Deidre was in the kitchen making spaghetti (the only thing she really knew how to make), as Rubix ran around the upstairs of the apartment yelling.
"GONNA SEE DADA! GONNA SEE DADA!" Over and over again, flying his transformer around the room like an airplane. He'd been going for almost forty five minutes straight and despite getting on Deidre's nerves at this point, she couldn't blame the kid for being excited. She was relieved to find that Edward was alright as much as he was.
"Well," Deidre said to Kristen. "At least he'll sleep good tonight." She said pouring the noodles into the strainer.
"One can hope," Kristen agreed, as she got out plates from the cabinets and started setting the table. Though if he stayed this excited, she wasn't sure she could count on that. Still, she definitely preferred it to how sad and mopey Rubix had been over the past couple of weeks.
Deidre finished making supper as Rubix ran head first into the leg of the table. He landed on his butt and looked up at Kristen a moment before he started crying.
Kristen quickly put down the plates and bent down to pick up Rubix. "It's okay, Rubix," she said gently, looking closely at where he'd hit his head. "You're alright. Let's try not to run around the house so much, okay?"
Rubix clinged to her neck as she picked him up, crying more because he was startled than from being hurt, though the bump on his head did throb a bit.
Deidre put supper on the table before she came up and rubbed Rubix's back. "Hey it's okay. You're going to see your dada tomorrow at the hospital remember?" She asked. "You're going to be big and strong for him right?"
Rubix sniffled as he tried to stop crying, but looked at Deidre over his arm from where he clung to Kristen. "Y-yeah." He said sniffling.
"Your daddy will be so happy to see you," Kristen told him, kissing him on the forehead before setting him down in his chair. "He's missed you a lot too."
"Then why didn't he come home then?" Rubix asked rubbing his eyes as he moved to kneel on his chair.
"He's at the hospital," Kristen said, moving the chair closer to the table so it would be easier for him to reach, and then dishing out spaghetti onto his plate. "The doctor says he needs to stay there for a couple of days until he gets better, and then he can come home."
"But afore … Afore the ospital … Why he not come home if he missed us?" He asked picking up his plastic children's fork and attempting to eat the spaghetti on his own.
"Because …" Kristen took a deep breath, carefully considering what to say. She didn't want to scare Rubix, but she needed him to understand that it wasn't Edward's fault, that he hadn't intentionally abandoned him. "A bad guy wouldn't let him. But he's safe now, and he'll come home as soon as the doctor says he's better."
"A bad guy took dada?" Rubix asked. "Why?" He asked, confused as to why any bad man would want to hurt his dad. His dad was very nice, and giving, and caring and he couldn't fathom why anyone would want to put him in the hospital.
"I don't know," Kristen said quietly. "But Jim is a policeman, so he's going to figure it out."
"Oh." He said looking at his food before looking up at her again. "Jimjim going to find the bad man?" He asked.
"I think that's enough questions little man." Deidre said. "It's time for you to eat up." She said taking some sauce on her finger and putting it onto his nose making him squirm and laugh.
"Noooooo." He said rubbing it off with his sleeve.
"No?" Kristen laughed. "You don't want your spaghetti? Should I eat it then?"
"Nooooo." He said picking up his fork again. He dug into his food when the phone rang.
Kristen glanced at the caller ID on her phone and then quickly picked it up. "Hi, Edward," she said. "How are you feeling?"
"Still sore and tired but I'm fine." He said quietly.
"Dada on a phone?!" Rubix asked excitedly.
Kristen smiled. "I think Rubix wants to talk to you," she said.
Rubix took the phone before she was halfway to handing it to him and held it up to his ear in his small hand. "DADA?!" He asked loudly.
Edward winced and pulled the phone away from his ear. "Hey bud." Edward said quietly. "You being good?"
"Yeah dada! You all gone be kay?" He asked.
"Try not to be too loud on the phone, Rubix," Kristen said gently. "You'll hurt daddy's ear." But she couldn't fault him for his excitement. It was sweet that the first thing he asked was if Edward was okay.
"I'm fine bud, thank you for asking. Are you okay too?" He asked.
"Yeah. I miss you though. Kisten says I can see you tomorrow dough." He said happily. Deidre smiled softly as as Rubix chatted on the phone.
"You will. But if you're going to come see me … I need you to be good for Kristen, and eat all your greens, and go to bed with no complaint and get a good night sleep okay?" He asked.
"And then I get to see you tomorrow?" Rubix asked.
"Yeah, you get to see me tomorrow." He said.
"Ask daddy around what time we should go see him tomorrow," Kristen said, smiling slightly. She'd been meaning to ask that. She would love to get over there as soon as possible, but wanted to make sure she didn't interrupt Edward's rest. "And should we bring anything?"
"One question at a time," Deidre laughed. "He's a three-year-old, not your professional receptionist."
"Tell Kristen whenever she wants." Edward said and waited for Rubix to repeat.
"He … We can go …." He said looking at her. "Um ….. Here." He said handing her the phone suddenly nervous that they're asking him to relay messages now.
"Thank you, Rubix," Kristen said, with an amused smile as she took the phone and held it to her ear. "So, what time would you like us to come over?"
"Whenever you want." He said. "Can you bring a pair of pajama pants, a tshirt and my cell charger please?" He asked.
"I can do that," Kristen agreed. "Is there anything else?"
"Actual food?" He asked, though he knew the doctor restricted him to hospital food for the time being.
"Will they let us bring that, or are we going to have to be sneaky?" Kristen asked.
"Be sneaky." Edward said with a smirk, this amusement clear in his voice. He knew he could count on her.
"Any particular requests, or should I surprise you?" she asked, while Deidre looked at her curiously, only able to hear one half of the conversation.
"Surprise me." Edward said. "They gave me a lump of gritty mashed potatoes and a glass of ice water for supper with some half solidified jello. I don't know if they're trying to be funny … Or cruel."
Kristen winced. "Oh, that's just unacceptable," she said. "I'm sure we can remedy that."
"Thank you. Can I talk to Rubix again please?" He asked.
"Sure," Kristen said, handing the phone back to Rubix. "Your turn again, kiddo."
"Hey Rubix," Edward said. "I'm going to let you go, I'm going to get some sleep so I can get better and come home okay?" He asked.
"Okay dada."
"I love you. And tell Kristen and Deidre I love them too!" He said.
"Deeda too?" He asked.
"Yes, Deidre too." Rubix looked really confused.
"Is that allowed?" Rubix asked making Edward laugh.
"Yes, it's allowed." Edward said.
"Okay dada," He said putting the phone down. "Dada said he love me, and Kisten and Deeda too!" He said picking up the phone again. "Okay dada?" He asked, seeking approval for doing what his dad wanted.
"Yes, that was very good." He said smiling.
Kristen smiled. "Tell dada we love him too," she said softly.
"Yeah," Deidre added, staring in surprise. She hadn't really expected Edward to acknowledge her in front of the kid like that, not yet, anyway. "Very much."
"Kay. We love you dada. See you a morrow." He said handing the phone back to Kristen as the line went dead.
Kristen looked down at the phone, a little sad that the call was over, but there wasn't much left to say until tomorrow. She set the phone aside, and picked Rubix up, heading back to the table. "Let's finish eating dinner, shall we?" she said.
"Kay." Rubix said jumping off his chair and heading to the fridge. He struggled to pull it open but managed to get it open.
"What are you doing Rubix?" Deidre asked getting up and going over to the fridge as he pulled a drawer out. He pulled out a bag of green beans and went to bring them over to the table.
Kristen looked down and saw the bag of vegetables in Rubix's hand. "You want me to cook the green beans?" she asked. Far be it for her to argue if Rubix wanted to eat something healthy, but she couldn't help being surprised. The kid was unenthusiastic toward vegetables at best.
Rubix put them on his chair and climbed up, "I want geens." He said putting the bag on the table.
"Why do you want beans Rubix?" Deidre asked, after two weeks with the kid she knew it was odd.
"Dada said I can see him if I eat my geens and get lots of sleep tonight and be good boy." He said trying to open the bag. "I has no geens!"
Kristen laughed, taking the bag from him. "You really are a good boy," she said. "But I'll have to cook these first … And you have to promise me that if I cook them, you'll actually eat them. No changing your mind once they're on your plate."
"But I get to see Dada tomorrow right?" He asked looking up at her.
"Rubix." Deidre said running her hand through his hair as she sat back down. "We're going to take you to see your dad tomorrow anyway, whether you eat your greens or not. But if you're concerned," she said pointing to his plate. "See that there, those are herbs." She said pointing to the stuff on his noodles. "Those are green." She said as Rubix looked at his plate.
"They's geen?" He asked pointing at his plate.
"Kind of," Kristen said, giving Deidre a slightly reproachful look. "Though I don't think they're enough to be what you're dad meant. Either way, Deidre's right. We're still taking you to see your dad tomorrow, no matter what."
"But you're still going to brush your teeth and put your jamjams on when it's bed time right?" Deidre asked.
"Yeah." He said digging into his spaghetti again. "Gotta get lots of sleep a night." He said shoving noodles into his mouth.
Kristen sighed. "So do you still want me to make the beans?" she asked, already pretty sure she knew the answer.
"Beans yucky." He said not actually wanting the beans. But he remembered he had to be a good boy. "I mean, no pease."
Kristen shook her head. "Thank you for at least being polite about it," she said, turning to put them back in the refrigerator. She would let it go tonight. Deidre's assertion that herbs counted might have been just short of bullshit, but at least the tomato sauce technically had more vegetable servings than they could usually get him to eat.
"Deeda, I ask a kestion?" He asked.
"You can if you show me how to say question." She said.
"Kestion."
"No, it's kwest-chun." She corrected. Rubix sounded it it out a few times before he said it properly.
"I ask a question?" He asked.
"Go ahead." She said proud that he'd said it right. This parenting thing was easy.
"Why you different colour than Kisten and Dada?" He asked innocently.
"Rubix," Kristen said reproachfully. "It's … not polite to ask people about how they look," she said. Though even explaining why would be difficult to get into.
"Yeah, but I don't mind," Deidre said dismissively, waving a hand. "You've seen people out and about in the street, right? And how they're not all the same color?"
Rubix nodded. "Yeah. But Daddy tells me not to talk to strangoes so I can't ask."
"Probably not a good idea to ask strangers anyway," Deidre said, smiling wryly. "But people can look all kinds of different ways, or different colors. Usually, people are the same color as their parents, so you look like your dad, just like Kristen looks like her parents. But my mom and dad looked different from each other. My dad had lighter skin, like you and your dad and Kristen. And my mom had darker skin than me … So here I am." It wasn't exactly a comprehensive explanation of interracial relationships, but there was only so much Rubix could really understand right now.
"If you like them, why is you hair straight?" He asked pointing at her hair.
"Well, aren't you perceptive?" Deidre laughed. She didn't know if most white kids that young would even notice different hair textures, even if they got out more than Rubix did. Then again, maybe their parents just taught them earlier on not to talk about it. "I get my hair straightened," she said. "Because I like it this way."
"It's pretty." He said going back to his spaghetti which was now cold, though he didn't seem to mind.