"Daddy, why don't I have a mother?"

Joe knew this day was coming, but the question still stabbed him through the heart with a javelin. He sighed, and brought Katrina to sit down on the couch. "Tu avais une mère quand tu étais un bebe, mais…pas encore." (You had a mother when you were a baby, but…not anymore.)

"Why not?"

Joe pulled his daughter close. "Elle se rend malade, et un jour, elle ne peut pas surmonter non plus. Alors les docteurs se prennent, et tu viens de vivre avec moi." (She got sick, and one day, she couldn't cope anymore. So the doctors took her away, and you came to live with me.)

Katrina cocked her head. "Where did she go?"

Joe sighed. "Je ne sais pas, mais elle ne peut pas revenir." (I don't know, but she can't come back.)

Katrina looked sad, and pulled herself in his lap, where she laid her head on his shoulder. Joe felt guilty. He hoped he would never have to tell her this story, but alas, children are curious, Katrina most of all.

Katrina then looked up. "How come you didn't live with her?"

Oh boy, Joe especially didn't want to have to explain that to her. "Eh bien…tu étais une vraie surprise pour nous-autres. Je ne savais pas que tu étais ici jusqu'à ce que ta mère soit prise." (Well…you were a real surprise for us. I didn't know that you were here until after your mother was taken.)

He sat up a little straighter. "Et j'étais peure en première, mais quand je te reconnais pour la première fois, tu me prends mon coeur." (And I was scared at first, but when I met you the first time, you stole my heart.)

"Do you have any baby pictures of me?" Katrina asked.

Joe took a small box out of the bookshelf, which had a bunch of pictures inside. He picked up a few pictures of Katrina as a baby.

"Why are you crying in this one?" Joe looked up, and found that Katrina was looking at a picture of him the first time he did skin-to-skin with her.

"J'étais tellement heureux," said Joe. "Le première fois que notre peau se toucher, j'étais si hormonal que je pleure comme un bebe." (I was extremely happy. The first time our skin touched, I was so hormonal that I cried like a baby.)

"Even though I was the baby there, and not you?"

Joe chuckled. "Oui."

After looking at a few more pictures, Katrina looked up at her father. "I wish I still had a mother."

Joe put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Eh bien, même si ta mère n'est pas ici, tu peux aussi célébrer le jour des mères." (Well, even if your mother isn't here, you can still celebrate Mother's Day.)

Katrina was curious. "How?"

"Tu peux célébrer avec Grandmere," said Joe. "Elle est ma mère." (You can celebrate with Grandma. She's my mother.)


That evening, as usual, Joe called up Amélie. "Bonjour, maman."

"Salut, mon gars," said Amélie, "comment ça va?" (Hi, kiddo, how are you?)

"Ça va bien," said Joe. "Katie va finir la deuxième année en presque un mois." (I'm good. Katie's going to finish Grade 1 in about a month.) Seeing her watching him, he asked "Veux-tu se parler?" (Would you like to talk to her?)

Katrina took the phone. "Hi, Grandma."

"Salut, Katie," said Amélie. "Es-tu excité de finir la deuxième année?" (Hi, Katie. Are you excited to finish Grade 2?)

"Yeah," said Katrina. She then straightened her back. "We called to wish you a happy Mother's Day."

"Oh, tu es tellement gentil," said Amélie. (Oh, you're so sweet.) Katrina felt like she could hear her smile through the phone. "Puis-je parler à ton père maintenant?" (Can I speak to your father now?)

Katrina gave the phone to her father and wandered off. Okay, so her mother was gone and couldn't come back. That was sad. But she still had Grandma around to talk to. That was happy.

Happy. Sad. Happy. Sad.

Boy, Mother's Day is confusing, she thought. I'm gonna go watch Pokémon.