautiful you were, so he didn’t want to give you to anyone right away because he thought you were the most beautiful baby ever and he wanted to look at you as much as he could.” Alex smiled, pleased with the story.

  Karen chuckled. She loved to watch them, and hear all of Addy’s fascinating stories. Alex adored Addy and watched her every move. There had been countless times when Karen had seen Alex watching her and do and say things just like Addy would. Karen loved the thought that Alex would grow up to be like Addy.

  The story, however, continued. “All of a sudden God realized that he had run out of daddies and that there were just two mommies left. Since He was wondering what to do, Mommy Karen and I talked to God, and we asked Him to give you to us. God looked at us and said, but she will have no daddy.”

  Then we said. “Yes, but she’ll have two mommies, and we will love her a lot. We will love her so much that she will not need a daddy.” Alex was mesmerized by the story. “Now you tell me, isn’t that true? Don’t we love you a lot?” Alex nodded. Her huge green eyes were wide open.

  Karen was mesmerized as well. She was convinced that Addy had a gift for storytelling. How she could come up with all these stories in fractions of seconds was astonishing. She was also convinced that Alex would believe anything Addy said. It was not just the story, but the very convincing way in which Addy told it. It was her authoritative tone, her demeanor, her pleasing ways, and how she sometimes made Alex part of the story that made the story most believable.

  “God was very happy to know that we were going to love you so much. He said, ‘but if I put this baby in one of your bellies to grow, which one will it be?’ This was when Mommy Karen volunteered her belly.” Karen nearly choked with her coffee.

  “Are you okay, Mommy Karen?” Addy asked while grinning. Karen nodded, smiled, and pretended to go back to her reading. When Addy resumed the story, Karen was still smiling reminiscing about how her ‘volunteer’ action had really come about.

  “So, then God asked me, what would I do, since you were going to be in Mommy Karen’s belly? So, I promise God that I would take care of the two of you forever, and love you very much with all my heart. God was really happy with my answer and immediately agreed to give you to us. And that’s how it happened. So, aren’t you glad you have the two of us? Or—.” She started tickling Alex. “Do I hear some kind of complaint, you, little brat?” Alex laughed so hard she slipped out of Addy’s lap onto the grass, then she ran out to the swing set and started to swing.

  Addy got up from her seat, and stood in front of Karen opening her arms, “and that, ma’am, is how it is done.” She kissed her on the cheek and sat next to a very smiley Karen.

  “She’ll grow up. One day it won’t be so easy, you know?”

  “Yeah, but I believe, Ms. Larsen, that I shall be able to come up with just as good stories in the future, and ultimately, when the stories are no longer believable, the truth will set me free and love will conquer all!” Addy had a smug grin on her face. Karen smiled as well. “It’s your turn to play with her. I’m going inside to make us some sandwiches.” Karen got up, kissed Addy and went to the swing set to play. Addy watched with pleasure the mother/daughter interaction from the kitchen window.

  ***

  All of Alex’s questions were always directed to Addy. Over the years, Alex realized that Karen always redirected most of her questions to Addy. So, by now she knew who was the one with the answers. “M’Addy, why iz my hair and my eyez like Mommy Karen’s and not like yourz?”

  Oh shit! When she heard the question as she was coming up the stairs into Alex’s bedroom, Karen froze outside in the hallway. Alex was still too young to tell her the whole story of her conception. The woman had agreed that come the day when she could understand, they would tell her because the truth was always best. They needed Alex to be older because she needed to understand that although Addy was not biologically connected to her, she was, in fact, the reason and promoter of her existence. Right now it was still too soon, so the best thing to do was to come up with another story.

  Every night the two of them took turns to read to their daughter. Karen was convinced that she preferred Addy’s stories. The reason was that Addy didn’t always read the story as they were actually written. Addy liked to distort the stories and make them funny, or she created some mystery about the situation going on in the story. Alex would either laugh her heart out or be absolutely intrigued and in total expectation of the unknown outcome. Sometimes the laughter was such that Alex would pretend to fall off her mattress, which had remained on the floor after that infamous jump from the crib. Addy also would sometimes shed tears of laughter from the absurdity of the situations that she came up with. Hearing her laugh and cry would make Alex laugh even more and beg for more stories.

  She, for example, changed Cinderella’s story and made the slipper into sneakers and with Snow White, she changed the story to make it sound as if Snow White thought that the prince was one of the dwarfs and that her real name was Snow Brown, but she changed it because it didn’t make sense to have brown snow, and many other silly things, which Alex a
bsolutely loved.

  Karen had been on the way to kiss Alex good night but decided to stay outside and listen to Addy’s reply to the hair color question.

  “Well, let me see if I can remember, it’s been a while, you know? You are already three.” Outside on the hallway, Karen suspected that Addy was running on empty, and she was about to go into the room to interrupt and save her but stopped when she heard Addy speak. She remained outside and listened. She also loved Addy’s stories.

  “Well, when God put you in Mommy Karen’s belly, you were really beautiful, but you didn’t have a single hair on your head.”

  “Not even one hair?” Alex’s eyes were huge showing her disbelief.

  “Not even one.” Alex touched her hair to make sure that it was still there.

  “Also, when we first saw you, you were sleeping and we never got to see the color of your eyes. Not that we cared, we wanted you sooooo much, we would have taken you even if your eyes were pink!” Addy laughed, and Alex laughed too. Outside the room, Karen smiled.

  “So, later when you were still in Mommy Karen’s belly, I had a beautiful dream. In the dream, an angel from heaven came to see me and asked me who did I want you to look like. So, I said to the angel ‘can she have Mommy Karen’s hair and eye color? Can she look like Mommy Karen?’ The angel smiled and asked me ‘why do you want your baby to look like Mommy Karen, and not like you? You are very pretty too.” Karen smiled outside the door. “I said to the angel ‘because I love Mommy Karen so much, I would like our baby to look just like her so that I can have two of them to love.’ The angel smiled, and told me that I was going to have my wish come true because my wish was full of love, and love is the most important thing in heaven and earth.”

  Karen shook her head and smiled. Only Addy could come up with something so endearing. “Zo, what did the angel give me from you?” Alex asked. Karen froze outside the door. Shit, this is not getting any easier. Would Addy have an answer for this one too? She was ready to make an entry and intervene to save Addy, but somehow she had so much faith in Addy’s ability to come up with wonderful answers that even she wanted to know what Addy would say.

  “Well, Mommy Karen told me that she also had a dream about this angel. Isn’t that something? Apparently, the angel asked her the same thing. So, you know how Mommy Karen loves me, and she’s all crazy about me, right?”

  Alex nodded. “Yez, she lovez you a lot.” Addy thought this statement was hilarious because it seemed like Alex was just breaking the news to her.

  Outside the door, Karen grinned and thought, more than you can ever imagine little one! “Yes, she does love me a lot, I love her too, you know? Anyway, you know what? I think you should ask Mommy Karen what she asked the angel for tomorrow when she reads you a story. How’s that? Tonight, we go to sleep! Okay?”

  “Okay, M’Addy.”

  “Good night, baby.” She kissed her and tucked her in.

  When Addy stepped out of Alex’s bedroom, she was surprised to find Karen standing nonchalantly outside. “An angel, huh?”

  Addy smiled and pulled her gently towards their bedroom, closing the door behind her. “Addy, why did you leave this hot potato for me? Couldn’t you have just come up with something? You are so much better at that stuff than I am.”

  “Nope. Fifty, fifty honeybunch, she’s your kid too. Start working on what you are going to tell her. You are lucky. You have a whole day to think about it. Me, on the other hand, had to pull it off my sleeve on the fly.”

  “But I suck at this story making and storytelling thing.”

  “Well, like I said, you have time to come up with something. Think! Just imagine if it had been true. What would you have asked the angel for?” Addy went into the bathroom, leaving a very thoughtful Karen sitting on the bed.

  ***

  Sure enough, the next night, the question came up. Alex was relentless and thorough. When she wanted to know something, she persevered until she got all her answers. She explained to Karen what had transpired the night before, as if Karen didn’t know, and then she asked her question. Addy was listening outside the room curious to see how Karen was going to handle the angel question. “Well, since the angel said that he promised Mommy Addy that you would look like me, I asked the angel to make you be like her.”

  Alex was relentless. “How?”

  “That’s exactly what the angel asked me.” Addy bit her lip outside. She thought Karen was done, but then she heard Karen talk. “So, I said, I love the way Mommy Addy is always joking and smiling and is always so happy, I want our little girl to be just like her so that I can have two of them to love.”

  Alex opened her eyes and said, “that’z what Mommy Addy zaid!”

  Addy shook her head and smiled, very creative, Karen.

  “Well, that explains why the angel was so happy.”

  “Mommy, am I happy and funny like Mommy Addy?”

  “Oh, yeah, I think you are just like Mommy Addy. I think the angel granted my wish. You are as sweet and adorable like her. I also think that every day you are more and more like her.”

  Alex turned around and put her little arms around Karen’s neck. “I wove you, Mommy. I wove Mommy Addy too. Do you wove her too?”

  Karen combed Alex’s hair back. “Little one, I love you and Mommy Addy with all my heart. The two of you are the most important people in my life.” Alex smiled, and Karen began to tickle her. Alex squirmed and laughed. “To sleep now!” She tucked her in and kissed her “Good night, baby girl.”

  “Good night, Mommy.”

  Addy had already gone to their bedroom when Karen came out of Alex’s room. Karen felt an enormous pleasure as she left Alex’s room, a feeling of indescribable peace and contentment. And then when she opened the door to her bedroom, there was the one person responsible for it all. Karen smiled. Addy was lying in bed waiting for her. She grinned when she saw the look of happiness on Karen’s face. “You handled that very well, Ms. Larsen. I bow to your wisdom. You have come a long way in mastering child psychology.”

  “I can also recognize greatness, Ms. Marcos, and I hope she’s all naked under there because I need to release some stress.”

  “Hum, I don’t know, what would the angel have said about that?”

  “Well, that is very easy to answer. Isn’t love the most important thing on heaven and earth?”

  Addy grinned, so did Karen when she found a very naked Addy under the covers.

  “Umm, I’m going to have to put in a commendation for that angel, he grants the best wishes.”

  ***

  With the years it became evident that Karen’s wish for the angel had come true. Alex was her spitting image, but she had Addy’s personality. She even learned to wink like Addy. When she first tried it, she was terribly cute. She had trouble controlling the other eye, so she’d end up winking with both eyes. It would be years before she mastered the wink. After she learned, she’d wink a lot to Karen because she knew how much Karen liked it when Addy winked. What Alex didn’t realize was that although her wink was cute, Addy’s wink on Karen had a totally different meaning and effect than hers. Intentionally or unintentionally, Addy also taught her when the wink was appropriate. As she grew up, the green eyes were merciless with the wink. As JP had predicted, Alex became quite a heartbreaker.

  ***

  Alex was Karen’s mini-me. It was a lovely sight to see mother and daughter together. To Addy, they looked equally adorable. She could watch them for hours.

  Alex was a lightning bolt, full of energy. Her hair was shoulder length and later they cut it into a page cut to keep it manageable. Her bangs came right over her eyebrows just to fall above gorgeous green eyes and long dark eyelashes. She was a beautiful child with an adorable smile and the cutest voice. She was very articulate for her young age, a fact maybe attributed to being raised as an only child by two highly educated women who had a lot to say just about anything and everything. Alex was always on the move and always getting herself into some kind of
trouble. When she played outside, she’d be all sweaty and messy, this was one of the reasons why her hair could not be too long. It would get all dirty and tangled and then she’d cry at bath time when they tried to untangle it. Addy bought all sorts of detanglers, but they were useless, only keeping it to a certain length helped.

  “Come on, little girl, time for a bath. You are all stinky.”

  “Mommy Addy likez my zmell. She told me!”

  “Not when you are all sweaty and grimy!”

  “Yez, zhe doez! She likez me a lot all the time.”

  “Okay, but you still need a bath. Come on, I’ve got the tub ready for you.”

  “Can I have bubbles, Mommy?

  “Sure. Let me find the bubble soap.” The bubble soap had remained out of Alex’s reach since the hot tub incident. Karen reminisced, as she looked for the bottle of soap.

  Alex always had enjoyed getting in the hot tub with her moms. She loved to play with the air bubbles. Whenever she went in the hot tub with them, they’d lowered the temperature of the water and allow time for the water to cool before she could get in. As a safety precaution, the door to the hot tub room always remained locked with a latch at the top.

  One night, however, they did not lock the door thinking that they might go back in later. The next day, when Alex saw the door open, she peeked inside and saw that the hot tub did not have bubbles. She immediately ran upstairs to her bathtub and grabbed the bubble soap. She thought that the hot tub had bubbles because of soap her mommies used to make bubbles for her bath. So, she came back downstairs and poured the entire bottle into the hot tub and turned it on. The moms often let her press the button to start the bubbles, so she knew just what to do. At that very moment, she got scared when she heard the moms coming. She knew that she was not supposed to be alone in that room, so she ran out and closed the door behind her without being seen. Feeling safe, she went to the rec room and resumed her playing.

  “Ker, I hear something, do you?”