Heroes
The sun was shining and Becky wasted no opportunity finding a use for her dogs. While Fang was playing with Vanessa and keeping her company, she had her husband in the yard hanging the laundry. It was a good opportunity for him to stretch his leg muscles without falling, and she was nearby if anything changed. He still wavered sometimes, but she never let him hit the ground if she was close by. She yawned lazily and brought out the last basket of clothing belonging to the youngest of the family. "Hey, good looking. Come here often?"
"You know it," He remarked, smacking her bottom as she walked by. "Damn, Becky, is it hot out here or is it just you?"
"That line didn't work the first six times and it won't work now." She turned her back to him and started to pin up Nessa's clothes a little further down the line. She smiled over the line at her daughter. "She's growing up so damn fast."
"It's scary. One minute she can barely walk, now she's running marathons. I dread the day she's old enough to date." He shivered and turned to Becky. "She's so tiny still. Is that normal?"
"She's three, Jean, not thirty." She answered, moving over to gently push him back down into his chair. Seeing the child occupied with the dog, she leaned down to kiss him quite passionately on the lips. "I want another."
"How does it feel to want?" He grinned.
She wanted to smack that grin right off his face. She hated when he did that when she was feeling this way. "Fine," she huffed and turned on her heel back to the porch. "But you get to suffer, Jean. Because soon enough, Nessa's going to be old enough to forget how cool you are."
He gave an expression that reminded her of a wounded dog. "She'd never..." As if on cue, Nessa tugged on his hand in the chair. "Yes, Nessa?"
"Adda hurt?"
He blinked a few times, trying to get the look of betrayal off his face. Looking down at his little girl he shook his head. "Adda's fine."
The little girl persisted, tugging on his hand again. "Adda, hurt." This time she said it with a little more authority, climbing onto his lap. When he hoisted her up, she lay her tiny little hands on the scars on his chest. How did he forget about those? This must have been the first time she'd ever seen him without a shirt. "See?"
"They're old," He nuzzled her hair. "I promise, I'm fine. Sometimes it aches, but it doesn't hurt anymore. It's a good ache."
"How?"
He froze. He'd never wanted to explain it to a toddler. How could he? The story itself was painful in it's own right, but now to tell it to his baby? His hands tensed on her back. "Nessa, I don't think you're old enough y-"
"How?" She inquired again.
He looked down, hair falling in his eyes. "Nessa..."
"Daddy's a hero," Becky finally said from the porch, putting out a pitcher and a few glasses. "Come up here, Ama will tell you."
"Becky, I don't think-"
"It's fine, Jean. I can handle it." Patting her lap, the child obediently ran over and climbed up. "See, a long time ago, daddy was a soldier like mommy."
"Long?"
"Like, two whole days ago." Becky laughed at her daughter's surprised gasp. "Daddy's job was to protect the princess. See, he's like the knights in your books. Instead of running away from danger, he ran towards it. And he never ever, ever, second guessed it. Well one night, he was in the dark, and it was really hard to see. He was trying his best to keep the princess protected. See, she was scared of the dark." Becky embellished a bit and changed some of the names and ideas around so it would make sense in her daughter's world. "Well, out of nowhere, someone stabbed daddy with a sword."
Those wide blue eyes that focused on his was heartbreaking. He gasped for air. "Becky...stop."
"Daddy made it, though. You know he didn't die, because he's sitting right there. But, daddy had to stop being a knight...at least for a little while." She smiled a bit, kissing Nessa's nose.
He was already up on the porch, moving passed her. "It's been six years, Becky. I can't go back. If there was any hope, it's already passed. Please stop getting her hopes up." He responded bitterly before moving back into the house. He didn't move, he sat on the other side of the door with his head hung in shame. Now she knew...and he was terrified of how she'd think of him. The day you stop being cool...
"Adda..." Nessa dropped off of her mother's lap and ran to open the screen door, fighting with it for a few moments before successfully opening it. She ran around front of him and held out her hands. "Adda, pony."
"What, Nessa?" He hadn't meant to sound so mean. Especially not with her. That was a tone meant for Becky and Roy. "Sorry, baby...it's just...a hard memory."
"Adda, wook." She held out her hands, touching his on the arms of his chair. "Adda."
Becky stood on the other side of the door, watching her daughter gesture in a fit of rage because he wasn't understanding her. She smiled a bit. "She's trying to tell you that you're still a knight, you just have a different kind of pony now."
Vanessa nodded wildly, black curls bouncing as she did so. "Adda pony!"
He couldn't help it. The smile that crossed his lips was so wide he thought his cheeks would fall off. He'd always be her knight, wouldn't he? "Thanks, Vanessa...daddy needed that."