Little Boy Blue

by spauldinga

"Someday," she whispers, kissing his head, "If they decide to tell you the truth of where you came from, maybe you'll come to me with questions about your mama. I hope you'll be able to forgive her for all the things she's done. I hope you'll forgive me too." A series of short Sue Ellen and Christopher vignettes.

2. Christopher

The best part about living in a house with so many grownups is there's always somebody around to give him a hug and tuck him in at night, even when his Daddy isn't home. Sometimes it's Grandma, and she's pretty good at it. He always gets lots of extra hugs and kisses from Grandma. Other times it's Grandpa Clayton, and that's good too, because Grandpa Clayton will always read just one more story. One time last week, Uncle J.R. put him to bed. That was kinda weird, but it turned out okay. He's not so scary when he's reading Dr. Seuss.

But his most favouritest person to put him to bed, next to his Daddy of course, is Aunt Sue Ellen. And that's who's putting him to bed tonight.

It's only the two of them at home tonight. John Ross is gone to a sleepover at his friend Ricky's house and all the other grownups have gone to a party. He heard Aunt Sue Ellen tell his Daddy not to bother Teresa, because she'd rather stay home anyway than have to go talk to bunch of boring oil people. This makes him so happy he thinks he might bust, especially when Uncle J.R. says she can't, she has to go, and then Aunt Sue Ellen says no because he's been doing all kinds of stuff without her lately, and so he can do this too, because she's staying home with Christopher.

With him!

After everybody leaves, Aunt Sue Ellen gets them a snack of Oreos and milk and they play Candyland at the kitchen table. He tells her John Ross says it's a baby game and then Aunt Sue Ellen says, "I know! He won't play with me any more either and it's my favourite game! I'm so glad you still like it." And then she gives him a hug.

After Candyland, he goes to have a bath, and brush his teeth, and put his jammies on, and then Aunt Sue Ellen sits on his bed with him to read a story. He picks out Where the Wild Things Are and he sits real close to her so she'll put her arm around him. Aunt Sue Ellen always smells so nice, like flowers, and she has really soft hands, even though her pointy nails sometimes scratch him, but that's okay 'cause she always says sorry and kisses the scratch even when it's so small he knows she can't see it.

Then, after they read that book, and one more, and one more again, Aunt Sue Ellen tucks him in. She pulls the covers up to his chin and smooths them down, and then she leans down and kisses him on the cheek and whispers, "Good night, sweetheart. I love you." He closes his eyes when she says it and just for a minute it's almost like he still has a mom of his own.

"I love you too, Aunt Sue Ellen."