AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What does ‘filling’ mean, Mama?”
“It means, once I’m done eating all of this, my belly will be happy.”
“Mama, since Joel already gived me breakfast food when I waked up, can I play on my tablet?”
“You have to do ABC & Me first,” she said. “After that, you can play whatever you want.”
“Mama.” He dropped into a squat, gripping the crossed bars at the back of the chair, and sprung back up. “I don’t wannado ABC & Me.”
“It’s either ABC & Me and then your games or no games at all.” She motioned for him to stand in front of her, gently cupped his chin, and looked directly into his eyes. “That’s the deal, and it has a shelf-life of ten seconds. One, two, three…”
Theo groaned and tossed back his head with more drama than a stage actor. “Okay.”
“That’s my smart, sweet boy.”
“I’m smart, Mama?”
“Absolutely. Did somebody say you weren’t?”
He shrugged.
“Theo, you are smart,” she kissed his forehead, “sweet, kind,” she gave him another kiss, “and worthy.”
He wrinkled his brows. “Worthy?”
“It means…that you deserve good things.”
“Like toys?”
“Toys. And hugs and kisses, and being told that you’re smart because it’s true, and the chance to watch your favorite things on TV. And love. Theodore Iokua Savea, you are wonderful.”
“What if somebody thinks I’m bad?”
“Like who?”
Again, he shrugged.
“Was it Uncle Gage?”
His eyes opened wide. “Mama, Unco Gage would never say I’m bad! None of my uncles would.”
“Was it Joel?”
He looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Mama, Joel would never say that! Joel loves me! I’m his little boy, just like I’m your little boy. He even said I could call him ‘Daddy’ and that daddies protect the people they love, like you and Jojo. That means he loves me like I love him and like I love you and Jojo and Thandie and Grey and Monroe…and everybody. I love everybody. It’s just a lot of names.”
She laughed and pulled him onto her lap. “How about this? Say you were trying to pick up a,” she altered her voice, added strain,“really heavyrock, and it was giving you a hard time. What do you think Uncle…Gio would say?”
Theo took his voice as deep as it could go and narrowed his eyebrows. “Little Theo, you are strong.”
She laughed harder.
Theo watched her with a grin, squeezing his fingers as if both pleased and slightly embarrassed he could make a grown-up laugh that hard at his age.
“That was perfect,” she said. “And yes, Uncle Gio would say that. Now, one day, you might meet someone who’ll think you’re ‘bad,’ but you have a superpower, baby. You might not always be able to change what people think about you, but you can block it from making it change the way you think about yourself.”
Theo sliced a hand through the air. “Like a force field.”
