Page 3 of Louisiana Protector

“Damnedest thing,” Gramps said and shook his head ruefully. “I guess the devil is at work in Black Bog.”

“Speaking of the devil, Johnny’s back in town,” she said.

Gramps looked at her for a long moment, his dark eyes probing. “How do you know?”

“I saw him in the café this morning, although he didn’t see me, and Danny, you need to eat the vegetables, too,” she said to her son.

“I don’t like vegbles,” Danny replied.

“Buddy, you need to eat them to be big and strong,” Gramps said.

“Two bites,” Mimi said. “That’s the rule. You need to take two bites.”

Danny turned up his nose. “I still don’t like them,” he mumbled even as he scooped up a small spoonful of the mixed vegetables.

“You can go play in your room,” Mimi said once Danny had taken the two bites. She didn’t have to tell him twice. He slid off the kitchen chair and quickly ran for his bedroom. “So, how was it seeing him again?” Gramps asked.

“Shocking. He’s the very last person I expected to see. I’ll tell you one thing, I certainly won’t invite him back into my life, and I will never, ever tell him I was already pregnant before he left town. He doesn’t need to know about his fatherhood, and don’t you go spilling any secrets to anyone,” she said more stridently than she intended.

Gramps held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “You know I don’t interfere with your life.”

“And you know how much I love you,” she said warmly as she realized she’d spoken too harshly.

It didn’t take long for dinner to be over. After the kitchen was cleaned, they all moved back into the living room where she got down on the floor next to her son. First, they played cars, and after that they got out the oversize foam building blocks that Danny loved.

Gramps sat in an old, worn black recliner chair at the end of the room and watched them play.

“Look, Gramps, we’re building a tower to heaven,” Danny exclaimed after several minutes when their blocks were stacking higher.

“And what are we going to find once we get there?” Mimi asked her son.

Danny sat back on his haunches with a thoughtful expression on his handsome little face. “Big fluffy clouds and angels singing a pretty song. There will be lots of chocolate cake and ice cream, and maybe I’ll see my daddy there.”

A wave of guilt swept through her. In a moment of weakness a few months ago when Danny had asked about his dad, Mimi had told the little boy that his father had died before Danny was born. It had just seemed like the easiest thing to do, especially since she’d never expected to see Johnny again.

“All that would be good, right?” Danny asked.

“That all sounds wonderful,” she replied.

“’Specialy the part about the chocolate cake,” he quipped, making both her and Gramps laugh.

“Unfortunately, we’ll have to reach heaven on another night because it’s time to put the blocks away and get ready for bed,” Mimi said.

“Five more minutes?” Danny asked hopefully.

“No way, sweet pea. I’ve already let you stay up later than usual. It’s time to pick up the blocks and put them back where they belong,” she said firmly.

Once the blocks were back in a big low box that would slide under his bed, he ran to Gramps and gave him a goodnight kiss.

Teeth were brushed and day clothes were exchanged for pajamas, and then he got into bed, reaching for the worn stuffed blue bunny next to him. He never slept without Mr. Wiggles.

Mimi sat on the edge of the mattress and gently swiped a strand of his thick dark hair away from his forehead. “Good night, my sweet little boy. I hope you have happy dreams with rainbows and dancing stars and lots of chocolate cake.”

Danny giggled. “I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, then rose from the bed. “Good night, Danny.”

“’Night, Mommy,” he replied.