“But what if the glass breaks, and they try to eat us, like on Finding Nemo?”
“Those were good sharks. Remember?” Reed answers.
“Oh yeah.” She nods before tugging on my shirt a little. “Mr. Ashton, are these good sharks?”
“Yep, sure are,” I reassure her. “We are going to walk through a little tunnel, and they’ll swim around above us.”
That might not have been the best thing to say based on how scared she looks now, but I wanted to let her know what was going to happen. The little girl takes a deep breath, getting very serious. “Can I hold your hand in case the glass breaks?”
“Yes, you can.” She grabs my hand and I add, “You might need to hold Reed’s hand too.”
“Okay,” she nods in agreement as she takes his, “but hold Mommy’s, so we don’t lose her either.”
I hold back my laugh. “All right.” With a hand outstretched to Lexie, I ask, “Are you ready now too?”
With ease, she intertwines her fingers with mine and nods. As we walk towards the shark exhibit, she leans in and whispers, “If I didn’t know better, I would think you planned this.”
“I’m not that good,” I laugh.
“And here I thought you were,?
? she winks.
Reed becomes fascinated as we stroll through the little tunnel. He points things out to us and gets excited when the sharks get close to us. Sadie, on the the other hand, keeps squeezing my hand and looking around nervously.
We’re about halfway through when Sadie tilts her head back as a shark swims overhead. “I don’t like it in here. Where’s the end?”
“We’re almost there,” Lexie tells her.
She takes a step closer to me. “Can’t we go now?”
Hearing Sadie, Reed turns to me. “I don’t want to leave the tunnel early, Dad. This is too cool.”
I crouch to be at eye level with her. “You look like a brave little girl. Are you sure you want to hurry out?” She quickly nods. “I think there are some jellyfish at the other end. If it’s okay with your mom, I could go show you and she could stay here with Reed?” I glance over my shoulder at Lexie.
“That’s fine. Reed, you want to look at the sharks with me?”
Reed does, of course, so Sadie and I hurry out to find the jellyfish. About a minute or so of her not talking, she looks at me curiously. “Is this what other daddies do with their kids?”
Oh. I try my best to answer in a way she would understand, and that won’t get me in trouble with Lexie. “If they can, yes, they do. Sometimes, they can’t.”
“I bet if my daddy was here, he would take me places,” she tells me with such surety. “Reed’s lucky.”
“I bet he would too, Sadie. But I’m sure you have lots of fun with your mom.”
She smiles, the love pouring from her. “I do. She’s funny, especially when we play dress up. She always plays with me, even when she’s tired. So, you could do stuff with us now too, right? Because you’re a daddy.”
Oh, where is Lexie when I need her? I’m unsure of what to say, so I go with my gut. “Well, sure, but I’m Reed’s dad and Tony is still your dad. We can still go do stuff, though.”
She nods, her focus on the jellyfish. “Mommy says having a daddy like mine in heaven makes me special because he was soldier. So, I guess I’m lucky like Reed. Those jellyfish move slow.”
“Yeah, they do, but they are pretty, aren’t they?” I definitely take the out that she offers. I have no clue what to do in a situation like this, and I don’t want to overstep or confuse Sadie.
“Very pretty,” she agrees.
“Dad, the sharks were so cool!” We turn at the sound of Reed’s voice. He and Lexie look happy. “I even touched the glass.”
“Really? That’s awesome.” I high-five him.