| |
Finally the kitten protested over the closeness and started to meow. Everyone pulled away. Smiling down at the puff of fur in Mary-Anne’s arms, Robert reached over and scuffed Bobby’s hair.
“What’s the matter son? You don’t like your mum and I kissing?” He said laughing, winking at Bobby, “One day you’ll be thinking kissing is pretty cool, you know.”
“Gross Dad! Yuck!” Bobby protested as Mary-Anne looked at him with all-knowing eyes, “I don’t think so!”
“Look...you kids run along and play. Your dad and I will finish up supper and call you in when it's done,” Lisa stated, brushing away the tears as she pushed the children out of the kitchen. She turned back to her husband, laughing.
“Ok, honey, we started peeling the potatoes and carrots. A roast is in the oven and we even made some fresh buns,” Robert explained to Lisa as the children ran down the hall, carefully holding the new family member. Lisa kissed Robert on the cheek as she murmured sentiments of love, then walked over to the sink to finish the job of peeling the vegetables.
“Hey Mary-Anne, what are you going to name your kitten?” Bobby asked as he sat down on her bed.
Mary-Anne arranged the pillow, blanket and toys on the floor by her bed as the kitten walked around and around rubbing itself against her hands.
“Hmmm, Sassy? No, doesn’t suit her. How about Missy? Nah, don’t like that either. Spot? Too boring. Tiger? Nope, doesn’t fit. What do you think?”
“How about Rocket? Or Mars? Or Buster” Bobby said laughing.
“Bobby Parsons, you are crazy! I don’t think so! I got it!” Mary-Anne exclaimed, “Luna!”
“Luna? Like in moon? Hey that’s cool! I like that name!”
“Yeah, so do I.” As Mary-Anne leaned back against the bed, Luna snuggled in her lap and fell asleep. Bobby turned on his stomach and looked down upon them both.
“Thank you Bobby for the gift. Will you promise to help me keep her safe?”
“You know I will, no one will ever hurt Luna or I’ll kill them. I promise!”
Silence filled the room, the type that covers all with a blanket of security and wraps souls with soft breaths of friendship. Mary-Anne and Bobby remained quiet as Luna purred loudly, nestled in Mary-Anne’s lap. Finally in a quiet whisper Mary-Anne asked a question that had been bothering her for awhile,
“Bobby, I’ve heard your parents talk. Tracey isn’t your dad’s real daughter, is she.”
Bobby took a deep breath then told the story in quiet tones, matching Mary-Anne’s soft voice, “No. My mum had Tracey when she was 16 years old. Mum didn’t have an easy life either Mary-Anne but it wasn’t horrible like yours. Just not easy. Her daddy died when she was 9 and her mum married a man who didn’t like her about 2 years later. Mum said when she was 15 she met this man who was about 30 and he promised to protect and love her for always.”
Bobby paused, then continued, “So she ran away with this man and got married. Then she got pregnant and Tracey was born. Only this man, he wasn’t really nice and he hurt mum lots. Like hit her and stuff. So mum ran away from him and went to this place where only women were allowed. It’s like the place she works in now sometimes. So anyways, this man tried to take Tracey. Kinda like your dad tried to take you and Mum kept running away. She said that every time she dated, she met stupid men like Tracey’s dad. And one day she just stopped dating figuring all men was mean and stupid. But she said she never forgot her own dad and he was really nice. So she knew there had to be more men like her dad but she just didn’t know where they were.”
Mary-Anne patted Luna and whispered, “Then what happened?”
“Well, one day the police came and told my mum that the man had died in a car accident. Mum said she wasn’t sad but real glad that he wouldn’t take Tracey no more. Tracey was 3 and never really knew her dad, so that was good, mum said. Well, mum started back at school then because she knew she wouldn’t have to run no more. And at night, mum worked in a restaurant. She had her neighbour look after Tracey and stuff.”
“Wow” Mary-Anne said quietly, “then what?”
“Well, then some guys tried to date her but she said they were all stupid. She said her and Tracey were really happy even though it was really hard. One time, we visited my mum’s neighbour when we went to Ottawa. She was really old and really nice. I remember she gave Tracey and I money for candy. And she gave us each a little wooden statue her dad had made when she was little.”
“Cool” Mary-Anne exclaimed.
“Yes it was cool. That’s the one in my bedroom that looks like a duck. Anyhow, one day my dad went into the restaurant where my mum worked. He said he knew that he was going to marry her as soon as he saw her. I think that’s gross but anyways, that’s what he said. So my mum went over to his table, took his order and they went on a date the next night. Only the neighbour lady was sick so they couldn’t go anywhere. Dad said when he saw Tracey, he knew that was going to be her father. My dad has always been a bit crazy you know.”
Both children began to laugh, startling Luna awake. Mary-Anne patted the little furball until she settled back down again, falling into deep purrs, sleeping soundly on Mary-Anne’s crossed legs.
“Well, my mum and dad got married about 6 months later. Then a year later, my dad adopted Tracey and he became her dad. Mum said they tried to have me for a long long time but I was really stubborn and wouldn’t be born!”
Laughing, Bobby continued, “Then when Tracey was 15 I decided to be born and well, the rest of the stuff you know.”
“Yeah, it makes my heart so sad that she went away,” Mary-Anne whispered, “You must miss her so much. I wish I knew why her pictures bother me. They really do, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. I wish they didn’t either. I’d love to show you all the pictures. She’s really cool, you know. She’d really like you. And I know she’d love Luna.”
“Maybe one day Bobby, I’ll figure it out. I hate sometimes how messed up I get. I mean, you guys are so nice to me and I can get so mean. I don’t mean to Bobby. It’s like something else controls me.”
“Yeah,I know that. Mum and Dad know that too. Maybe Luna will help you to be nice. At least you know you can love and talk to her. She won’t tell your secrets. You know that right?” Bobby asked.
“I do Bobby Parsons and I know something else,” Mary-Anne whispered, looking up and over, straight into his eyes, “I know that I love you and one day, we are going to be married. Even if you don’t believe that right now.”
Bobby jumped off the bed, startling Luna. Luna jumped off Mary-Anne’s lap and hid under the bed. Mary-Anne jumped up, placing her hands on her hips, looking directly at Bobby.
“You scared Luna!”
“Don’t say stuff like that then! That’s gross!”
“Get out of my room!”
“Fine! See if I care!”
Bobby stomped out of Mary-Anne’s room, slamming the door. He stomped through the kitchen, ignoring his parent’s inquiries on what was going on and stomped all the way out to the tree fort. He climbed up and sat with his legs dangling over.
“I don’t care. I don’t love her. I won’t marry her. And I don’t even like her!” Bobby mumbled then looking out towards the house he whispered, “So if all that’s true, how come I feel like someone just stepped on my chest, it hurts so bad.”
© 2001
|
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
|
 |
|
|
|
Select a Random Book
|
|
Welcome !
