Page 27 of Christmas on Ice
“Hello? Trask?”
“Hey.” Her picture was dark. “Are you driving?”
“Yeah. Is everything all right?”
“Well…” I turned the camera to Ryleigh.
“Mommy, I went number two! On the train!” She giggled. “And I need help to make my poopy bum clean.”
I took the phone back. “I’m not sure if I’m the one for this job, but Ryleigh is insisting. And, um, she’s not wearing any clothes.”
Kami chuckled. “She’s three. It’s common for three-year-olds to poop naked.”
“Really?” That was news to me.
“Really. You have the tote bag?”
“Yes.”
“Inside is a pack of flushable wipes. Hand them to Ryleigh. Ryleigh, baby, you can do this. Just wipe until there’s no more poopy on the wipey, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy! I can do this ’cause I’m a big girl!”
“Yes, you are!”
I dug out the wipes and handed her one at a time, with the phone facing out. I felt incredibly awkward and was glad I didn’t have to actually do the wiping part.
“I did it!” Ryleigh giggled. “All by myself. And I put all the wipes the trash!”
“Good job, baby. Now ask Mr. Trask for some clean undies and jammies ’cause I’m sure that floor is super dirty.”
“No!” Ryleigh shook her head violently. “If I change, my friends will say I had an accident!”
“But sweetie, that floor is so dirty.”
“But I didn’t put my clothes on the floor. I hungded them on the door hook, like I do at home. Please, Mommy. I can have a bath when I get home. Please?”
Kami sighed. “Okay. But just this once. And you need to put on clean undies. Mr. Trask will find them in Mommy’s bag, okay?”
“Okay!”
While Ryleigh dressed herself, I switched the call from video to audio. “Are you on your way home?” I asked Kami.
“Not yet. It’ll be a late night. I have one more stop, but it’s halfway to Denver.”
“Okay. I’ll call you when I get Ryleigh home.”
“Thank you. And Trask?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for … everything today. I wish I could have taken her, but I’m glad you did.”
“It was fun.” Watching Ryleigh play with elves and run up to see Santa brought back my own happy childhood memories. “We had a great time.”
“I’m so glad.” Her voice broke, and she sniffed. “Thank you for being there for her.”
“It was my pleasure, really.”
