Jacqueline Christina quietly opened the door to her parents' room and closed it, then crawled into the bed between them. Jack moved over, giving her room without opening up his eyes. She got into the covers and was quiet but only for a moment. Their daughter did what she usually does on Sunday mornings, she started talking.
"Catty was sleeping under my bed again. How old is Catty? I think she needs a friend. Can we get another kitty? Because I think Catty is lonely and needs another one that she can play with. Like I have Susie. And EJ has Freddie. And Daddy has Papa. But Catty doesn't have anyone. I saw a kitty in the park, can we take him home? What color kitty should we get? I like kitties that have colors. Oh, can we get an orange kitty? Are their blue kitties? I would like a blue kitty. I want-"
Jack smiled listening to his five-year-old daughter ramble. He knew Ethan was awake listening to her too. Jack turned his body to her and opened up his eyes. He cut her off with a soft, "Good morning, Jackie."
JC turned to her dad. "Good morning, Papa. Can we get another kitty?"
He smiled. "We'll talk about it, okay?"
"Okay Papa. Papa, where's my mommy?" she asked unexpectedly.
Ethan's eyes flew open widely and looked at Jack over JC's head. Jack looked at Ethan, then looked back down at JC. He sat up and Ethan sat up with him. JC looked at her dad behind her, then back at her Papa, and sat up too.
Jack took her little hands in his and said, "The truth is, we don't know, Jackie. We lost contact with her a long time ago. But I know wherever she is, she thinks about you just as much as you think about her."
"Oh." She was thoughtful then asked, "Is she gonna come see me like EJ's mommy came to see him?"
Ethan said, "We hope so." JC turned to her other father.
"We hope one day she will reach out. But if that never happens, it's okay. She made a plan when you were still in her belly to have us be your daddies because she trusted us to give you love and to always be there for you when she couldn't. So if she never comes back, it's only because she knows you are with the best parents a girl like you could ever have."
"Oh," she said again. "Okay." She looked to still be thoughtful.
"Do you have more questions?" Jack asked.
"Um... Can you show me her picture again?"
Jack rose from the bed and went into his dresser drawer. He pulled out a picture of Claire at the Inn a few weeks after she arrived, on Valentine's Day wearing a yellow dress and holding a red rose against her pregnant belly. She was smiling for the camera, looking relaxed and happy.
Claire had written the words on the back in her own handwriting, "For my baby girl. You will always be my Valentine."
Jack came back to the bed and put the picture in Jackie's hand. "I think you're old enough to keep this now. It's yours."
She smiled at the picture. "She has red hair like me."
"And light brown eyes and freckles and the prettiest smile in the world, just like you," Ethan said. She turned to him and beamed at her dad.
Jackie stared at the picture for a long time in silence and her fathers let her. Then Ethan said softly, "Any time you want to talk about her, you can, sweet pea. We like talking about her too. So don't ever be afraid to talk to us about your mommy, okay?"
Eventually she said, "Okay."
She started to crawl out of the bed holding onto the picture. "Hey, can we get hugs?" Ethan asked. "That was a serious conversation."
"Yeah, we had a family meeting," JC said factually, making both her dads chuckle.
Jack pulled her in for a hug and said, "We love you, Jacqueline."
"Okay," she responded.
She turned to Ethan who also hugged her and said, "We love you very very much, Jackie."
"Okay," she said again.
She left their bed and right before she closed the door she said, "Love you, Daddies."
Ethan fell backwards against the bed and groaned. "We survived."
Jack followed him. "I know. The first real talk about her mom. I think we did okay, Dad."
"I hope so, Papa," Ethan said.
Their hands gravitated toward each other and they clasped tightly.
~~~
Jack was ready first and came out of the room to get the girls ready for church. Afterwards he walked into the main room to see Trish in his kitchen teaching EJ how to make homemade pancakes. He walked over to them and couldn't help but to smile at EJ's smiling face. He looked so happy spending time with her, having all of her attention focused solely on him. In his eyes Patricia could do no wrong.
EJ noticed him first. "Hey Pop! Mom came downstairs and had the great idea to make pancakes for us before we go to Mass."
"Wow, that's a really nice idea but..." He said to Trish, "We usually just eat in the dining room upstairs for breakfast on Sundays-" But he was cut off when EJ sent him a look with a frown. "But this is better."
She nodded in agreement. "Good morning, Jack," she said, handing him a cup of coffee.
He asked quietly, "What did you do, spit in it?"
Trish laughed out loud. "Is Ethan awake?"
"Yea, he's getting ready."
She nodded and poured another cup and handed it to Jack. "Please bring this to him."
He took the second cup from her and brought it to Ethan in the bedroom, who had just put on his shirt. "Thanks babe," Ethan said as he took the coffee from him.
"You're welcome. But Trish made the coffee."
He took a sip before placing it on the dresser and said, "Really?" He turned to the mirror to button up his shirt.
"Yea. And she's making breakfast for the kids. Freshly made pancakes and sausage and shit. Your ex-wife is suddenly Mary freakin' Poppins."
He laughed at Jack from the mirror. "Want me to tell her to stop it?"
Jack rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm so conflicted, E. EJ loves having her around. The girls really like her. But I still don't fully trust her motives here."
