It was a cool Friday night in August. Joe had to be away on Saturday, so he had brought Katrina to spend the weekend at his mother's. "Merci d'avoir pris Katrina. J'espère qu'elle va s'amuser." (Thank you for taking Katrina. I hope she has fun.)
"Oh, elle va," said Amélie. "Elle adore jouer avec la vieille balançoire de pneu." (Oh, she will. She loves playing with the old tire swing.) Katrina slept in her arms; Joe had waited until her bedtime to bring her over, since it was easier to leave the night before than the morning of.
The two brought Katrina inside to the guest room, and tucked her in for the night. Joe kissed his daughter goodnight, bid his mother farewell, and set off for the weekend.
The next morning, Katrina woke up, a bit confused as to why she was in a bed at Grandma's until she remembered that she was supposed to stay here while Daddy was away.
She crawled out of bed and toddled downstairs to the dining room, where Grandma was drinking her coffee and doing the crossword puzzles in her newspapers.
"Bon matin, Katrina," said Grandma when she heard her come in. "Veux-tu m'aider à cuire le petit déjeuner?" (Good morning, Katrina. Do you want to help me make breakfast?)
Katrina nodded, and followed Grandma to the kitchen. Grandma helped her reach the counter and let her put the bread in the toaster by herself. Katrina watched the toaster while Grandma cut up some apples.
When they were finished, they each had a plate of toast and apple slices, with a glass of milk. Katrina didn't quite understand why Grandma liked to roll her apple slices in salt instead of sugar. She guessed it was one of those things grown-ups do that don't make any sense.
That afternoon, Gina and Marie came over, and Marie helped Katrina onto the tire swing to play with it. She sat her on the top of the tire, and spun the rope around. Katrina squealed as the tire swirled around rapidly.
Gina and Amélie sat on the porch with ice-cold apple juice and chatted while watching the kids. "Alors, ou a Joseph s'aller cette fin de semaine que Katrina ne peux pas joindre?" (So, where did Joseph go this weekend that Katrina couldn't come?)
"Il était invité à la LCVB," said Amélie, "et ça c'est sur l'autre côté de la ville." (He was invited to the LCVB, and that's on the other side of town.)
"LCVB," said Gina. "Ca c'est probablement une autre association de boxe." (LCVB. That's probably another boxing association.)
That evening after dinner, Amélie picked up a box full of old Polaroid pictures and showed them to Katrina. "Ceci c'est ton père quand il a commencé l'école." (This is your father when he started school.) In it, Daddy was small, and wearing a sensible brown shirt and black slacks. Katrina thought he looked plain.
"Et ceci c'était nous sur le 14 juillet," continued Amélie, showing Katrina a picture of herself, a small Tatie Gina, and a smaller Daddy with blue, white, and red stripes painted on their faces. (And this is us on the 14th of July.)
Katrina picked up a picture of a baby, with the numbers "9 18 84" written on the bottom. "Who's this?"
"Ca?" Amélie looked at it. "Oh, ça c'était la première photo de ton père que je n'ai jamais prise." (That? Oh, that was the first photo of your father I ever took.)
Katrina looked at it. "He was a cute baby."
Amélie sighed. "Oui," she said softly. "Il était tellement tranquille et relaxe." (Yes. He was very calm and relaxed.) She looked a little sad. "Je souhaite que son père soit là. Mais il a disparu avant qu'il ne soit né." (I wish his father could have been there. But he disappeared before he was born.)
Katrina cocked her head. She didn't quite understand that, but she was just happy that her father didn't disappear before she was born.
The next morning, Amélie brought Katrina outside to mess about in the front lawn. Katrina tried to do a handstand, while Amélie kneeled next to her to keep her from falling and hurting herself.
Katrina decided to show her grandmother her amazing somersault, when she heard a car door shut. "Katrina!"
She looked up, and saw Joe calling to her from the driveway. "Daddy!" She ran to him and jumped into his open arms.
"Je te manque, ma belle," said Joe, hugging his daughter. (I missed you, sweetie.) He yelped a bit when she put a hand on his shoulder. "Attention, mon épaule me fait mal." (Careful, my shoulder is sore.) He turned to Amélie, who also approached. "Merci de prendre soin de Katrina." (Thank you for taking care of Katrina.)
"De rien, mon gars, j'adore être avec mes petits-enfants." (You're welcome, honey, I love being with my grandchildren.)
"Viens, Katrina, on a besoin de retourner chez nous." (Come on, Katrina, we need to go home.) Joe put Katrina down, and she went inside and got her bag.
"As-tu toutes tes affaires?" (Do you have all your things?) Amélie asked Katrina when she came back outside.
"Yes," said Katrina. "I even got my toothbrush back from the bathroom."
"Bon," said Amélie. "Au revoir, cherie." (Good. Goodbye, sweetie.) She hugged Katrina goodbye, and Katrina trailed behind her father back to the car.
