Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
She pursed her lips. “I don’t know.”
She made her way down the row, touching various stuffed animals. York lingered behind me as I followed her, so I didn’t realize what he was doing until he already had four stuffed animals in his arms. He’d picked up each one Denny had paused to look at or touch.
“You don’t need to do that,” I whispered to him. “She would be thrilled with one.”
“I got years’ worth of stuffed animals to make up for,” he said as he turned to pluck plastic sleeves full of small animal figurines off a rack. Then another, and another, all different kinds of animals, until he had seven of them shoved in the crook of his arm. But that wasn’t enough. He reached above them to a see-through plastic purse meant for storing your animal figurines and taking them on the go.
“Does she like books?” York asked, making my heart swell with how much he did seem to want to know about her.
“She loves books. Both fictional and educational,” I told him as he perused the options before deciding one each of the six books was necessary.
“You mind?” he asked, holding out the books to me. “This place needs carts.”
“I don’t think they expect most people to attempt to buy everything in the store,” I shot back, plucking some of the animal sleeves from him too.
When we moved up behind Denny, she had her head craned back to look up at the T-shirt collection, each one featuring a different animal.
At York’s questioning look, I shrugged. “A lumberjack and an outdoorsy camper somehow managed to make a fashionista.”
“She likes clothes?”
“She loves clothes.”
“What size is she?” he asked, already walking over to a lilac tee with a lemur on the front.
“5T, but if you’re buying her something, go with an XS instead, so she has some room to grow still.”
He didn’t get her one. Oh, no. He got eight different shirts. And a bucket hat. And a snake as he passed. And a vet kit that was sitting near the checkout.
Denali, so overwhelmed by everything, seemed entirely oblivious to what was happening as she ran back to grab the anteater plush as her final choice.
It wasn’t until she ran back to York at the checkout that she saw the pile.
“Whoa!” she said, eyes comically round. But it still hadn’t clicked that the items were for her.
“Why don’t you put that up there with the rest of your stuff, munchkin?” I asked when York didn’t seem to grasp what was going on in her little head.
“My stuff?” she asked, eyes scrunching up as she looked at me.
“Yeah. All that is for you,” I told her, waving toward the belt. Then, while she was still processing, I whispered so only she heard, “You should say ‘Thank you.’”
She didn’t just say ‘thank you.’ She threw herself at York’s giant leg, wrapped her arms around it, and said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Now, that’s a good daddy,” the cashier said, smile bright.
I wondered if Denny heard. If I had a conversation ahead of me. But then I noticed the dumbstruck look on York’s face as he processed that new title. At someone else recognizing it.
He reached down, petting the back of Denny’s head until she released her hug and moved away to bounce on her feet, her little hands clapping silently together in an excited tic.
My heart swelled for her and sank a bit for myself. Because I’d spent her whole life wanting to be able to treat her to special gifts like that.
One day, I would be in a place to do that.
But right now, I was choosing to be happy for her that she had someone else to give it to her.
Five minutes later, York and I had several giant, reusable tote bags full of toys, books, and clothes while Denny walked ahead of us, clutching both the anteater and the painted dog plushies.
“I probably should have asked,” York said, his voice only for me. “Before I did all this,” he clarified.
To that, I shook my head. I wanted my daughter to have everything she wanted. Even if I couldn’t be the one to give it to her. “No, you don’t have to ask to buy her things. Well, I draw a hard line at animals,” I clarified. “I do want to get her a pet one day, but not until we’re settled.”
“No ponies. Got it.”
“She had an amazing day,” I assured him. “I’m going to hear about nothing else until she passes out tonight. And then again the moment her eyes open up again.”
“We can repeat it,” he said. “Maybe not the zoo again. But we could… do something else.”
“We could do that,” I agreed.
“There’s a lot of shit—stuff—around here. A fun center that’s like an arcade. And has indoor bumper cars. A kid’s museum. A splash park…”