“Vroom! Vroom!” The little girl giggled to herself as she pushed the yellow car back and forth on her bedroom floor. “Beep beep! Vroom!”

Harper loved playing with her car almost as much as she loved riding in the car with her parents. She didn’t love being strapped into her carseat, of course. But she loved looking out the window and watching all the buildings and trees go by. She loved feeling the wind blow on her face when her parents put the top down. And she loved singing silly songs with mama and making funny faces with Papa in the rearview mirror.

She loved it when the car stopped, too. It was always a fun surprise to see what kind of place mama and Papa took her to. Sometimes they went to visit Oma and Ur-Oma and Ur-Opa at their really big house. Sometimes they left her to play with Miss Rachel at daycare while they went to work. Sometimes they took her to the park or the movies. Or to get ice cream!

Harper licked her lips and felt her tummy rumble at the thought. Leaving her car behind, the little girl picked herself up from the floor and made her way on shaky legs toward her parents’ bedroom. Maybe mama will get me ice cream!

As expected, she found mama sitting on her bed. But she wasn’t talking on the phone or looking at a bunch of words on her tablet like she usually was. She looked so sad. Was she crying? Harper’s ears didn’t hurt anymore, but everything still sounded so much quieter than it was supposed to. She had to get very close to her mother’s side before she was finally able to hear her soft sniffles.

“Sad mama.” Harper said quietly, looking up at Hope with her big brown eyes. “Why sad mama?”

Her mother quickly wiped away her tears and looked down at Harper, smiling. “Hey, Peanut.” Hope rose to her feet and crouched down to address her daughter.

“Why sad mama?” The little girl asked again. Even though mama was smiling, she still seemed upset. But why?

“Today’s a tough day for mama. That’s all.” For a moment, Hope’s gaze flicked up toward the little ceramic heart on the wall.

Harper didn’t know what it was, but she knew mama and Papa liked to look at it sometimes. But they didn’t always smile when they did.

“But you know what makes today wonderful?” Hope continued. “I get to work at home today so I can spend it with you. My favorite little girl in the whole world.” She leaned down to press her lips against her daughter’s forehead. “My little miracle.”

It was tricky to make out every single word her mother had said, especially when her voice was all quiet and shaky like that. Lots of the words were all mushed together and fuzzy-sounding. But Harper knew she’d heard her say ‘miracle’. Of course, she had no idea what it meant, but she knew mama and Papa liked to call her that sometimes. And it sounded like it was a very good thing to be.

“You’re a meercle too, mama!” Harper practically leapt forward to give her mother a hug as she spoke.

Hope laughed softly. “Thanks, Peanut. I love you.”

“I wuv you too, mama. I wuv you biggie much.”

“Biggie much? Wow!” Her mother’s eyes widened. “That’s a lot.”

Harper nodded eagerly. “An’ I wuv isa cweam biggie much too!”

“Is that so? Well, Papa should be home soon to make us some dinner, and mama finished all her important work for the day…. Why don’t we go play together until he gets here?” Hope suggested, scooping Harper up into her arms as she spoke. “And maybe later, when we’re done eating, we can go get some ice cream, okay?”

“Okay, mama!”

Harper smiled to herself as her mother carried her back toward her bedroom. All of her previous concerns were suddenly forgotten.

The little yellow car was still sitting there, ready to go on another adventure. And this time mama could come too!

Harper smiled to herself as she took another bite of her french fry. Papa always made the bestest food. The yummiest. That was why he was the best Papa ever. She just wished he and Mama would smile more today.

Mama had said that today was a ‘tough day’ for her. Harper wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, but it sounded like something bad. And now that he was home from the restaurant, Papa looked like he was having a ‘tough day’ too. But Harper didn’t understand why.

She got to play with her car and be silly with mama and eat Papa’s cooking and they were gonna get ice cream later! It was the best day ever!

The little girl continued enjoying her meal while her parents talked to each other about boring grown-up things. They’d left the TV on in the living room, and Harper found the indistinct murmuring from the television much more interesting than her parents’ conversation. She didn’t even bother trying to focus hard enough to make out what they were saying. And the fact that they were talking in such hushed tones didn’t make it any easier to hear.

But a few bits and pieces of their conversation still managed to break through.

“… as if today wasn’t… enough already.” Hope sighed.

“I know. And I’m sorry I… with you today. But I… about him.”

“It’s okay. You already… your Oma. …visit her tonight?”

Zayne shook his head. “Tomorrow. Opa says the doctor… be okay. But who knows?”

“I think we should… Harper. …lift her spirits?”

The little girl looked up at the sound of her name. “What, mama?”

“Do you want to go see Ur-Oma tomorrow?” Hope asked.

Harper nodded. “Okay!” Ur-Oma was soft and wrinkly, but she was really pretty too, and loved to smile. Sometimes she called her ‘Jocelyne’ though. Harper didn’t understand why. But she liked seeing Ur-Oma anyway. And going to her house meant she could get stories from Oma and football lessons from Ur-Opa too!

“Great! She’s gonna be so happy to see you, baby girl.” Zayne replied warmly. “Are you all done?”

“Uh-huh!”

Hope rose to her feet and began clearing the plates from the table. “And did you leave room for some ice cream?” She asked Harper as she bent forward to pick up the little girl’s plate.

“Yayayayayaya!”

Harper smiled as the sound of her Papa’s deep laugh reached her ears. She could hear it so clearly, despite how fuzzy so many other sounds were right now. Harper knew it was because Papa was special. Mama was a meercle, and he was one too.

As her father lifted her into his arms, she was relieved to see that both he and her mother seemed so much happier than before. And Harper knew why — ice cream was the perfect way to make anything better. Even a ‘tough day’… Whatever that was.

“You happy now, Papa?” She asked softly. “All better?”

“Are you kidding?” Zayne smiled at his little girl. “I’m always happy when I’m with you.”

———————————

Quick little note for everyone! 🙂 I have some “spare”/background characters that I am looking to offer to good homes in other SimLit stories.

If you are looking for a new character to add to your SimLit story (does not have to be a main character, but more than a background extra!) and are interested, click here to see a list of characters I currently have available for “Adoption” and read about how I will be deciding which character goes to which story 🙂

Thanks!