DAVID
"Calling all dogs, monsters, and beautiful women!" I stand at the front of the truck and cup my hands to my mouth. "This truck is leaving in T-minus five minutes, with or without you!"
Claire and Pogo come bounding out of the barn, Pogo's tongue flapping out the side of his mouth and Claire's ponytail bouncing, a very unhappy looking Mouse clutched in her arms. "Mouse wants to come to the park, too," she says as she scrambles to a stop at my feet. "She gets bored in the barn."
I put on a look of shock. "Does a queen get tired of her castle? When she is the master and commander of all she sees and all of her subjects adore her and bow to her every desire?"
Claire giggles. "Probably."
"Then you don't know what it means to be the master and commander of all you see." I take Mouse from her and hold the cat up to my face. "Do you get bored being the best hunter of all time?"
I gently turn the cat to and fro. "No," I say in a high-pitched voice draped in a British accent. "Now, please release me so I can return to my kingdom." I put Mouse down at my feet. She twines between my legs, rubbing her head against my shins, and then strolls back towards the barn.
"You're weird," says Claire, looking up at me as she scratches behind Pogo's ear.
"Good." I grin. "Normal is boring, little monster. The weirder, the better, is what I always say."
Michelle pushes through the front door, a big bag hooked over her shoulder. "Sorry," she says as she steps out onto the porch. "I'm moving slowly this morning."
Claire doesn't know it, but that big bag holds a weekend's worth of clothes for her. This park trip? Sure, we'll spend some time playing together, but at six o'clock, her Dad will arrive and take her for her first weekend alone with him. Michelle hates keeping Claire in the dark, but the chance of Russell pulling a no-show is high enough that she didn't want to upset her daughter any more than she had to.
I meet Michelle on the stairs and take the bag off her shoulder. "No worries. Move as slow as you need to. We would have waited for you."
Claire puts her hands on her hips. "Nuh-uh. You said you were leaving with or without us."
I shake my head as I pull open the passenger door on the truck. "I meant Pogo." I make a face at Claire as Michelle climbs in. "I'd leave with or without Pogo. There's no way I would ever leave you or your mom behind." I drop a kiss on Michelle's forehead and then close the door before ushering Claire and Pogo into the back, before finally taking my place in the driver's seat.
We make the drive to my favorite park. Claire chirps along while I hold Michelle's hand and rub my thumb along hers. She smiles at me even though I know she's a mess inside and trying to keep it calm for her little girl.
When we get close to the park, Michelle's eyes flicker to mine, seeking strength. "Hey Bear?" She twists in her seat to look Claire in the eyes.
I tighten my grip on her hand, a silent show of support.
Claire tilts her head to the side. "Yeah?"
"Do you know why we're going to the park?" Michelle chews on the inside of her bottom lip, the only sign of anxiety she lets slip.
"To play. Duh." Claire giggles and wraps an arm around Pogo's neck.
"Yes, that's true. We're going to play a little bit, but there's another reason why we're going." Michelle turns the rest of the way in her seat so she can look Claire in the face without struggling. "Daddy's going to be there. He wants you to come spend the weekend with him at his new house."
I watch Claire's expression through the rearview. The smile that had been dancing across her face slides away and her jaw softens. Her lips part. The light in her eyes fades. "Why?" she asks in a voice devoid of anything. No hope. No fear. No joy. No sorrow. Just an empty little question in an expressionless face.
"He misses you and wants to see you."
I make the turn into the parking lot and find the first available spot.
"Are you coming with me?" Claire asks her mother.
Michelle shakes her head. "No. It'll just be the two of you. Well, no. That's not true. Daddy has a new girlfriend. So it'll be just the three of you." Michelle smiles, doing her best to apply what she learned this week in her research about how to limit separation anxiety in children. When she asked to meet the new girlfriend, Russell had balked and threatened to call the police. I made a quick call to my lawyer who told me Russell had the law on his side until Michelle managed to get full custody or Russell proved himself unfit.
"What if I get scared?" Claire's hands ball into fists.
Michelle smiles softly and digs through her purse. "I thought you might ask that." She pulls out a pen and then unbuckles her seatbelt and shifts even further in her seat. "Unbuckle and give me your hand, Bear."
Claire does as she's told and Michelle turns her palm up, exposing the inside of her wrist. She makes a tiny little dot with the blue ink. Claire frowns at it while Michelle makes an identical mark on her own wrist.
"I don't get it," says Claire.
"Here's the deal." Michelle holds out her wrist to show Claire the ink spot. "You start to feel lonely and all you have to do is look at that spot and know it's from me and I have the same mark in the same place on my wrist. Know that it means I love you and that you're going to be okay. That mark means I will always be here for you and that I'm busy thinking of you and waiting for you to come home to me."
Claire looks at the spot. "But what if it washes off?"
"That's why it's on your wrist. You can wash your hands and it won't go away. I bet, if you're careful, you can even take a whole shower and it will still be there. And what's best? No one else will even notice it."
Michelle agonized over what to send with Claire. Anything sentimental had the possibility of setting Russell off, making him mad at Claire for needing it. Michelle thought the safest bet was something that meant nothing. And so the idea of the ink spot blossomed.
Claire studies the spot. "Will you put one on David, too?" she asks.
"Of course I will, if that's what you want."
Claire nods and I hold out my wrist for Michelle. When she's done, we all hold our wrists together and stare at the tiny blip of ink. Will the small gesture be enough to last the weekend? If the look on Claire's face has any bearing at all, I think it might. She smiles as she runs her finger over the dot on her wrist.
"How about we get some play time in before Dad gets here?" Michelle asks. No one would know she's struggling to stay calm. The only reason I can tell at all is because she keeps making a fist with her thumb tucked inside.
We all pile out of the truck and I get Pogo's leash clipped on his collar just in time for him to take off, barking and growling at someone approaching. I yank on the leash and do my best to settle him down as a stout man strides us to us. The closer he comes, the more frantic Pogo becomes.
"Sorry about that," I say, still struggling to control the dog.
Michelle comes around the front of the truck, holding Claire's hand with the overnight bag hitched up on the other shoulder. She stops in her tracks when she sees the man. "You're early."
The stranger smirks. "I couldn't wait to see my little girl."
So this is Russell. All I need is one look at the guy to know I like him just about as much as Pogo does. His eyes are all wrong. I get the dog to sit and watch as Claire studies her dad. He doesn’t look at her. His gaze is locked on Michelle.
"That hers?" he asks, gesturing to the bag over Michelle's shoulder.
"You're an hour early." Michelle wraps an arm around Claire's shoulder and pulls her close.
"So?"
"So we were going to play a little." Michelle lifts her chin, nostrils flaring.
"Well, I have plans and I need to take her now." Russell widens his stance. "Unless you're going to refuse. And then I'll just call the cops and tell them you're not allowing me my visitation rights." He lets out a little laugh, lifting the corner of his top lip. I want to punch the guy right in the face. Tell him he can go to hell and to never contact Michelle again. But I won't do that in front of Claire. I'm not going to be the guy who sucker-punched her dad. And I don't know enough about the law to step in with confidence. Would Michelle be at fault for not handing Claire over an hour before the arranged time? It's too risky to push things right now. But knowledge is power and the asshole better believe that I'll be armed to the teeth with information the next time we meet.
Russell holds out a hand. "Come on," he says to Claire, still not looking her in the face.
Claire glances at Michelle, blinking rapidly to keep the tears gathering in her eyes from running down her cheeks. My hands ball into fists and I shove them into my pockets. Nothing about this is right.
Michelle crouches in front of her daughter. "You be good and have lots of fun, okay?" She pulls her in close and gives her a big hug. "I love you, Bear."
"I love you, too, Momma." Claire returns the hug and then Michelle straightens, doing her best not to draw out the goodbye for her daughter's sake.
"Have fun, Little Monster," I say, raising a hand, surprised when Claire steps in for a hug.
It's a quick one, the first she's ever offered me. "Tell Mouse to be good."
"You know I will."
Russell shifts his weight back on his heel. "We good now?" he asks, and then finally looks at Claire. "Get your bag," he says and then turns and starts back across the parking lot.
Michelle hands her daughter the bag and Claire hefts it over her shoulder, dwarfed by the thing. "Go on now." Michelle smiles. "I'll see you in a couple days."
Claire takes a long breath and then takes off after her dad, her thin legs struggling under the weight of the overnight bag.
A thought strikes me. "Does he have a booster seat for her?"
Michelle looks at me, eyes wide and glistening with tears. "I don't know. I doubt it." She takes a few steps after Claire. "Hey! Russell!"
The man pauses half in his car, while Claire yanks on the door handle behind him. He raises his eyebrows and makes a what gesture.
Michelle takes a few more steps towards him. "Do you have a booster?" she calls.
Russell looks exasperated. "What?" He flares his hands in an impatient gesture.
Michelle takes another step towards him and I hold out my hand. "We'll just give him the one in the truck." There's no way he has a booster seat and I will not let Claire climb into that car without one.
"We'll never get it back." Michelle looks so distraught it breaks my heart.
"Doesn't matter. At least we know she's safe when she's with him. And we'll just buy a new one. No big deal at all. Time and money, darlin’." I pull the booster out of the back of the truck and cross the parking lot.
"She needs a booster seat," I say. I don't smile. I don't nod. I just hold the thing out for him and stare him in the eyes without blinking.
Russell sneers. "Says who?"
"The state of Ohio."
"Whatever, dude," Russell scoffs.
"She's not leaving here without it.”
When he still doesn't take the booster from me, I go to Claire, pull open the door, and buckle the booster into the backseat. "There you go, kiddo." I take the bag from her and place it on the floor at her feet.
She stares at me with wide eyes as she buckles herself in, pausing to push her thumb against the ink dot on her opposite wrist. I smile and do the same, and then close her door before looking Russell in the eye. "We'll see you at six on Sunday at Michelle's house." I don't wait for a response. I finish saying what needs to be said and then turn my back and walk away.
Nothing about this is okay. Not one damn thing. That asshole doesn't want to see his daughter. If he did, he'd have dropped to his knees the moment he saw her, floored by how much she'd grown in the last year. He would have pulled her into his arms. Thanked me for the booster seat. Carried her fucking bag for her.
There're only two reasons for him to make such a big deal out of taking her for the weekends. Either his new girlfriend wants to play family, or he wants to hurt Michelle and figured out how to go right for the jugular. Or maybe it's some twisted combination of the two. Either way, I can't sit back and watch as Claire gets used as a weapon and Michelle gets another set of wounds slashed across her heart.
"Thank you." Michelle takes my hand as I draw up beside her. "I'm sorry."
I shake my head. "You don't have to apologize for him. He is not your fault."
"I'm the one who married him." Michelle watches as Russell pulls out of the parking space and speeds past us, his cellphone pinched between his shoulder and his ear. Claire presses her hand to the window, twisting in her seat to watch us as they pass.
"You marrying him didn't make him a dick. I'm pretty sure he came that way." I pull Michelle into my arms. "You did good. Kept things nice and calm for Claire even though I know you were screaming inside."
She leans her head against my shoulder. "I don't want her to go."
"I know, darlin'. I know." I rub her back and hold her close.
I want to hope for the best. I want to believe that Claire will be better off having her dad in her life. I want to think she'll come back from this weekend happier than ever. I want to believe that good things happen to good people and little girls don't get crushed under the weight of bad decisions. But after what happened to Maggie, and what's happening to Claire, I'm having a hard time holding on to that hope.