NOVEL NEXT 215: Dad Life
SLYDAR
"Yikes, Bisty, ya got me with that one, honey."
Yeah, spit up, right on my chin. Shoulder shrug. That was dad life.
I tucked my little 'un into the sling so she could ride on my chest and see out while I kept packing, and Rory's mom wrangled the toddling Switch. Oh yeah, our son was trouble on two legs, and talked a mile a minute, though we only knew a little of what he said.
It was moving day, and thank the Cosmos for it. The two-bedroom apartment had gotten old real fast with two kids, and we couldn't wait to get to our new place next to Rory's parents where we'd have more space and a yard. Family was helping pack up and loading boxes into the moving truck, and we were nearly ready to go.
Crash! I spun around. Switch was fine. Mental checklist: Rory, fine. Cast a wider net: everybody fine.
Cackling from my brother Dav. Eye roll from me. He thought he was hilarious. I thought he was a turd.
"He who spills it, cleans it, Dav. You know the rules," I frowned.
Dav found a roll of paper towels and mopped up the day-old take out he'd dropped on the kitchen floor, snickering to himself the whole time.
What was so funny? Oh, I caught the thought on the edge of his mind. Me spinning around, with spit up half wiped off my chin and a baby on my chest, dreads shooting out of my head, looking like a unshaven mad man.
I held back the chuckle that wanted to escape my lips, and took another load of boxes to the truck.
"Dav, make yourself stinkin' useful, and grab that bookshelf. We don't have all day," Rory scolded, sounding like a proper school marm. Yeah, we said things like "stinkin'" now.
Don't worry, I'll still use the good words in the book. Except when I don't. 'Cuz kids and shit.
We got the truck unloaded at the new house, put together the beds, showered, and called it a night. Bitsy was a good sleeper, and Switch did alright most nights, but he woke up crying, and I saw why in his tiny brain in a second. I wrapped my mental presence around him and went to his room.
I'm coming, Switch, Daddy's here. The bad mirka's all gone. No more. I'm here, son.
"Hey, buddy, I gotchu," I said, picking him up and carrying him to our bed. Yeah, Switch had seen a giant purple mirka in his nightmare. If it was my dad Muller haunting him, I'd dig up his cremains and scatter them to the four winds. No peace if you mess with a kid.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I shook my head at myself. No way, no way my dad woulda scared a kid. Unless he was trying to be friendly. I was too tired to think. I tucked Switch between me and Rory and fell back asleep.
"I'll get her," Rory said as she climbed out of bed, both of us soothing the crying Bitsy mentally. Her baby mind was upset, but I couldn't see anything concerning. Switch stirred, but stayed quiet. Rory returned a few minutes later, clean nappy on the littlest 'un, and all four of us were in one bed, asleep 'til morning sun lit up the room.
"Great first night, babe."
Rory laughed. Yeah, ten years since we'd had our real first night together, and this one'd been a lot different than that night in the wagon, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Our first night in our own house, with two babies we'd brought into the world.
"You think that was your dad in Switch's dream? Maybe he was just checkin' in? Switch coulda gotten scared, even if the mirka didn't mean him any harm. Hard to know what a toddler dreams about," Rory mused over her coffee.
"I don't want my dad doing shi—stuff in the kids' dreams, babe. That's just creepy. Let's sing Switch all the songs about the wind, and teach him to listen to it. Maybe that can help."
Nod from my wife. Music came easy to Rory, and she sang to this kids all the time. I didn't know how well a toddler could understand about Grampa livin' in an alternate universe and sending his presence on the breeze, but why not try?
Not everything about our lives in Nineton was esoteric like that—mysterious scents on the winds. Actually, most of it wasn't weird like that. I forgot to tell ya about all the official papers. Before the baby stuff started. Shoulda just been a piece of paper, but it's more than that.
I was documented all official like, so everything was all legal. The kids had papers, so that made us an above-the-board family. That's how good it feels to live in Five Sphere when you're different. I didn't even think about it anymore; it seemed routine to know people who could sculpt stone or evaporate ice.
And that's how I felt so comfortable bringing kids into this crazy world. The Known Cosmos isn't kind all the time; it's often cruel. It hurts to be a person. To live, to watch people struggle, and to miss them when they're gone.
But there's all the good bits too: the lingering morning coffee, the late night kiss that leads to more, the hug for a friend who's had a shi— cra— terrible day, the flowers for your wife's birthday, and the sleeping baby in her crib, so full of life and possibility. Look at me, gettin' philosophical. So wise, is Sly Fox.
Heh— listen to this. You'll love it. Remember my brother Dav? The one who thought it was funny to throw food on my kitchen floor? Well, I had better: nappies. A whole box.
Stored 'em up in the freezer in baggies 'til I could fill a moving box. Took 'em to his house when they were all out for the night with friends. Stuffed it in the back of their closet, under a bunch of stuff.
You know how long it took to get ripe? Three days. You know how long it took to get the stink out? A week. You know what he did in retaliation?
Me neither. It hasn't happened yet, but Rory and I laughed so hard, it was worth it.
And I hope you're laughing too. That's why we're writin' these stories. To keep people laughing and crying and feeling. That's what Rory said her superpower is, remember? Emotion, and she's pretty much always right about shi— stuff like that.
