“Tough. We’re going anyway,” Melody tells her.
“Fine, but only because you are saying it,” she responds.
“Parker,” Melody continues. “Go easy on your dad.”
I spot Parker pulling her book out of her bag through the rearview mirror. I don’t know how she reads without getting carsick. I could never, but she is a devout little bookworm. Melody reaches across the middle console and takes my hand.
“Ew,” Parker groans. Melody wraps her arm around mine and rests her head against my shoulder. “What is wrong with you two?”
“Nothing, we love each other,” I say.
“Gross.”
I wasn’t looking forward to this attitude after watching Hannah’s tween years. Still, I’m thankful to have Melody next to me, and now that I’ve seen Hannah get over most of her attitude issues, I’m sure it’s only a temporary phase.
Parker brings her book into the ice cream shop and plops down into a seat without telling me what she wants. I already know, anyway. She gets the same thing every time we come here. Cotton Candy with hot fudge, which sounds disgusting, and also something Abby would have gobbled up.
When we’re all seated at the table, Melody and I both stare at Parker until she lifts her head from the book. “What?”
“We’re ready to tell you the secret now,” I tell her.
Parker slowly closes her book and places her hands to the sides of her cup of ice cream. “There’s a real secret?”
“One, you’ll be the first to know about,” Melody says.
Parker grins and taps her finger against her chin. “Am I getting a puppy?”
“No,” I answer. “I think this is better than a puppy.”
Parker seems confused by my statement, as if nothing could be better than a puppy. Melody reaches into her purse and pulls out a small wrapped gift to hand her. “What’s this?”
“Open it, silly,” I say.
Parker tears the paper off and flips the gift over to see it’s a journal, labeled: “My life as a big sister.” Parker’s eyes grow wide, and her mouth falls open as she glances up at us slowly.
“You said you want to be a writer someday,” Melody says. “I think you might have a lot to write about soon.”
Tears fall from Parker’s eyes, and I don’t think I’ve witnessed happy tears with her before. She’s growing up so quickly it’s hard to keep track of her emotions sometimes, but I know she’s never reacted like this before. “I’m going to be a big sister?” she confirms.
“The world’s greatest big sister,” I tell her.
Parker looks back and forth between the two of us with a smile from ear to ear. “This is the best secret ever,” she shrieks and jumps up from her seat to hug us both. “I need to start getting books for the baby, so I can read him or her all the stories.”
“You know you’re always our number-one, right?” Melody asks.
Parker shrugs. “I know neither of you are the ones who put me in this world, but it doesn’t matter to me because you’re my family, and I know things wouldn’t be this good if you weren’t.”
Parker has asked a lot of questions over the years, some I wondered if she was old enough to to hear the answers to, but over time, she has learned and accepted some sad truths about life. However, it’s clear Parker has an appreciation for our family situation, one neither Melody nor I could ever understand. “The baby won’t see me any differently. I’ll be there from the start, and we have the same parents. It’s simple.” I hope it always feels this way for her.
“You’re going to be a big part of this baby’s life, maybe even the biggest,” Melody tells her.
My heart feels full, and a little overwhelmed at the same time. I adopted Parker without a second thought. I would have fought for her if I had to because I needed her as much as she needed me.
She needs this loving family and a strong unit.
She needs to feel like everything is normal.
She needs me to be okay.
