"Country Treats"

TunnelsOfTheSouth

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"Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate.

And though I oft have passed them by

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run.

West of the Moon, East of the Sun…"

J.R.R. Tolkien

Chapter One

"Poppa"

"Poppa…" Miss Amanda Knight frowned as she pushed the grey food around and around her plate with a spoon. "Pop, Pop…"

I looked up to where Carolyn was pouring our morning coffee. "What did she just say?"

I'd been very reluctant to be put in charge of feeding the ten-month-old her mushy-looking breakfast. I'd agreed with her frowning look of dissatisfaction when I'd placed the dish on the tray of her highchair. I wouldn't want to eat it either.

"What do you think she said?" Carolyn asked as she carried the mugs of coffee to the table and sat in the chair across from us. "I heard it quite clearly."

"Pop, Pop…" Amanda repeated as she pointed the overfull spoon at me as if in confirmation. "Poppa…" The unwanted food spilled from the utensil and plopped messily into the lap of my jeans.

"Oh, dear…" Carolyn chuckled as she got up to fetch me a wet cloth and helped to clean up the mess. "It seems you have a new, young fan. Someone must have called you that and she heard the name."

I frowned down at the large wet stain on the front of my jeans. "I guess so."

"You might need this." Carolyn rinsed out the cloth and brought it back. She resumed her seat and watched me thoughtfully over the rim of her coffee mug. "Do you object to being called Poppa? Or Pop, Pop?"

"Of course, not." I removed the spoon from Amanda's grasp before she could repeat the process of anointing me with more unwanted food. "She just took me by surprise, that's all. I never expected…" I sighed.

Carolyn shrugged. "Well, if you look at it logically, it makes perfect sense."

She sat back in her chair. "Remember what Kitt said about Edward being his natural brother because you're the father of both the man and the car. And you've always looked on Michael as a son."

I quickly snatched the plate away from the reach of small fingers that had been plunged into the smeared food. "Oh yeah, I remember that piece of craziness."

"Well, then…" Carolyn smiled. "If you follow that line of thinking to its logical conclusion…" She shrugged. "Since both Michael and Stevie's parents have passed on, that leaves us holding the baby, so to speak. You might as well get used to the idea."

"Speak for yourself, Grandma," I challenged with a wry smile as I tried to make sense of what she'd just said.

Young Amanda fixed me with accusing blue eyes. "Poppa…" she wailed.

"She's still hungry. Maybe try her with a banana," Carolyn advised. "That cereal and stewed apple did look rather grey."

"All right…" I reached for the bowl of fruit on the table.

I noticed my wife made no move to help me in my dilemma. Her deep sense of enjoyment danced in her green eyes. I glanced down again at the large wet stain in the lap of my jeans.

'If anyone came in right now, they might think…' I couldn't help squirming with embarrassment as I peeled the yellow fruit and offered the first piece to my young charge. She grabbed it with both hands and stuffed it into her mouth.

"When did Michael and Stevie say they'd be back?" I asked.

"Tomorrow or the day after," Carolyn replied as she watched me at my task. "This was their first chance to get away as young parents and be alone together. I told them to take Kitt and all the time they needed. Sedona is very beautiful at this time of year."

She watched our interplay. "I told them, we've got this." Her eyes dropped to the slowly drying stain on the front of my jeans. "That you've got this."

"I…" I stared at the remainder of the banana as Amanda crammed the last few pieces into her small mouth with both hands. Her cheek bulged with the fruit. "Yeah, I guess we've got this," I replied, as I leaned closer to wipe her face with the damp cloth.

"Pop, Pop!" Amanda concurred happily. She managed to spray my face and hair with half-eaten pieces of mushy banana. "Poppa!" She beamed at me in triumph.

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