"Um...okay," Christy said uncertainly. "Well, here's Tristan again."
“Daddy?” Tristan said, and this time he didn’t yell.
“Yes, Little Man?”
“Daddy come home?”
“Tomorrow,” Travis said. “One bath and one sleep, I promise.”
“Daddy bring Shosie home?” Tristan asked in an oddly gentle tone for him. “Miss Daddy. Miss Shosie, Daddy.”
“I miss you, too, Tristan,” he said to his son. “And Aunt Christy will let you call Shosie later, okay?”
“Bring Shosie home, Daddy,” Tristan insisted.
Travis sighed. How was he to explain a funeral to a two-year-old, when it took six months to get him to understand a wedding? And even after all that, he’d still been confused. “Tristan,” Travis began, “I can’t bring Shosie home with me. She has to stay with her family. Her grandfather died. She’s very sad right now and needs to be with her grandmother.”
“Died? What died?”
“Shosie’s grandfather went to see God and Jesus in Heaven,” Travis said patiently. How did other parents explain this stuff? Did they wait until the kids were older? Did they sugar-coat it? Travis didn’t know. All he could do was what he knew. And honestly worked best with Tristan.
“Shosie see God?”
“No, Tristan. Shosie didn’t go to Heaven with her grandfather. She’ll be home in a few days. In four, maybe five, baths, okay?”
Tristan didn’t speak for a moment, but then he said, “Daddy bring Shosie home. I stay A’nt Chissie. Daddy bring Shosie home four baths. P’omise?”
Travis sighed quietly. “Tristan, I can’t bring Shosie home. I’m sorry, Little Man, but she has to stay with her mommy and daddy and grandmother, and I will be home tomorrow so we can watch the fireworks over the river before we go to the beach.”
"Shosie come to beach?"
"Sorry, buddy, but it's just you and me."
Tristan said, “Daddy stay with Shosie. Make Shosie happy, not sad. Bring Shosie home happy. Then go to beach.”
With a small smile, Travis asked, “And how am I supposed to make Shosie happy again?”
“Give Shosie cookie,” Tristan said decisively. “I happy with cookie. And give Shosie hug. Hug make Mommy happy. Hug, big cookie. What make you happy, Daddy?”
Travis laughed to himself. His Little Man was too young to be this smart and understanding. “I like hugs and cookies, too.”
YOU ARE READING
Compromise Me (Book Two of the Kirkland Family)
ChickLitJosie Kirkland loves music. She loves her family. And she loves her new job... Travis Fischer loves music. He loves his band. And he loves his son... She wants him, and he always thought of her as that pesky little girl who liked to tease him re...
Compromise Me: Chapter 27
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