Chapter Two

It was a modest home that sat on a small plot of land. Walking into the house you could smell the pine oil from the freshly mopped floors and the furniture was well placed with pillows situated perfectly in the corners. That’s how it always looked and smelled. The master bedroom was located to the right at the end of the hall from the front door and just beyond the living room. Across the hall was the master bathroom. To the left was the dining room followed by the kitchen and the laundry room. That was it for the main floor of this ranch. Stairs led to the basement where there was a family room and two more bedrooms. Elisabeth’s bedroom was downstairs at the far end of the house while the spare bedroom was at the bottom of the staircase. John and Chelsea always imagined making the spare bedroom into a nursery for their second child, though with Elisabeth at the age of seven already, they realized they might never get around to it. Neither of them wanted to admit that their family already felt complete as they had both always talked about having a second child, but they both knew at this point they were never going to and that was fine by them. Now the spare bedroom had mostly become a second bedroom for Elisabeth. It’s where she spent much of her spare time playing and where she kept the overabundance of her dolls and toys stockpiled. She loved her dolls.

Her favorite doll was Abby. She came up with this name, as most children do, from knowing her favorite Aunt Abby, Chelsea’s sister. Abby, the doll, that is, rarely left Elisabeth’s side. She couldn’t sleep without her and never really felt safe unless Abby was in her hands. John and Chelsea knew that the tighter Elisabeth held her doll, the more afraid she was and they tried to console her whenever this happened to break her dependence from the doll, but it never worked. Chelsea always knew that this doll meant so much to Elisabeth because it was a gift from her father when Elisabeth was quiet ill a few years ago. It’s funny what kind of security a person can get from an inanimate object.

On this particular Saturday Elisabeth and Abby were outside as children do. Elisabeth was riding her purple and white bike with streamers coming out of the handles while Abby sat in the front basket. Her mother was sitting on the porch swing curled up with her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. She must have read it a dozen times already. Her father was in the yard raking leaves although he wasn’t working too hard. Often Chelsea looked up from her book only to catch him standing with the rake in his hand while he watched Elizabeth riding in circles on the driveway with a huge grin on her face. She was the most precious thing in the world to him.

“Little Bit! When I’m done raking the leaves do you want to jump in them with me?”

“Why?” She said to him as she made another circle on the driveway.

“It’s fun. I used to do it all the time when I was your age. It’s like jumping into a cloud.”

“Really?”

“yes.”

“Are you done now?” Elisabeth asked. John laughed.

“I will be soon.” Elisabeth jumped off her bike and ran to her mommy. That’s what she always called her.

“Mommy, Mommy!”

“Yes, dear?”

“We need to help daddy so we can jump in the leaves. Daddy said it’s like jumping into clouds. Have you ever jumped into a cloud?” A big smile crossed Chelsea’s face.

“I heard him. I’m excited too! Let’s get some rakes.” Chelsea went to the garage in the front of the house and grabbed the extra rake off the wall. There was only one. With quick wit that all good mothers have, she found the miniature dust broom and gave it to Elisabeth.

“This is a rake just your size.” Elisabeth looked at her quizzically and reached for the mini broom. They walked together to the front yard under the large maple tree where John stood and began helping him rake.

It wasn’t long before Elisabeth realized the difficult labor that she had undertaken and her mind began to drift. She spotted a tiny white butterfly fluttering near the ground. She dropped her pretend rake and went after it, playfully swatting at it as the butterfly continued to evade her grasp. John looked up from his raking again to watch his Little Bit play when he realized the butterfly had flown close to the garden where stones surrounded the edge. Unnoticed by Elisabeth and before John could shout for her to watch her step, Elisabeth had already tripped on the stones and was lying in the flower bed writhing in pain.

Chelsea was the first to react, and quickly was by Elisabeth’s side coddling her and telling her it will be ok. She had a nasty scrape on her knee.

“John, go get the first aid kit.” Still frozen in the moment, John awoke from his trance and ran inside. He quickly made his way to the laundry room and pulled the first aid kit from the shelf. He plucked the peroxide and Band-Aids from the box and left the first aid kit sitting on the washer, then made his way back to the garden where Chelsea and Elisabeth sat. He knelt down beside them and began to open the peroxide when Elisabeth jumped out of her mommy’s hands and into his, spilling half the bottle.

“It’s ok, Little Bit. It’s alright. Daddy’s got you. Mommy will put the Band-Aid on you, ok?”

“No!” She cried. “I want daddy to do it.” John looked at Chelsea with a shrug of his eyebrows and sighed. He began dressing the wound. He poured peroxide on the wound and watched it bubble and fizz while he blew on it until it dried. Chelsea sat in shock while she watched John and Elisabeth wondering why she wouldn’t let her help. John continued to blow on the scratched knee while Chelsea stood up and walked over to where Elisabeth’s bike lay on the driveway. She grabbed Abby out of the basket and pushed the bike to the edge of the yard, then returned to John and Elisabeth as he finished putting the Band-Aid on.

“I think that’s enough playtime for one afternoon. Do you want to go inside and watch some TV with Daddy?” Elisabeth wiped more tears from her face and shook her head up and down.

“Can I have Abby, Mommy?”

“Of course, dear.” At least she was of some help. She handed Abby doll to her. Elisabeth snatched the doll without another word and clutched the doll close to her chest as she held tightly to Daddy as well. They walked into the house to watch TV together as Chelsea stood by the garden alone.