Page 44 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“I promise, Livie.” He took her hand and led her to the kitchen. As soon as they rounded the corner there was a loud squeal. “Mommy!” Sophie came running full speed toward her mother, but Joey intercepted her before she hurt Olivia. He grabbed her by the waist and then hoisted her up in the air like an airplane, and Sophie giggled in delight.
“Mum, I’m a bird!”
“I see that, sweets.”
When he finally put her down, Olivia was already sitting, trying to hide that she was in pain.
“Mommy, Winnie and Jax picked me up from school, it was so cool,” she said animatedly, using her hands and face to tell the story. “He is so big, like a superhero.”
Everyone laughed, except for Joey. “I just swung you around like an airplane, am I a superhero too?”
She put a finger by her lip and looked side to side as if in deep thought. “A wittle bit yes and a wittle bit no.”
Jax, Winnie, Megan, and Olivia, who were sitting at the table, were all stifling a laugh.
“Mommy, Mommy, Jax colors super ugly.”
“That’s not nice, Sophie.” Olivia said.
Her daughter looked down at her paper and her face reddened just like her mother’s did when she was embarrassed. Something about it tugged at Joey’s heartstrings and he had to come to her rescue. “She’s right,” he said, walking over to her and kneeling down to eye level. He turned her paper his way and looked at all the colors and gasped, overzealously. “You, freckles, sure can color. Wow.” Then he pulled Jax’s paper across the table. “She’s right, man. I’ve never seen a blue horse.”
Sophie looked up, her embarrassed face gone and quickly replaced with a smile followed by a giggle. “It’s not a horse,” she exclaimed. “It’s a unicorn, silly.”
“Well, I’ve never seen a blue unicorn.”
Jax snatched the paper back and continued coloring as if the fate of the world hung on that project. “Unicorns can be blue,” he guffawed.
“Mine is pink,” Sophie said proudly, and held it so close to his face that he had to lean back in order to look at it.
“I see that.”
Winnie, who had been eyeing Olivia, but not wanting to alarm Sophie, reached across the table and squeezed Olivia’s hand. “You okay?” it was almost a whisper.
“I will be,” she replied softly while Sophia moved from one coloring book to another. “Thank you for watching her.” She turned to Megan and Jax. “I’m Olivia, by the way.”
“I know,” Megan said reaching over the table to shake her hand. “I’ve been following your campaign. What you did with the public school system is commendable. You’ve definitely got my vote.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m Megan, by the way.”
Olivia chuckled and repeated the same thing Megan had just said. “I know.”
“Babe, I think everyone who has a radio knows who you are.”
“Not true,” Megan said. “You didn’t know.”
“That’s only because I’d been in Iraq fighting in a war.”
Olivia smiled. “I’m a big fan,” then she turned to Sophie. “Soph, you know Megan is a rock star? She’s in a band called TNT.”
“I’m a rock star too!” The little girl sprang up from her chair. “Wanna hear me sing?”
Before anyone could speak, Sophie began to bob her head, both hands on her hips. The girl was too cute for her own good. Joey got up, pulled a chair, and sat down as Sophie serenaded the group with “The Wheels on the Bus.”
When she finished she bowed. “Wow. You are a rock star!” Megan cheered.
“Come on, my little rock star, we need to get you some food,” Olivia said.
