Chapter 3: A Little Doll

"So where are we gonna go?" Karen asked, once her and Jack were in the limo.

"How about FAO Schwarz?"

"What? The toy store?"

"Yeah, honey. Come on, it's like the coolest place ever!" Jack pleaded.

"Sure," Karen said. "Whatever you want, Jackie." As she watched Jack beam, her only thought was on how much he seemed like a little kid at Christmastime. It was so adorable...

They pulled up in front of the best-known toy store in New York not more than fifteen minutes later. Jack and Karen got out, with the both of them breathless from excitement. Holding hands, they waltzed in the front entrance, leaving the driver to find a parking space somewhere.

"Karen! Karen! Look at these little guys!" Jack called her over to an area where little bears were marching around in a circle, clapping together tiny cymbals.

"Aw, they're so cute!" Karen giggled. "Hey look, that one looks a little like Rosario did when she had to wear that God-awful military uniform back in 'Nam."

"Rosie was in Vietnam?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, sure, Vietnam. Or else some kind of war game that I set up with the servants last week because I was sooo bored..." Karen looked a little sheepish.

Jack just giggled and pulled her over to another area of the store.

About an hour later, they'd pored over the entire first floor of the store, trying on dress-up clothes that were much too small for them, making the life-sized dolls go on dates around the store, and pretending that the toy airplanes were dive-bombing some of the more annoying children. The store seemed to have any toy anyone could ever want. Their next stop was up to the second floor. So far, Karen had enjoyed everything they'd done, but when she saw the dollhouses, she couldn't even move a muscle she was so mesmerized. "Oh, wow..." She murmured. Kneeling down in front of the display, she began to look through each and every window.

Jack had been in front of her on the escalator and it had taken him a second to realize that she was no longer behind him. When he turned around, he found her on her knees cradling a little girl doll that looked a lot like her. "Kare? What are you doing?"

"I used to have one of these houses when I was a kid. I had a doll that looked just like me...my dad made both of them before him and my mom got divorced." She gazed lovingly at the little figurine. "It got lost in one of the moves my mom forced me to go through with her. I never got back my little doll. It was the last thing my dad ever gave me." She finished.

Jack knelt down next to her and reached his hands out for the doll. Karen placed it gently in his waiting palms and leaned back onto her legs. "You know, Kare, she looks almost as beautiful as you do. But just almost." Jack smiled at Karen as she looked at him with childlike eyes. He handed her back the doll and watched as she put it quietly back into a bedroom with a little dollhouse of its own inside. Tearing her eyes away, she got up and motioned for Jack to keep on looking around with her. Marking in his mind exactly where the house was, he followed her around the second and third floor until it was time to leave.

When they got outside, the driver was waiting for them, since Karen had called him to let him know that they were done. As she went to step into the car, Jack suddenly tugged on her arm. "Karen. I have to go to the bathroom." He said urgently.

"Oh, you can go at my house. I'll just have Driver go faster than usual." She replied.

"No, Karen, I need to go NOW! There's a bathroom inside, I can just meet you back at your place."

"Honey, I'm not going to make you walk all that way. Go, go, and I'll be here when you get out."

"Okaythanksbye!" He said quickly, and ran back inside. Once he was in there and out of sight of the door, he stopped pretending that he couldn't live another moment until he got to a bathroom and made a beeline for the dollhouses that Karen had loved so much. He hadn't seen her eyes shine like that in such a long time...not since the last time we kissed, he recognized subconsciously. Jack still was not ready to admit that he knew how to push Karen's buttons the right way to make her happy or horny, but he knew that he wanted to get that little doll and its own tiny dollhouse for Karen more than anything.

Upon finding the place he was looking for, he noticed a young couple with their daughter looking at the very same dollhouse that Karen had goggled over. "Oh, no..." Jack whispered. He rushed over to the little family and they looked up, astonished. Unfortunately, the little girl was holding in her hands the very same doll that Karen had loved, as well as the price tag for the entire house.

The two parents stared up at Jack as he looked like he'd just lost his best friend. "Sir, what's wrong?" The young mother asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just that, I was coming up here to buy that doll for my friend, and a little piece of the furniture in the house that your daughter seems to like as much as my friend did." His forlorn eyes looked from the doll to the house, to the faces of the parents and the little girl. "But that's okay, really. You enjoy it, honey." He nodded to the little girl, and began to walk away thinking, Well, at least Karen never knew that that memory was almost hers.

The young girl looked from her parents to the doll to Jack, and suddenly rushed over to him. Anyone could tell she was rich by the way her hair was perfect, and how her clothes were chosen from the most expensive children's stores in New York, but she grabbed his hand like they were old friends and turned him around. "Mister, you can have this doll. I have plenty at home...I don't need her. And you can have anything else you want in the house! I just want the dollhouse. I can always buy more stuff to put in it." She grinned up at him as his face lit up, the cloud passing from his features.

Jack couldn't believe it. This little brown-haired girl was an angel, he would swear by it. He looked over at her parents as she led him back to the display, their love for their daughter shining out of their eyes. Karen would never know about this experience, but Jack would never forget it. I'm gonna have a daughter just like this little girl someday, he thought. She handed him the beautiful doll with Karen's face, and motioned for him to take whatever he needed. Delicately he reached in and took the miniature dollhouse and its stand, and his heart leapt for joy. He knew Karen would love it more than anything she'd ever owned, or at least since she'd last had the real dollhouse that she missed. He couldn't wait to give it to her. "Thank you so much," He said to them, meaning it deeply. The father and mother nodded at him kindly, while the little girl said, "You're welcome so much. Now go give it to your friend!"

Jack left them with the biggest grin on his face, and swiftly went down and paid for his treasures. Before he left, he concealed them in his huge coat pocket, wrapped and ready to present to his best friend. When he got outside, Karen was still waiting in the limo with the driver. He got inside and Karen asked, "Where the hell have you been? I was worried!"

Jack just laughed. "Long line." He kissed her on the cheek and they headed back home.