Chapter 9 - The Stained Glass Morning
The house was too quiet when I woke up. Last night there had been music and glasses and people talking loud. Now I just heard the clock in the hall.
I was still in my pink dress. It was all wrinkled. Dad must have carried me up because my shoes were by the bed and my feet were clean. The sash felt loose around my waist.
My name is Lily. I was six and I didn't want to go downstairs.
Dad came in before I even sat up. He still had his white shirt on from the party, but no jacket, and his hair stuck up. He sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed his face.
"Hey, baby," he said. "You hungry?"
I nodded because my stomach hurt. He held his hand out, and I took it. His hand was warm.
Downstairs, the party room was dark. The double doors were shut. But light came through the little colored glass pieces and made red and blue squares on the marble. Someone had picked up the chairs and the plates were gone. I looked for the gray bucket. It wasn't there.
Mom was in the dining room. She had changed into jeans and a white sweater and her hair was down. She smiled big when she saw me.
"There's my princess! Look what Mommy made," she said.
On the table was a stack of pancakes with strawberries cut like hearts. And orange juice with no pulp, the kind only Dad bought for me. The chandelier wasn't on. Morning sun came through the windows.
She held her arms out. "Come give Mom a hug."
I stopped behind Dad's leg. I didn't mean to be bad, but my body wouldn't move. Her arms stayed out for a second too long, and then she laughed a little.
"Shy this morning? That's okay," she said. Her voice stayed sweet, but her eyes went fast to Dad.
Dad squeezed my shoulder. "Sit with me, okay?" He pulled my chair close to his at the table. Mom put the pancakes in front of me. They smelled good, but my throat felt tight.
"You slept in your dress," Mom said, sitting across from us. "We need to get you in the bath. We can fix the sash, too."
I looked down. One side of the sash hung longer than the other. I put my hand over it.
Dad's phone buzzed in his pocket. He looked at it and stood up. "I need to take this. Start without me, baby."
He walked into the pantry and half-closed the door, but I could hear him because the dining room was so quiet.
"Hey, yeah, it's me... No, nothing emergency... I just... I wanted to ask what you see..." He was quiet for a long time, listening. "No, I haven't... I don't want to start something if I'm reading it wrong. I just need to know how to talk to her without scaring her."
Mom kept smiling at me while he talked. She pushed the juice closer. "Eat, Lily. You love hearts."
I took one bite. It was cold already.
Dad came back and put his phone away. He didn't look at Mom. He cut my pancake into small pieces like he did when I was little.
"I have to run to school later for pickup today," he said. "Mom has errands."
Mom's smile didn't move. "That's fine."
After breakfast, I slipped away to the kitchen. Rosa was there. She wasn't in her black uniform with the white collar. She had on a gray sweater and jeans, and her hair was still in a bun. She was folding dish towels.
She saw my dress and kneeled down fast.
"Let me see," she whispered.
She touched the sash where it was loose. Two little threads stuck out where the stitching had popped. And on the light pink, near my knee, there was a gray scuff I hadn't seen last night. Like from a shoe.
Rosa didn't say anything bad. She just breathed in through her nose. Then she took a clean sandwich bag from the drawer and used little scissors to snip the two loose threads off. She put them in the bag and zipped it. Then she dabbed the scuff with a wet paper towel and put that in, too.
"For your dad," she whispered, and slipped it in her sweater pocket.
Mom came in the doorway then. "Lily? Come let Mommy brush your hair."
She held her arms out again. I grabbed Rosa's sweater sleeve instead and hid my face in it. Rosa put her hand on my back, real light.
Mom stood there. Her hands dropped to her sides.
May you like
"Okay," she said softly. "Okay, Rosa can do it."
Dad was watching from the hall. He saw the whole thing. He didn't say anything, but he nodded once at Rosa, like thank you.
