Page 56 of You've Got Hate Mail
No, it’s not.
The idea of being responsible for a six-year-old forever—no.
Today’s been a good day.
I adore the crap out of my daughter.
But parenting is still so fucking much work.
“Did you grow up?” Lav asks Cricket.
“Depends on who you ask,” Cricket replies.
That.
That’s why I have to keep having patience with Lav.
Why I have to let her run wild and fight dragons and draw whiskers on her own face with permanent marker.
So that when she grows up, she’ll know I loved her unconditionally with everything I had to give.
So she never questions her worth.
So she never thinks I’ll judge her for her shortcomings the way Cricket’s parents clearly have.
No matter what anyone else thinks or would have thought of the way I’m raising my daughter.
“Good luck with that then,” Lav says like she’s sixteen instead of six.
Being around this many adults all the time—she picks things up.
Cricket smiles at her. “If I can slay dragons, I can do anything, right?”
“Darn tootin’,” my daughter replies. “Daddy, can I ride on your shoulders? This day has taken it out of me.”
She’s too big, but I do it anyway.
Because it matters.
“You’re a really good dad,” Cricket says softly.
The compliment hits me in the gut.
But I merely say a brief thanks, and then Lav and I are off.
Gotta keep trying to be as good of a dad as they all think I am.
11
THE WEDDING PLANNER HELPER
Cricket
It’s beentwo weeks since I arrived, and nothing else truly bad has happened since that second day.
I mean, nothing else bad if you don’t count the repairs on the mother-in-law house taking much,muchlonger than we hoped they would.
And the part where I’m living in the basement of Heath’s house, where I can hear him and Lavender and sometimes the cat moving around upstairs every morning and every evening.
