Phillip didn't sleep well the following night and it took him a long time to wake up the next morning. But Daddy didn't seem to notice. He just told Phillip to wash, get dressed, and then come down for breakfast. Then Daddy had disappeared, and Phillip knew that Daddy was angry with him for yesterday. Sad and still drowsy, he went into the bathroom, where Mia was getting ready for the day.

"Mia, will you help me pick out something to wear?"

Mia nodded. "Of course. I'll do this while you wash yourself." She looked at him seriously. "Are you okay? You look tired."

Phillip only grumbled incomprehensibly. Mia put a plug in the sink, then turned on the water and set up the small footstool for Phillip, on which he always stood when he brushed his teeth.

"When the sink is half full, you turn off the tap and wash yourself, yes? Then you pull out the plug, get dressed and come to breakfast, can you do that?"

"Yes!" Phillip said, proud that his sister had so much trust in him. She went to the door. "I'll find you something to wear and put it on your bed. Then I'll help Dad with breakfast." She went out, called, "Watch the water!" and disappeared into his room. Phillip climbed onto the stool and watched the water, ready to turn off the tap at any time. But then he heard something that completely captivated his attention, the siren of a fire truck. Excitedly, Phillip ran to the window and looked out. In some distance, he could see the red truck, and watched the firefighters in amazement. He was so fascinated by this sight that he completely forgot about the sink at first. But when he finally remembered, he was startled. "Oh no," he shouted and quickly ran back to the sink. He turned off the tap just before the water could run over the edge. He quickly washed his face and ran to his room - didn't pull out the plug. He got dressed and ran down the hallway. At the stairs he stopped, murmured, "No running," and carefully went down the stairs.

When Mommy was around, breakfast was always fun. Everyone had something to tell, Mommy laughed all the time and the radio played music in the background. And of course there were Mommy's spectacular pancakes. But since Mommy wasn't at home, the mornings were different. Daddy sat silently at the table, drinking tea and leafing through the newspaper. Mia ate cereal and read the back of a cornflakes box. There was no happy laughter, no music in the background. Phillip sat down in his seat and stared bored at his breakfast, toast with eggs, the only dish Daddy could cook. He began to eat, but when the silence became too much for him, he made an attempt to distract his daddy. "Daddy, do you know what I just saw?"

"No, what did you see?" Daddy asked, but Phillip thought he wasn't really interested.

"A fire truck! That's so cool, isn't it?"

"Hmm," was all Daddy said, turning a page in his newspaper. Phillip was disappointed. So Daddy was actually angry with him. Mommy would have asked him for details, she always wanted to know everything. But luckily, there was Mia. "Are you going to draw the fire truck in your adventure book?"

Phillip nodded wildly. "Yes, I will. And it will be the best fire truck in the world."

Mia smiled. "I'm sure of that."

Phillip smiled as well, but when he looked at Daddy again, the smile disappeared from his face.

Before Daddy would take them to preschool and elementary school, Phillip eagerly occupied himself with his adventure book. But soon his enthusiasm turned to frustration, because drawing a fire truck was much more difficult than he had assumed. Mia came into his room. "Dad says we should leave. Come, sit on the bed, I'll help you with your shoes."

Phillip obeyed. "Mia, how do you draw a fire truck?"

"I don't know, Phil. But maybe someone in preschool can help you."

Phillip watched his sister thoughtfully. "Mia, why is Daddy mad?"

"He misses Mom."

"But you miss Mommy, and you're not mad. And I miss Mommy too, but I'm not mad neither."

"Either," Mia corrected him with a small smile. Phillip looked at her questioningly. "Huh?"

"It's 'I'm not mad either', or just 'me neither'."

"Oh . . . okay."

Mia gave him his backpack. "Should I talk to Dad? Maybe I can cheer him up."

Phillip nodded. "Yes, please do that."

The day in preschool started like any other, but soon there was a change. Because when the head of the preschool – Mrs. Brown – came to them to wish them good morning, she wasn't alone. A boy was standing next to her. He was a little taller than Phillip, slim, and his hair reminded Phillip of old pictures of uncle Kendall, except that the boy's hair was black and not blond. Mrs. Brown smiled and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Listen up, everyone. This is Tristan. He has moved here with his family and will join us from now on. I hope that you all will help him to feel comfortable here. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun together."

Phillip opened his adventure book and continued working on his drawing.

"What are you doing?"

Phillip looked up and saw Tristan, who was standing in front of the table and looked at him curiously.

"I saw a fire truck this morning, and now I want to draw it, but it is so hard."

Tristan sat down opposite him, took a piece of paper and a pen and began to draw. After a few minutes he held out the picture to Phillip. "Did it look like that?"

Phillip's mouth opened in disbelief. "Yes! How did you do that?"

"My mom's an artist. She taught me a few things."

"That's great," Phillip said enthusiastically. He hesitated for a moment, but then he handed Tristan his beloved adventure book. "Could you please draw it again, here in my book?"

"What kind of book is this?"

"My adventure book," Phillip answered proudly. "I draw all the cool things I see in it."

"May I have a look at it?"

Phillip nodded. "Okay."

Tristan turned back a few pages, nodded appreciatively. "Cool, a lion."

"Yes, I was at the zoo with my family. There are a lot of great animals there."

Tristan smirked. "I know. My mom works there."

Phillip frowned. "But . . . didn't you just say that your mommy is an artist?"

Tristan nodded. "I have two moms."

Phillip's eyes widened. "Two moms?" He thought for a moment. "And your daddy?"

"I don't have one."

"No, that's not true. Everyone has a daddy."

"True. I wanted to say that I don't know him."

Phillip tried to imagine what his life would be like if he had two mommies. Well, if they were like his current mommy, then that would be a great fun. But then another thought came to him, and he said, "It would be great to live with two mommies, but I would still miss my daddy."

"Do you live alone with your parents?"

"No, I also have a big sister, Mia. And she's the best big sister in the whole world."

Tristan nodded. "I don't have any siblings, not even friends, because I'm new here."

"We can be friends. I'm Phillip."

To Phillip's great delight, Daddy seemed to be in a much better mood that afternoon than he had been in the morning. He asked Phillip about his day, took his backpack and helped him into the car, where Mia was already waiting.

"Hi, Mia."

"Hey, little lion. Did you have fun today? Have you made any progress with your fire truck picture?"

"Yes, look here." He opened his adventure book and showed Mia the page. She was amazed. "Wow, how did you do that?"

"A boy helped me. He is new and his name is Tristan. His mommy is an artist, that's why he's so good at drawing. We are friends now."

"That's great, Phillip," Mia said cheerfully. Phillip turned to his daddy. "Oh, and Daddy, you know what? Tristan's second mommy works here at the zoo, isn't that exciting? And Tristan invited me to come to visit him. I can visit him, can't I, Daddy?"

Daddy looked at Phillip questioningly. "His second mommy?"

Phillip nodded. "Yes, Tristan has two mommies. He doesn't know his daddy."

Daddy looked briefly at Mia, who seemed just as stunned as he was. Then Daddy slowly said, "And um . . . What . . . what do you think about that? I mean, do you have any . . . questions?"

"Just one . . . Can I play at Tristan's home or not?"

Mia laughed, and Daddy smiled. "Of course you can. Maybe we can arrange something for this weekend."

Phillip beamed happily.

At home, Mia and Phillip wanted to sit in front of the TV, but Daddy held them back. "Not so fast, you two. I have a surprise for you."

"Surprise?", Phillip and Mia echoed at the same time. Daddy grinned. "Come to the kitchen."

The children followed him into the kitchen, where were already a lot of things on the counter. Their eyes widened.

"What's all this, Daddy?" Phillip asked curiously.

"Well, I know we're all missing Mommy a little bit, so I thought, why don't we just bake her favorite cake together?"

Both children cheered enthusiastically and were about to start right away, but Daddy said laughing, "Oh, wait. I think we've forgotten something." He walked over to the radio and turned it on, music filled the room. "Now we can start," Daddy said with a grin.

The mood was completely different that afternoon. While baking the cake, they laughed and fooled around the whole time, and after the cake was finally finished, they sat down with Daddy in the living room in front of the TV, ate the delicious cake and watched cartoons. In the evening, Mia was in her room to do her homework. Daddy cleaned the kitchen and Phillip lay on the carpet in the living room and drew in a coloring book. After a while, Daddy came in with his computer. "Hey, partner. Busy at work, aren't you?"

Phillip nodded. "Yes, Daddy."

"Well, I hope not too much, because here is someone who would like to talk to you." Daddy put the computer on the carpet in front of Phillip. Phillip looked up from his coloring book and let out a joyful scream. "Mommy!"

Mommy beamed. "Hi, baby. How are you?"

While Daddy went back to the kitchen, Phillip told his mother everything that had happened in the last few days and especially today. Told her about the fire truck, Tristan and the cake.

"So you baked my favorite cake without me being there?" Mommy asked with a wink. Phillip giggled. "I'm sure Daddy will make you a new one when you're back." Then his smile faded a little. "Mommy, when are you coming back?"

"Soon, sweetheart."

"Tomorrow?" Phillip asked hopefully.

"Not that soon, my angel. Grandpa is still sick, so I have to take care of him a little longer, can you understand that?"

Phillip nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Mommy."

"You know, your daddy told me something . . . you didn't want to sleep in your own bed. Is that true?"

Phillip was silent and shifted restlessly back and forth on the carpet. "Did Daddy tell you he was mad at me for that?"

"No, baby. Your daddy was never mad at you. He was just a little worried, that's all. Why did you want to sleep in our room, sweetheart?"

"Because I miss you, Mommy. I want to be where you are."

"Phillip . . . I understand you, but you have to know that I'm always close to you, no matter what room you sleep in. Don't forget that."

"Are you close to Mia and Daddy too?"

"Of course, you three are the most important thing to me. And even if we can't always be together, we still are in our hearts. Do you know why I manage the time here so well? Because I know that your sister, your daddy and especially you, my sweet angel, are always with me. And that gives me strength and that's why I'm not sad, and neither should you."

"Mommy . . . does Daddy know that you're always with him?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Because Daddy is often sad or worried. I wish I could help him to stay happy. I don't like it when Daddy is sad."

Mommy smiled. "You know what, I think I already know how you can do that . . ."

After his conversation with Mommy, Phillip ran into the kitchen where Daddy had just finished cleaning up. Phillip ran to him, wrapped his little arms around Daddy's legs and squeezed him tightly. "I love you, Daddy."

For a moment, Phillip was afraid that Daddy wouldn't react, but then Daddy knelt down and hugged him as well. "Love you too, partner. Sorry I was so upset this morning. It won't happen again. Was it fun to talk to Mommy?"

"Yes, Daddy. I think she's fine. But she misses us, doesn't she?"

"Yes, but your mommy is the strongest woman I know. She'll be able to do it if we all just think about her very hard, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy."

Daddy looked at his watch. "It's getting late. Why don't you get ready for bed, and I'll come to your room and tuck you in."

Phillip nodded and ran away.

"So, are you sure you want to sleep here?" Daddy asked when Phillip was already in bed. Phillip nodded. "Yes, Daddy. Mommy says it doesn't matter where we sleep, because she's always with us anyway."

Daddy smiled. "Yes, that's true." He stroked Phillip's hair. "Good night, buddy. Have sweet dreams."

"Good night, Daddy," Phillip answered, and Daddy turned on the night light, then stepped out into the hallway. Phillip looked at his nightlight and smiled. "Good night, Mommy," he whispered, rolled onto his side and fell asleep.