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Something like jealousy rears its head at seeing them together before I get it under control. I stand there for a while just looking at Samantha. She hasn’t changed a lot in six years, but I can see where her face has slimmed out from when she was a fresh-faced teenager. I notice a little discoloration on her left cheek, peeking out from the makeup that’s melting off her face.
I shake off the unknown feeling I get from seeing a mark blemishing her beautiful face. She’s a mom to a rambunctious six-year-old. I’m sure she could tell us all stories of the battle scars that come from taking care of a child twenty-four-seven.
The sound of bare feet padding on the wood floors has me taking my eyes off the two sleeping and my gaze tracks to the hallway. Dakota comes out, looking groggy. When she sees me, she gives me a shy smile.
“Mommy?” she questions in a small voice.
I bend down to her level and look at her with those forest-green eyes. “How about we let your mommy sleep and we go make some pancakes?” I ask her, smiling.
She nods excitedly and when I stand back up, she reaches for my hand. My heart twinges in my chest. I take her small hand in mine and lead her to the kitchen. We make quite a mess working on pancakes. Flour and eggs are everywhere.
Ellen is none too happy when she finally walks in. “What in the devil are you two doing?”
“We’re making pancakes,” Dakota announces proudly.
“Are you now? And who is going to clean up this mess, young lady?” Ellen asks, tickling Dakota’s belly.
Dakota giggles. It’s such a cheerful sound and I make a vow to myself right then to do whatever it takes to hear that noise coming from her lips as much as possible.
“Sorry, Mama Ellen. I’ll clean all this up.” I promise.
“No worries, child. You finish up and I’ll clean this.” She says as she waves her arms encompassing the mess.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind.” I tell her.
“I don’t mind at all.” She says and then in a lower voice only I can hear she says, “I don’t think Dakota has had much good in her young life. Seeing the smile on her face when I walked in made this old heart happy.”
I don’t know what she’s talking about. Dakota seems like a happy child to me. But what do I know? Anything seems better than the childhood I had. I place my concentration back on helping Dakota whisk the pancake mix before I crack eggs for an omelet.
We’re just finishing up breakfast when Samantha and Matt come out to the kitchen. Matt goes straight for the coffeemaker on the counter, while Samantha looks both shocked and a little scared. Matt brings over two cups of fresh coffee. One for himself and one for Samantha.
She takes a sip. “You remembered how I like my coffee?” She asks.
“Of course I did,” Matt answers.
Samantha sits her cup down on the counter. Dakota realizes then that her mom is standing there. She runs over and throws herself at her mom. Samantha catches her in the air and pulls her little body tight against her own.
“Mama, we made pancakes, and Shane let me use the cutter to make cool shapes.” Dakota beams.
“You did?” Samantha asks, an enormous smile gracing her lips. “Show me.”
Dakota goes to run over to the plate piled high with food, but trips over a rug. Before she can hit the ground, I reach out to grab her. Samantha leaps after her, so we end up in a weird three-way hug.
Dakota giggles again at her mishap. I stop breathing as Samantha’s hands land on me. The same spark of awareness that used to hit me whenever our skin touched is still there.
I look at Samantha to see the same awareness in her eyes. She quickly steps back and shakes off the feeling. I can clearly see the mask she’s been wearing covering her eyes.
I clear my throat from the awkwardness and place Dakota back on her feet. Steady now, she continues calling for Samantha to come look at her masterpiece. “I made you a star, Mama.”
“You did good, baby. It’s beautiful. How am I supposed to eat it?”
“With butter and syrup,” Dakota states matter-of-factly.
Samantha laughs at the answer. “I thought maybe I’d like whipped cream and sprinkles.”
“Oh,” Dakota says, confusedly. Then her entire face lights up. “Can we mama? Please?” She begs.
“I’ll tell you what, if you promise to eat all of your eggs, you can have Cool Whip and sprinkles on your pancake.”
