To Sing Frogs Chapter 31a

Chapter 31

 

Family Dynamics

 

 

“Mama! Mama! Mama!”

Amy caught Celeste mid-swan-dive as I continued to hold her legs with my arm. “Hello Princess! I missed you so much!”

We stood under the bridge that connected parking areas to the terminal. Planes with their slow-blinking lights roared into the sky on red eye flights bound for destinations east of the Atlantic. I stuck my head in the SUV even before loading the luggage. “Papashka, Dyehdushka Beel noe mye house. Aye talk Dyehdushka Beel tyelefon.”

“Good for you, Princess! I missed you!” I leaned across the vehicle to her car seat and got a big hug from Sarah. Then we traded cheek kisses. My oldest daughter tried to talk more, but I left her waiting while I climbed out of the SUV and loaded luggage in the back. Celeste continued to jabber at Amy non-stop. I hugged my wife and youngest daughter together (I wasn’t going to get them apart). Then I pushed everyone to hurry so we could get out of the loading zone and on with the last leg of our journey.

“Welcome home Sweetheart,” Amy said just before kissing me. “It’s good to have you back.” She placed Celeste in her car seat and buckled it up.

“Lub—Sahleste! Hi Sahlest! Mama! Sahlest ee Papa com home!”

Within minutes we were westbound on I-75 beginning our two-hour drive home. “Papa, Aye talk Dyehdushka Beel tyelefon.”

Her first departure from the Detroit airport turned out to be a shock for Sarah. The soft books introduced her to one of her new grandparents. He ate with her several times a day. He went almost everywhere with us for the better part of a month. And because of him, Sarah almost never had to walk. Amy explained our failure. Nobody ever told the little girl Dyehdushka Bill wasn’t a permanent fixture at our house. My wife gave me all the gory details of Sarah’s meltdown when Bill told her goodbye. “So now she talks to him on the phone. I hope since you’re home we can cut her back to long distance calls a couple of times a week rather than once a day,” Amy concluded.

We didn’t find out the rest of the story until Bill’s wife, Joan, told us months later. Dyehdushka Bill went home for heart surgery. The guy would have returned in a box just to show the little girl she was loved enough to be carried. Grandpas.

Denney was out cold in his car seat when they met me at the airport. He remained so. The doctor told Amy he was doing fine (for having Hep A). Even at that he wouldn’t feel well and would probably sleep a lot. The little boy was still throwing “stitches tantrums” at the rate of a dozen a day. No surprise there.

Even though excitement from our reunification had excited the girls, the vehicle rocked them to sleep within a few minutes.

 

 

“STOP DASHA! NYET—NO! No kees mee!” Sarah tried to push the dog away while struggling toward the house. It was twelve-thirty at night and she was exhausted. The little girl wasn’t happy about being woken up. It got worse when she was expected to walk on her own. We had our hands full without packing Sarah. Amy was carrying Celeste-the-rag-doll and I was bringing Denney. “Dasha! No kees mee. Go awaye! No kees mee!” Sarah finally made it to safety behind the screen door. I followed with Denney. I walked upstairs to the kids’ bedrooms and put the sleeping little boy in his crib. Steve’s arm hung down with fingers close to the floor and he had kicked off his blanket. He didn’t stir when I pulled it back over him.

I stopped by the other boys’ bedroom on the way to the girls’. Mike didn’t wake up but he moaned and buried his head when I clicked on the light. Cory and Jack remained unfazed. It was two days short of a month; the longest I had ever been away from them. For a brief moment I thought about kissing each of my boys. It wouldn’t happen. We’re men’s men at the Simmons house and we don’t do stuff like that. I’d hug them when they got up in the morning. I switched off the lights and turned down the hall to the girls’ room. Celeste was already tucked in and Sarah had put on her pajamas before leaving for the airport. Amy was now kneeling next to our older daughter. Both of them had their arms folded and resting on the bed. Sarah’s prayer was now completely in English. That was the only change other than the subject matter being expressed even more urgently. I looked up to keep the tears in my eyes. That was a big mistake. Once you notice butterflies they never go away.

 

Go to other sections of To Sing Frogs

Go to John M. Simmons’ blog