Chapter Eight

"Sweetie, mommy and I have something very important we want to talk to you about."

Delinda Deline looked at her parents, her turquoise eyes--the same shade and hue as her father's--glittered in curiosity. "Am I in trouble, daddy?"

"No, no," he confirmed, shaking his head. "We just want to ask you a few questions."

Jillian smiled at her daughter as she held a hand out for her, "Come on, honey, sit with daddy and me."

Delinda walked over and sat down on her father's knee and looked at her parents. Ed and Jillian glanced at each other for a minute before Ed began. Clearing his throat, he said, "Um, Dee, Daddy has a friend, and his friend did something really really bad, and he has to be punished."

Looking at her father, the little girl asked, "What did he do, daddy?"

Ed took a deep breath and slowly let it out through his lips. Unsure of how to answer, he quickly consulted with his wife via glance and then looked at his little girl, so innocent and full of questions. "He hurt somebody, honey, very badly." Quickly changing the subject, he continued, "Anyway, buttercup, he's got a little girl, a little younger than you. Her name is Nessa. What do you say to her coming to live with us for a little bit?"

Delinda looked at her parents for a minute, "But what about me and Joey?"

"You and Joey won't be going anywhere, honey," her mother reassured her. "Daddy's talking about Nessa joining our family, she'd be a sister for you and Joey."

The girl's eyes grew wide, "A sister?" Nibbling her bottom lip for a minute, she looked down at the pink corduroy piping that ran across the chest of her denim overalls. Looking up at her parents, she smiled and nodded, "Okay, mommy and daddy."

"Well, now that we have Princess Buttercup's permission..." Ed said, grinning.

"Daddy, I can't see!"

Ed sighed as he lifted his daughter up and put her up on his shoulders, "Delinda, there's nothing to see yet," he said.

"Is her flight delayed?" Jillian asked.

The young family were fathered at Dulles International Airport awaiting the arrival of a British Airways plane that was carrying a young Nessa Holt and a representative from the British counterpart of a child protective services from Cheshire, England.

"No," Ed answered as he looked at his watch, "It'll probably be anytime now," he said as he kept his eyes focused on the sky.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Delinda complained.

"Here," Jillian said, pulling a fruit roll-up out of her purse and unwrapping it. Handing it to her daughter, she smoothed her hand down the back of the little girl's hair. Reaching down, she picked Joey up out of his stroller and bounced him against her chest to soothe his whining.

"There it is!" Ed pointed out to a plane that was barely visible in the sky, heading straight towards the runway.

"Ed," his wife sighed, "that can be any airline."

"It's Nessa's plane," he said defiantly.

The trio stared more at the incoming plane, their excitement building. As soon as it was clear that it was indeed a British Airways plane, Jillian grabbed her daughter's hand so she wouldn't get lost in the shuffle of passengers departing the plane, keeping her other hand firmly on the bar of the stroller.

"There she is," Ed said softly to his wife, pointing out the little African American girl who was clutching the hand of a woman.

Delinda looked at the little girl and whispered to her mother, "Mommy, why is her skin like that?"

Jillian looked at her daughter and then picked her up, holding her, "She was colored by god, sweetie," she answered.

Just as she said that, Joey let out a piercing howl. Setting Delinda down on the ground, she picked the baby up and tried to calm him. Unsuccessful in her attempts, she looked at her husband, "He wants you."

Taking his son from his wife's arms, Ed lowered the boy's head to his shoulder and gently rubbed his back, cooing quietly in his ear for a few minutes. "I'll be right back," he said as he walked over and introduced himself to Nessa's caregiver.

Bringing the woman and child back to his wife and daughter, Ed said, "Jillian, honey, this is Marcia Holloway. Marcia, this is my wife, Jillian, and my daughter, Delinda."

Marcia smiled as she extended her hand to Jillian. Speaking in a heavy English accent, she said, "Pleased to meet you. I know that we really appreciate you and your husband taking Nessa in like this."

Jillian smiled, shaking the woman's hand, "It's the least we can do," she said. Smiling warmly at the girl who was hiding behind Marcia, Jillian knelt so she was at her level, "Hi, honey," she said quietly.

Nessa looked up at Marcia who nodded and then slowly walked over to Jillian, "Hi," she said softly.

Smiling, the woman inched closer to the little girl and held her hand out to her, "You want to come and stay with us for a little bit? I promise you'll have fun."

Nessa looked suspiciously at Ed and Jillian caught the look. Throwing her husband a soft smile, she looked at the little girl, "You want to hear a secret, Nessa?"

Nessa nodded quietly as she looked at the woman.

Leaning in, Jillian whispered softly in her ear, "He's a great big old teddy bear when it comes to beautiful little girls."

Eight weeks later, Nessa had settled into the routine at the Deline home. Quickly befriending Delinda, the girls soon became attached at the hip, wherever one went, the other surely followed. Running through the house, Nessa let out a piercing squeal as she was chased by Delinda. The two girls laughed as the raced over the hardwood floors in their stocking feet.

"Girls!" Ed shouted as he looked up from his paper.

The two girls stopped dead in their tracks and looked at Ed, who sighed as he folded his paper. "Girls, look, I'm trying to read my paper and Joey's taking his nap. Can you please stop barreling through this house like wild elephants?"

Delinda looked down at her hot pink converse high tops and nodded, "Sorry, daddy."

"Why don't you guys go play with your Barbies?" As the girls raced out of the room, Ed shouted out after them, "And share them!"

Shaking his head, Ed unfolded his paper and began to read it. As soon as his eyes hit the black and white sheet, the phone rang. "Oh for the love of Christ," Ed said as he stood up. Sighing deeply in annoyance, he walked over to the ringing apparatus and picked it up, "What?"

"Now is that anyway to talk to a friend?"

"Show me a friend and I'll change the way I answer the phone."

Jack Keller laughed as he rolled his eyes, "I'm just calling to see how the new edition to your family is going."

"Nessa?" Ed asked, "Wonderful, she's really fit in good with the family. Delinda adores her, as do Jillian and I."

"That's great," Jack said sincerely. "Listen, I got word that somebody's gonna have to go and yank a few Commies out of Russia. What do you say, partner?"

Deline sighed as he ran a hand over his face, "I'd love to do it, Jack, but Jillian would serve me my ass on a silver platter if I just left her with three kids and went to Russia."

"So that's a pass?" Jack inquired.

Nodding to himself, Ed said, "Yeah, it's a pass. But listen, whomever you get, you guys be careful over there, okay? Don't try to be no friggen heroes, Jack. Just get in, do your jobs, and get out."

Keller nodded, "I will, Ed, and thanks for the advice. Give my love to your family."

Smiling softly, the other man said, "Will do. Safe travel, man."

Hanging up the phone, Ed heard a piercing scream come from the kitchen. "Daddy, daddy, come here!"

Racing through the living room, Ed ran into the kitchen and looked at Nessa and Delinda who were standing in front of the counter, "What's wrong? Is anybody hurt?" On instinct, he went over and checked the girls for burns and cuts. Finding none, he looked at them, "What's wrong?"

Without a word, Nessa pointed to the microwave. Looking at the little girl curiously, Ed walked over and opened the door and sighed heavily, "Damn," he whispered. Turning around, he looked at the two girls, "Who did it?"

Both pointing at each other, he nodded, "I thought so."

"Can you fix it, Daddy?" Delinda asked as she stepped forward.

Pulling out a melted hunk of peach plastic, Ed said, "Delinda, I can't just unmicrowave your Barbie doll," Upon further inspection of the doll, Ed looked at the girls, "Why would you do this?"

The girls said a chorus of "I don't know."

Sighing, he put the ruined doll in the trash can and then went over and got the bottle of ammonia out from under the sink and proceeded to clean the microwave out, "Your mother is going to have a stroke, Delinda," Ed said as he furiously scrubbed the hardened plastic off the walls of the appliance. In frustration, he turned around and quickly observed the clock on the wall. "Okay, go in and park your butts down in front of the television and don't move a muscle, got it? Not even as much as a strand of hair."

The girls nodded quietly, admonished. Turning on their heels, they walked into the living room, whispering softly to each other, "Mean old daddy!"

Rolling his eyes, Ed went back to work on trying to get the microwave cleaned.