Summer With Gramma Benson – Freddie POV
"But it's… pink," I heard my daughter scowl.
Sam and I burst into laughter. My mom shot us a glare at the couch that we were sitting on.
Why my mom chose to just out of the blue come see us, I would never know.
"But it would look so pretty on you, Cecelia," she tried again.
"But it's pink," Cece repeated sternly.
"Mom, if she doesn't wanna wear it, she doesn't have to," I said, pointing to the pink baseball hat.
"Thank you, daddy," she said, rushing over to hug me.
"You two are spoiling her," my mom said.
"Hey, I choose to spoil her while I can still afford to," I defended.
"Daddy, what does afford mean?" Cece asked.
"Sweetie, check out these blocks Gramma got you," Sam said, trying to distract the little girl, which worked.
Cece and Sam played with the blocks on the other side of the room while my mom moved over to the couch I was sitting on.
"Fredward, you are always gonna be able to afford to spoil that little girl. What with that tree thing of yours selling every day and that jingle Sam wrote playing all over television," she pointed out.
"So what if I spoil Cece? She knows good manners, she has a conscious and she doesn't like pink, I see nothing wrong with that," I said.
I knew Sam was listening to this conversation while she was playing with Cece. I caught her smiling out of the corner of my eye.
My mom huffed impatiently.
"Okay! She'll wear the hat!" I said, snatching the cap from her hand.
My mom smiled. She had aged over a few years. Her hair was graying, and she had wrinkles growing over her face. She was a grandma.
I walked over to the other side of the room to my wife and daughter.
Sam scooped her up in her arms and brought her to eye level with us.
"Alright, Cece, ya gotta wear it," I said as I put it on her head.
She pouted and jutted out her bottom lip. "I don't wanna!" she whined and stuck it on my head.
Sam giggled at the pink hat on her husband's head. Well, who wouldn't?
"Oh, does it look good on me?" I kidded, striking a pose.
Cece giggled and nodded her head.
"Well," I said, taking it off of my head and sticking it back on her own, much to her dismay. I leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Just until Gramma leaves tonight, okay?"
She pouted but nodded her head. Sam handed her to me and Cece wrapped her arms around my neck, still frowning. I kissed her cheek over and over until it was like I was eating her. And I mean, who wouldn't want to eat her up? I did that until she was smiling and giggling again. I was pretty sure she had forgotten the color of her baseball hat.
She rested her head on my chest as I sat back down on the couch with her on my lap. She started to play with the Rubix Cube that was on the table. She had learned the key to solving it months ago, something neither me nor Sam could do. 'What an oddly gifted child' is the thought that ran through my mind every day.
"Cece, what do you say to Gramma for the blocks and the hat?" Sam asked.
I knew Cece was going to put off thanking my mom for the hat as long as she could, but now she was cornered.
She reluctantly tore her eyes away from the Rubix Cube and put on mock thankfulness. "Thank you, Gramma," Cece said, very believably, in fact. Quite the actress. She was really a liar, but actress sounded like a better term.
Hey, she only acted to spare people's feelings.
"You're welcome, Cecelia," my mom said, standing up off the couch.
Cece grimaced at the use of her full name. Gee, where have I seen that before?
"Well, Gramma must be heading out early," my mom said, taking Cece from my arms for a final hug and kiss.
"Leaving so soon?" Sam asked. She was just as good an actress as Cece.
"Yeah, it's a long drive back to Seattle," she said as she worked her way out the back door. Sam followed behind her, holding Cece's hand. Cece had been walking and was potty trained by the time she was two, and she was going to be four in only a couple months.
As I watched my mom drive down the driveway, and my daughter waving bye to her, I realized something. I have the best life in the whole wide world.