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Tentatively, he reached for her, still waiting for her to reconsider and bury her face in Lisa’s chest. When she didn’t, he took her in his arms, patting her narrow shoulders. What should he do now? He’d heard from someone—he couldn’t remember who—that it was soothing to a child to carry them around the house looking at whatever caught the child’s attention. He began moving from room to room. “Look outside,” he said, pointing at the American flag fluttering on the flagpole near the garage. “What is that?”
“Flag,” she said before popping her thumb back into her mouth, resting her tiny head on his shoulder and snuggling close. Love for his daughter, like a living thing, filled his chest, expanding to fill his body, shaking him to his core.
He was walking around the kitchen, pointing things out for Emma to name when Lisa appeared with her purse and a small suitcase. He really was going to be one hundred percent responsible for this little girl. “You’re leaving now,” he said, hearing the raw anxiety in his voice.
“I am.” Lisa looked at Emma, who promptly pulled away from Aidan and reached for Lisa.
“I go with you,” Emma said as Lisa wrapped her arms around his little girl.
“You have to stay here with your dad. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and in the meantime, you be good, okay?” Lisa said, kissing her cheek.
Emma pulled her thumb from her mouth. “No! You stay!” she demanded, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I have to go, honey,” Lisa murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she held the little girl. She looked over at Aidan. “Can you take her for me?”
Tentatively, he reached for Emma, who immediately began to cry harder. Aidan waited, not knowing what to do, fearing that Emma would not stop crying when Lisa left the house.
“I have to go, Emma,” Lisa said again, and this time she passed Emma to him. The child struggled in his arms and managed to slide to the floor, following Lisa to the door. Aidan went after her, trying to remain calm while worrying that Emma might follow Lisa to her car.
“Please stay here with me,” he said to Emma as he managed to pick her up again, evoking loud wails.
Lisa turned, a desperate look on her face. “Find one of her favorite toys to soothe her,” she said as she turned quickly, opened the door and walked out, to another yelp of protest from Emma.
“I don’t know which toys are her favorite,” he said to the closed door.
Emma scrambled out of his arms, fleeing to the window in the living room that looked out on the driveway. “Weeza!” she screamed, climbing the back of the sofa.
He went to her, unsure if he should try to pick her up and comfort her. Hoping to calm his little girl, he glanced around the room looking for a toy that might soothe her. In a corner, he spotted the black teddy bear perched precariously on the edge of a tapestry-covered bench. He grabbed the furry toy and offered it to Emma.
At first, she ignored him, sucking her thumb and hiccuping. When she did glance his way, she stared at him suspiciously. He waited, his throat constricted with worry at the possibility that Emma might simply continue to cry, and he wouldn’t be able to comfort her.
Seconds later her tiny hand grabbed the bear before turning away from him and nestling into the sofa while she patted the bear’s back.
What should he do now? He glanced around, trying to figure out if he could get her back to the TV in the family room. Not ideal parenting, but the TV might distract her and give him time to make a plan.
“Emma, would you let me watch SpongeBob SquarePants with you?” he asked, mentally crossing his fingers that the program was still on.
She peered up at him, sighed and offered her bear to him. “Blackie and I will show you.”
