Page 2 of Valley of the Shadow
His son could be very grateful. For close to an hour if he didn’t want to go to bed.
“And thank you for Uncle Lucien and Auntie Mak and for Cousin Carina and also for Butch. Amen.” Jake finished his prayers and opened his eyes, his lips pressed together.
Baojia raised an eyebrow. “Butch?”
“He’s out there, Dad. We just haven’t found him yet.”
Jake was bound and determined to have a dog. He’d been begging for two years. Natalie and Baojia had resisted. They already had enough people in and out of their house simply to help take care of two active children. A dog seemed like another thing to keep track of.
“I know it.” Jake yawned loudly. “When Butch finds us, you’ll know too.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open.” He bent over and kissed Jake’s forehead. “Good night. I love you.”
“I love you too!” Sarah sang. She giggled when Baojia stood and swung her from his back into his arms.
“Love you, Dad.” Jake punched his pillows to get them exactly as he wanted. “Tell Mom I hope she’s feeling better.”
“I will.” He held Sarah in place as she tried to crawl up his shoulder and onto his head. “Sweet dreams.”
He walked out of Jake’s room and into Sarah’s. A bathroom connected the two rooms, but while Jake’s bedroom was decorated plainly with dark green trim and dinosaurs scattered everywhere, Sarah’s was an explosion of purple.
Purple curtains. Purple bed. Purple-painted monkeys crawling along the top of each wall. Baojia tossed Sarah onto her bed and smiled when the little girl erupted in giggles.
“Do it again.” She held out her arms.
“No.” He sat on the edge of her bed and tried to settle her down. “I’ll read you a book, and then you need to sleep.”
“I want Mama to read it.”
“Mama is not feeling well,” Baojia said, “so we’re letting her sleep.”
Sarah pouted. “I want to go say good night.”
“You already did that.”
“I want a glass of water.”
Baojia pointed to the water bottle by her bed. “Done.”
“I want…” She huffed out a breath. “I want… a stuffie.”
“Sarah.” Baojia stood and gave her the look she had to recognize. “Seriously?”
Sarah looked at the line of stuffed animals decorating her bed and shrugged helplessly. “Someone is missing.”
He stood and watched her from the corner of his eye as he walked over to the hammock of stuffed animals in the corner. “Lion?” It was an adorable fluffy thing that had no basis in reality, but she loved it.
Sarah shook her head.
“Unicorn?”
Eyes wide, she shook her head again.
“Snake?”
She considered it, but it was a firm headshake. Not the snake, but he was on the right track. His smallest child had a warped sense of humor and a fondness for the macabre.
Not unlike her mother.
