“I know.”
My sleep-addled brain takes in the words, their meaning, and the millions of hidden meanings that could be in there. It’s 6am. I was up 4 hours ago to take the new puppy out, and I haven’t done anything wrong in over 5 years.
There is a lot she could know, but I’d say that if she does know, then my daughter has a right to know whatever it is. I think quickly.. talk is pretty open on sex, maturation, drugs, education… nope, I got nothing.
I look at her.
She’s beaming. OK, that’s better than angry. She’s proud of herself… I haven’t seen her this happy since she made that REALLY good shrimp salad after watching food network for the last few months. Whatever it is, I’m going to have to be proud, too.
“Oh yeah?” Non committal, I’ll go with that at 6am, & keep making coffee.
“Last night.. well.. so.. you know at school .. well, my tooth.. it was hurting, so.. Ipulleditoutlastnightafteryouwenttobedandputitundermypillow AND”
and she pulls out the little white stub of truth.
“The Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” she announced triumphantly
She’d busted us.
I smiled at her, and knew that if she was smart enough to figure it out, she’d have to say it.
“Oh really?”
She sighed. “You’re the tooth fairy.”
I laughed and breathed a sigh of relief. I hated being the tooth fairy. Getting under your childs pillow while they slept was invented by someone that hated parents, not children.
“What now?” I asked. “If you know, then I don’t have to pretend, and I don’t have to pay you for your tooth anymore.”
THAT realization took just a minute more. She stammered just a little.
“Maybe you can…” but she knew, there was a price of knowledge.
“Maybe we can not tell daddy, and he can pretend to be the toothfairy.”
We tried that for a day, but Rob forgot, and we both knew that omission was somehow some form of lying. THough, at one point, she did actually wink at me behind Robs back, when she was talking about putting the tooth under her pillow. That wink will bring me years of tears in my eyes through laughter.
The next day, after he’d forgotten, she tried to get her $5 out of her dad, but ended up just spilling that she knew.
an hour later, she was sitting on the couch.. turned to me .. and made the next connection.
“That means you’re Santa Clause & the Easter Bunny! And Cupid!” she accused.
I laughed “There was never a cupid!!” but she put together what had happened when she knew there was a tooth fairy, and we were all quiet for a minute.
“Maybe you can forget?” Rob suggested. She thought about it for a minute.
“yeah, I think I’ll try to forget before next year” she agreed.
Love this post. Love it.