Yesterday Zoe and I slept in and had a lazy morning. It was fantastic. We feasted on doughnuts and chocolate milk for breakfast while we watched her favorite Minnie Mouse cartoon. After a while we decided to head into town to do a little shopping before making our way to her friend's birthday party that afternoon. My girl even chose In and Out for lunch which was a real treat. She chatted nonstop the whole hour that it took to drive up to the party. I loved it.
We arrived at the party and Zoe wasted no time in joining the other kids on the playground. She spent most of the time sliding down the big grass hill rather than the actual playground equipment. I just smiled and watched. Every kid should have the freedom to get some good grass stains once in a while. We all came inside and ate pizza and cupcakes. In true party fashion the little ones got to take a turn at the pinata and then the mad scramble was on for candy. Everyone was having a great time. The birthday boy opened presents and the children played some more while the parents took turns sharing stories and laughing at each others kids.
It was about this time that Zoe came over and crawled up on my lap. I told her to go back and play with her friends and let her know it was going to be time to go soon. She looked up at me with the biggest, saddest eyes and said she just wanted to go home now. Definitely not the response I was expecting so I took her aside to see what had happened. Once we were out of sight of the other children her tears started streaming down her little face. "I miss my Daddy." Followed by more tears and her sad little words. "Everyone else has a Daddy here but my Daddy is gone." My precious Princess, it's so hard when a simple kiss can't fix your little heart and make things right in your world again. I held her close and we talked about Daddy and how much he loves her and everything she can't wait to do with him when he does come home. After a few minutes, she pulled it together and said happy goodbyes to her friends and we loaded into the car. I made it about as far as the end of the street before the tears started steaming down my own face. I miss him too sweetheart.
It was a fairly quiet car ride home but you can bet that when Zoe asked me to rock her for a little while before going to sleep I didn't hesitate to say yes. It didn't matter that it was already past her bedtime or that I was beyond exhausted myself. We snuggled into the rocking chair and cuddled until we were both almost asleep. I whispered "I love you" as I tucked her into bed. She opened her eyes a little and said, "I know Mommy. Daddy loves us too." Then she snuggled into her blanket and drifted off to sleep. So peaceful and so precious.
