Episode 530: In My Daughter's Eyes

Tansy felt the needle accidentally poke her arm, right where her mom was finishing attaching the little black mittens to her sleeves so she’d stay warm and not lose them. She was always losing her mittens. She never meant to. Just like her mom hadn’t meant to poke her like that. But Tansy’s eyes always got all wet whenever she had to tell her mom she’d lost another pair, and her mom’s eyes were all wet over poking her with that needle.

"Oh, I’m so sorry, sweetie," her mom said, twisting Tansy’s arm this way and that, looking for boo-boos. "I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"I’m not hurt," Tansy said. It had kind of stung. And Tansy did kind of want to cry, too. But she didn’t want her mom to cry worse. She brushed her mittens over her mom’s wet cheeks.

"I’m so terrible at this stuff, Tans, I’m sorry."

The door opened. Her dad was home! Tansy turned to him. She couldn’t wait for him to see her Bumblebee costume, to say nice things about it to her mom, so her mom would feel better.

Her dad picked her right up in his arms, but he didn’t say anything about her costume, he was just looking at the tears on her mom’s face. Tansy hugged her dad tight, and rested her head on his chest, glad he was there, and glad he’d make everything better.

"Justine, why are you crying, what’s wrong?"

"I just nearly killed our daughter with a sewing needle, but hey, that’s what you want, right?"

Tansy lifted her head. She didn’t understand. She felt that way a lot, lately. It scared her. What if her dad couldn’t make whatever it was better? What if Tansy and her mom went and lived with grandma and grandpa again? And she didn’t get to see her dad all the time?

"Just," Tansy’s dad had a real soft voice sometimes, "please, will you listen, will you finally hear me when I say that I didn’t mean you had to become some super mom."

Tansy’s dad closed them all in a big hug, it always felt so good to be squished between them, but still Tansy had that awful feeling of not understanding. Why would her mom think she had to become a super mom when she already was the most super mom?

Episode 531: To Be A Lover