A Decision Based On Love Read online

  Chapter 18

  Kylee turned four the following month and her birthday party was a pink princess affair, with a castle cake and a pink bouncy house. She wore a pink, feathered tiara and bossed everyone else around all afternoon. By the time her daddy and grandpa got home from work, Liz was ready to hand her off to the second team. She had a couple of neighborhood friends over and her cousins and they bounced, blew horns and everyone tried to open presents while Kylee panicked and tried to keep them all to herself. When it was time to blow out the candles, Kenny got too close to the cake and grabbed a handful. Eli blew out all four candles while Kylee was still taking a deep breath in. She was nearing a complete melt down when her mother re-lit all of the candles and patched the hole Kenny dug out of the side. She finally got to blow out the candles and make her wish. Once the drama settled all of the kids sat down and started playing with the new toys.

  Liz collapsed in a chair with a heavy sigh. Tyson and Todd started to clean up laughing at what a complete disaster a group of toddlers can make of a house in a few hours.

  As Todd picked up a broken tiara he smiled, “Shari would have love this whole thing.”

  Tyson nodded, “Kylee is her oldest grandchild and those two really loved each other.” Sometimes it still hurt so much to think of the kids growing up without the grandmother who loved them.

  “Well, now that Kylee has turned 4 I guess it's time to take her camping like I promised,” Todd was excited for his first outing of one on one time with his oldest grandchild. He knew Shari would be pleased with his attempts to strengthen the relationships he had with each of the grand kids.

  They made arrangements for Todd to pick up Kylee on Friday after work and they would travel to a nearby campground and spend the night in the camper. They'd be back by early afternoon if everything went well.

  Kylee was so excited she danced around the room. Her one experience in the camper had been so much fun she couldn't wait to repeat it. She still had a little trouble figuring out how many days until Friday, so she asked every morning and again every night. Friday couldn't come soon enough for Kylee or her parents.

  Todd picked her up about 5 and he had a full evening of entertainment planned. “Hey princess, I can't wait to spend the weekend with you. We are going to have so much fun. Just the two of us.”

  Kylee bounced up and down in the booster seat and chattered non-stop about her plans for the weekend. As they pulled away from the house Liz and Tyson waved from the porch, and Liz held Kenny's hand up to wave. Kylee strained her little head to look at them and wave goodbye. Suddenly she burst into tears. Todd thought something on the booster seat must have pinched her so he pulled over, “What's wrong Kylee?”

  “I miss my daddy,” she wailed.

  Todd was stunned. They could still see her family in the driveway. She couldn't possibly miss them yet. “Honey, your daddy is right behind us waving to you. We're going to go have a fun picnic and campout in the camper. It will be fun. We'll play games and sing songs and roast marshmallows and throw rocks in the river. Maybe we'll even catch a butterfly or a caterpillar for you to bring home to your daddy. Ok?”

  Kylee mulled over the idea of bringing home a caterpillar and through her sniffles she said, “Ok, that will be fun.”

  “Don't worry honey, we're going to have a wonderful time,” Todd wasn't sure if he was convincing her or himself.

  The weekend went downhill quickly. By Saturday morning Todd had to admit it was a total disaster. Kylee saw a sign by the road with a picture of a bear and she thought she saw one lurking in the trees. From then on she was terrified the bear was going to sneak into camp and get her. There was no reasoning with her and she wouldn't let Todd out of her sight. She thought the stew Todd made was “kind of icky” and she wouldn't eat the biscuits without honey. She got too close to the fire while they were roasting marshmallows and when Todd yelled to her to move away it hurt her feelings. She dropped her marshmallow in the fire and cried over the unfairness of it all for 20 minutes.

  It started to rain lightly so they went into the camper to play games but Kylee wanted Hershey to come inside too so he wouldn't get wet and cold. Since he was already wet and muddy, Todd was adamant that he not come in. Kylee launched into wailing sobs again and refused to play any games with her grandpa. She pressed her face against the window and called to Hershey. He played the victim well, dropping his head in despair and looking forlornly at the warm camper occupants. Todd rolled his eyes and tried to ignore both of them. He muttered under his breath, “I'm too old for this.”

  When he turned out the lantern, the room was too dark and Kylee was afraid the bear would be able to unlatch the camper door. She worked herself up into a complete panic by the time Todd pulled her into the queen-sized bed with him. He turned on the reading light and started to read while she fell asleep. She got cold during the night and pressed her feet up against him. Pretty soon she was perpendicular to him in the bed with her icicle feet up on his chest. She finally ended up sprawled mostly on top of him, which wouldn't have bothered him nearly as much if she hadn't been afraid to leave the warm bed and use the bathroom. He woke in the early morning hours lying in a cold, wet puddle in the middle of his new camper bed. It was about that time his patience was totally gone. “What the heck?” he jumped back from the wet spot with a startled gasp. He had been too loud and Kylee looked up sleepy-eyed to see her angry grandpa with his hair sticking up in every direction and a scowl on his face. She promptly burst into tears.

  Todd was cleaning up the sheets when Kylee opened the door to let Hershey in. It took about 1/8 of a second once the door was open for Todd to process the smell and scream a warning to Kylee, “NO Kylee, don't let him in! He's been around a skunk out there.” Too late, the wet, pungent dog leaped into the camper and started jumping around. Tears instantly formed in Todd's eyes. He charged down from the bed and ordered the dog out. If he hadn't been so distracted with the sheets he would have noticed the smell outside sooner. Hershey had managed to avoid a direct spray but there was definitely evidence that he had some contact with the animal. Todd wondered how he was going to get the dog clean. For that matter, how was he going to get the dog home?

  It was still drizzling outside so hiking or playing in the creek was out of the question. Todd make pancakes and hot cocoa on the indoor stove but by then neither one of them were in the mood to have a good time. They were on their way home by 7am.

  When they pulled up in the driveway, Tyson took one look at his father's haggard, unshaven face and then glanced at his watch and burst into laughter. Hershey's leash was tied to the back of the truck bed so he couldn't jump out but Tyson didn't have to be near him to know what had happened there.

  An exhausted Kylee had slept the entire way home so she was slightly refreshed and bounded out of the car looking calm and unruffled. She marched over to her daddy and stated disappointedly, “Grandpa is very grumpy.” Then she whispered conspiratorially, “I think he needs a nap.”

  Tyson laughed harder and his dad scowled deeper. He unloaded Kylee's gear and pulled the camper home where he would have to spend the next several hours cleaning the camper, the sheets, the mattress and the dog. For once he didn't care in the least if Shari would have been pleased with his efforts or not.