“Youam. And if you don’t stop, youamgoing to be in big trouble.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t tell her anything about ghosts. We were all just talking about when Momma died and how if she’d not gotten Rachel out of her belly, then she would have died too. Then they would have both been ghosts.”
“That’s talking about ghosts, and that’s what I need you to stop. Your mother is not a ghost; your mother is in Heaven.”
She stared at him, her eyes just like his. “You can’t prove that any more than you can prove she’s not a ghost or that Icanprove she is a ghost. We can’t prove anything. You don’t know she’s in Heaven.”
He was not going to have a religious debate with his nine-year-old. “That’s what faith means, sweetheart. It’s believing in something even if you can’t prove it.”
Her dark eyebrow arched. “Like ghosts.”
“Wouldn’t you feel better if you believed she was in Heaven with Jesus?”
Sarah shrugged. “What does it matter, Daddy? She’s not here. She’s in Heaven, or she’s a ghost. Why would her being in Heaven make me feel better? If she was a ghost, she could at least be watching us and caring about what we do. If she’s inHeaven with Jesus, then she doesn’t even care what we do, and she’s just gone.”
And this was why he didn’t have disputes with his children, because they were all smarter than him.
“Can we at least agree not to scare your sister into hysteria? Or if you’re going to scare one of your sisters, can you do it to the older one?”
He could see Sarah’s mind working. “Yeah, okay, fair.”
“Thank you.” At least he could warn Bekka.
Bekka would just get a hammer and hit her sister in the head a couple of times to make sure Sarah stopped. Actually, Bekka was way more the kind who would take Sarah’s favorite books and hide them and refuse to let them come back if she was being evil.
Allison, I sure hope somewhere you’re watching. I hope somewhere you’re paying attention.
Sarah ran off as soon as he gave her leave, and he sat there rocking the baby.
Lori came up and sat next to him, a smudge of dirt on her nose. “She’s a firecracker, that one.”
He nodded. “They all are, but she’s something else.”
She chuckled softly. “It’s okay. My Teresa is just the same. When my mom died, she insisted that Mother was a ghost and was watching every step she made. Wednesday Addams is her hero.”
“Yeah? I thought she was a Girl Scout and everything.”
“She is. I’m the leader. She doesn’t have a choice.” Lori winked at him. “Just because she’s a little gothy girl doesn’t mean she’s going to end up evil. It means that she’s deep. But I wouldn’t worry about Sarah. She’s going to be fine.”
“Thanks for that.” He did worry, though. About all of them. But then, it was easy for Lori to tell him that, because his girlsweren’t her kids. He was certain it was harder for Lori with her own child.
“Hopefully, she and Teresa can be friends. They like the same kind of books, and I’m fairly sure Sarah’s going to ask if she could spend the night.”
“Oh.” Well, that would be new and a little strange, but mostly just new.
“I mean, you don’t have to, of course. I know you’re not well. It’s just hard for the girls to make friends.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll make sure Bekka’s cool with it if they decide to ask. Bekka’s kind of like my little mother here.”
“Is she a reader like her sister?”
“No. She knows how, of course, and she’ll read for pleasure every now and again, but really she’s very into crafts. She likes to make things, but right now she’s doing cross-stitch, macrame, crocheting, knitting. If it’s a craft, she wants to learn how to do it. She says when she grows up she’s going to be a ceramicist.”
He had a budding potter. A Victorian vampire veterinarian. And little Rachel? He was pretty sure she wanted to be a cowboy ballerina.
“A ceramicist? Wow, that’s very specific.” She grinned again, shook her head. I understand, though. “My Hannah, who’s just a little bit younger, wants to be a pharmacist. Can you believe it?”
“Sometimes they just know, I guess.” He shrugged. “It’s not as though I expect any of my girls to want to be a roofer.”
