Cracks in the Sidewalk(67)

“Because you and David and Christian are coming to see me! Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Will you buy us toys?”

“What toys do you want?”

“A Baby Tears doll with her own baby carriage and a highchair, and a ball for Christian, and a race car for David and—”

“Whoa, isn’t that an awful lot to be asking for?” Elizabeth laughed. “Where would I get all that money?”

“From Grandpa.”

“What makes you think Grandpa has that much money?”

“Grandpa has a lot of money,” she said. “He stole Daddy’s money.”

Elizabeth stopped laughing. “What makes you think Grandpa stole Daddy’s money?”

“Daddy said so. He said he doesn’t have enough money to buy us toys because Grandpa stole it all.”

It took Elizabeth a moment to gather her thoughts. “Kimberly, sweetheart, I think you might have misunderstood what Daddy said. Grandpa would never ever steal anything, especially not from you or your daddy. Grandpa loves all of us, even your daddy. People don’t steal things from somebody they love.”

“Then who stole Daddy’s money?”

“I don’t think anybody stole Daddy’s money, I think maybe he just lost it. Remember when you lost your red mittens?”

“Unh-huh.”

“Nobody stole them, you just lost them. They might have fallen out of your pocket or maybe you left them at the playground but they were lost, not stolen. And that’s probably what happened to Daddy’s money. It got lost.”

“Doesn’t Grandpa have enough money to buy us one toy?”

“We’ll see. I’ll try to get something special for when you come to visit. Would you like crayons and a Cinderella coloring book?”

“Yes, yes!” Kimberly shouted. “I love Cinderella. And don’t forget, Christian needs a ball ‘cause sometimes he takes David’s, and David gets mad.”

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Elizabeth teased.

They continued to talk for several minutes. Kimberly chattered on telling her mother stories of Christian—what made him laugh, how he was learning to walk, and how he could almost say her name. Listening to the way she spoke about her baby brother made Kimberly seem older, too adult for a child of her years.

“He’s the cutest baby ever,” she cooed, her words so motherly Liz was torn between laughter and tears. Her little girl, still a baby herself, had blossomed into a big sister with an abundance of love to share.

Before long, she heard JT calling for Kimberly to hang up, so Elizabeth told her daughter how very much she loved her then let her go. After that, Liz began to count the hours until all three of her babies would be with her.





Waiting


As Elizabeth recalled the conversation with her daughter, thunder cracked so loud it caused her bones to rattle. Right behind the thunder came spears of lightning and after that a torrential downpour.

“A storm like this can’t possibly last for long,” she said optimistically.

“No telling,” Charlie answered as he watched a waterfall cascade off the roof and puddle on the front lawn. “You might want to consider staying in.”

“No way,” she replied. “I need to go shopping.”

“Make a list and I’ll go for you.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I know you would, but this is something I want to do. I’ve finally got a reason to buy books and toys. I don’t want to miss that.”

Charlie shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

~

By three o’clock Saturday afternoon the thunder and lightning moved on, and the rain slowed to an intermittent drizzle. Charlie loaded Elizabeth and her wheelchair into the car and off they went.

“You make sure she doesn’t catch a cold,” Claire warned, even though she knew that was beyond her husband’s control.

Inside the toy store it seemed as if every child in town had arrived with their weary mothers hoping to entertain them on a too-rainy-to-play-outside afternoon.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Liz murmured as she rolled past a group of boys eyeing a rack of baseball mitts. She hesitated, wondering if perhaps that was what she should buy for David. After a few moments of watching the boys she moved on. Maybe next year, she thought. If there was a next year.

Two rows back a dozen little girls clustered around the Suzie Homemaker display with its array of miniature brooms and toy-sized appliances. Watching a toddler cling to the harried mother trying to pull free caused Elizabeth’s heart to lurch. She remembered living that same scenario. All too often she’d rushed through those moments, anxious to move on to chores calling for her attention—chores that would always be there. How absolutely foolish, she thought.

The books and games display in the back of the store drew Elizabeth’s attention. She’d been there dozens of times before. She could picture David standing on tiptoes to reach for his first Robin Hood book and Kimmie—who would always be Kimmie, as far as she was concerned—sitting on the floor with a Three Little Pigs pop-up book.

With Elizabeth revisiting special memories, the shopping expedition took almost a full two hours. The cumbersome wheelchair crowded the aisle so she moved slowly, taking time to ponder each item, holding things in her hand until she sensed they were perfect. A race car for David, a baby doll for Kimberly, a red ball sized to fit the hand of a baby. Piece by piece she gathered together a collection of storybooks and a gift for each of the children. When they left the store the rain had stopped. Elizabeth barely noticed; a sense of contentment missing for many long months filled her.