“Oh, come on, that’s not true. I think it’s—”
KNOCK! KNOCK!
I look at Kira. “Did you secretly order a pizza?”
“I don’t have DoorDash on my tablet,” she says, as if this is a great injustice.
She trails me to the door, screaming “Dad!” when I swing it open to reveal a very tired-looking Nick.
“You finished early?” I ask.
“I told you it would be quick,” he says. “I’m a man of my word.”
“At least there’s one of you in this world,” I mumble.
Kira runs back into the office. “Dad, come see my hybrids and furries!”
Nick stifles a laugh and gives me a quick squeeze. “Seriously. Thank you.”
Kira lifts up one of her drawings to show him, rattling off all the character names and their various alliances and frenemies.
Something catches my eye on the floor. I hadn’t noticed before, but she’d been using a comic book as a flat surface underneath her drawing paper. I grab it off the floor. Across the drawing of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s wedding, I see the outlines of her drawings where the markers bled through onto my pristine copy ofAmazing Spider-Man Annual #21.
“Fuck!”
They both turn to look at me as I hold up the book.
“Oops,” Kira says, some realization dawning on her face.
“The one thing I asked was to leave these in the clear plastic bags because they’re valuable,” I say.
“I know, but I wanted to look inside that one because it has a wedding on the front.”
“It’s ruined, Kira!” The volume of my voice is a bit alarming, but I’m pissed.
“Maybe we can find another copy,” Nick says.
“This is a collectible! It was in near-mint condition.”
Kira rocks back and forth on her heels.
“I’m sure she didn’t realize,” Nick says, bending down and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Kira, what do you say?”
“I’msow-wy,” she says in that disingenuous baby talk voice.
Something inside me snaps.
“No!” I yell. “You’re too old for a baby talk apology. Say you’re sorry to me in a normal voice, like you mean it.”
“Sam!” Nick stands all the way up, facing me. “Come on, it was an accident.”
“No, it’srude,” I exclaim. “She’s acting like a spoiled brat!”
“Don’t raise your voice at my kid, okay?”
“I’mso-rry,” Kira yells.
And then she bursts into tears.
