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"I love it! It has my name on it!"
"It does. Open it up and see what else you might find,” he encourages her while he shows her how to open the buckles on the handmade treasure chest that he’s made for her. It's painted white, and across the front of it in pink it says,
Princess Ireland
When she opens the box, her mouth drops open and she just stares for a second. Then she squeals and throws her arms around Jonathan, but she quickly lets go. She runs back to her treasure chest only to pull out princess dress after princess dress as well as shoes, tiaras, fake jewels and every accessory you can imagine. He’s thought of everything and has made all of her princess dreams come true.
Surrounded by pink, purple, blue and yellow fluff she lifts her eyes to mine with a big smile and starts to say, "Mommy…"
But she doesn’t finish and I don't realize why she doesn't finish her sentence until she comes up to me and pulls on my hand. I squat in front of her and she asks. "Momma, what's da matter?" She reaches her little hand up to my face and wipes away the tears I didn't even realize were falling.
"Baby girl, nothing is wrong. These are happy tears. It makes me so so happy to see you happy.” Knowing I need to gather myself, I find an out and I say, “Now, how about cake?"
"Yes! Cake!" she shouts as she turns back to her friends and her treasure chest.
I stand and see Jonathan leaning against the wall watching us. He’s the reason my little girl and I feel the way we do every day. He put me back together and is filling a hole in Ireland’s life that she didn’t even know needed to be filled.
Passing by him on my way to the kitchen I pause and kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you for her present, it's amazing."
He puts his arm around my waist and places a sweet kiss on the lips. That's all the gift I need.
I turn to leave him, but can't help myself when I turn back. Not caring who hears it say, "I love you, Georgia."
"Love you too, baby."
The party is over, and Ireland has spent the last thirty minutes trying on all of her dresses and accessories from her treasure chest. She tries each dress on, accessorizes and then goes out to the family room and shows Uncle Mick and Jonathan. She twirls, looks at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door and then we start again.
Now that I’m up close to the trunk that Jonathan transformed into a treasure chest fit for a princess, I see all the details on it. He’s hand painted little butterflies sporadically on the trunk, and even a dragonfly here or there.
Not only did he make this gift for her, but he took the night off of work so he could spend the evening with us. Now the poor man sits in the living room with my annoying big brother while he endures a five-year old’s fashion show.
It's his fault though.
He did all of this.
He had to know what he was getting himself into.
Ireland walks back into her room after showing her last dress off to the boys, and she makes a point of shutting her door.
She climbs up into my lap and says, "Momma, can I tell you what I wished for when I blowed out my candles?"
38
Jonathan
Mick goes to grab us each a beer, and I hear a light knocking. Then I hear Ireland say, "Momma?"
My heart instantly starts to pound in my chest because Ireland doesn't sound happy, and she was just beaming with pride in her last princess dress. What could have happened between now and then?
As I approach her in the hallway I squat down to her level. "What's goin' on, Princess?"
"I made momma cry." She’s calling Emily momma and not mommy. That’s a sign that something’s wrong.
"Why do you think you made her cry?"
"Well, I know I wasn't supposed to but I told her my birfday wish. I thought it would make her happy, and if she knew I was wishing for it she could wish for it too," she says so low that I can barely hear her.
She suddenly seems shy. Her tiny hands are clasped in front of her and she’s looking down at them. She doesn’t seem to want to look me in the eye. What in the world did she wish for that would have Emily in tears, and Ireland seem so shy?
