Should Have Known Better

When I walked into the house, I heard a creak on the stairs and looked up quickly to see a brown foot hanging from pink pajama pants turning onto the upstairs landing.

“Cheyenne Loren,” I called softy.

The movement stopped. I imagined that she was standing at the top of the steps against the wall.

“Cheyenne Loren,” I called again. “I know you’re up there.”

I sat on the couch and pulled off my shoes quietly. Seconds went by. I sat back and watched the steps. There was no movement.

And then the pink pajama pants came from around the corner.

“I was just waiting for you to come home,” she said softly.

“Come down here,” I said. “I can’t see you.”

She came down the steps slowly like they were covered in ice and stood at the bottom.

“Come sit down next to me,” I said, patting the cushion beside me.

She looked at me and I could tell that she hadn’t slept all night. Her eyes were completely red.

“I’m not mad at you. You can sit down. It’s fine.” I patted the cushion again.

She sat down.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“I was out,” I said carefully. “But now I’m home.”

“Were you driving?”

“Yes,” I answered, putting my arm up on the couch around her shoulders. “Were you afraid that I was driving?”

She nodded and looked away into the living room.

“Chey, I’m not going to mess up again. Look at me.”

She turned back to me.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” I said. “You don’t have to sit up at this window and ever worry about me not coming home, or driving drunk or putting you in a bad situation like I did that night. That will never happen again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

I leaned over and started playing with her hair.

“Now, things are about to start changing for us. For you and me.”

“How?”

“Well, for starters, we’re going to start spending a lot more time together.”

“Really?” She pulled her legs up onto the couch.

“Yeah. I was thinking, you know how I read to R. J. every morning?”

“Yes, his Goodnight Moon,” she said mockingly. “But he gave that book away.”

“Well, we’ll get him a new one. But, in the meantime, I was thinking, maybe you and I could do something together in the morning.”