Everyday Blessings

Aubrey McKaslin didn't know if she was coming or going. All she knew was that her eighteenmonthold niece was crying in agony, holding her fists to her ears. The little girl's cries echoed in the coved ceiling of the dining nook of her stepsister Danielle's home. To top it off, her almost fiveyearold nephew Tyler was refusing to eat his dinner. She was running on four hours' sleep at the end of a difficult day that came at the end of a very bad week, and she was at her wit's end. And she wasn't the only one. Tyler, always a good and dependable boy, gave his plate a push away from him at the table and shot her a mulish glare. "I want Mommy. I don't want Mexifries!" He choked back a sob, his eyes full of pain. "I want my ddaddy. I want him to come hhome." "I know, but he can't come, pumpkin. He's still in the hospital." Aubrey ran a loving hand over his tousled head. "You know he would be here with you if he could." "But why?" "Because he's sick, honey." Aubrey's heart broke as she bounced the weepy little girl on her hip, to comfort her. With her free hand, she knelt to brush her fingertips down the little boy's nose. It usually made him smile, but not this evening. No, it had been a rough day for all of them. On days like this, she wanted to know why so many hardships. She'd take it to the Lord in prayer, but she knew that life was like this, sometimes difficult, sometimes beyond understanding. All she could do was make the best of such an awful day. "But why's he sick?" Fat tears glistened in Tyler's sorrowful eyes. "Why?" Tyler's dad, Jonas, wasn't sick. he'd slipped into a degenerating coma, as the doctor had told them this afternoon. Jonas was a state trooper who'd been shot ten days ago when he'd stopped a speeder, who apparently had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and didn't want to be caught. The man was still at large. "When I'm sick, I hafta stay in bed or quiet on the couch." The boy's soulful eyes were filled with such innocence. "Daddy can, too?" How could she explain this to him so he'd understand? Aubrey was at a loss. She loved her nephew; in the end, that's all she could do for him. Love him through his pain. "Your daddy is so sick he has to stay at the hospital." "Nno?" Tyler choked on a sob. "I wwant my dadaddy. He's gotta have MMexifries." So, that's what this was about. She'd picked up fastfood Mexican meals on her way here to take turns sitting with the kids. Aubrey knew now why Tyler was so upset. It was a standing jest in the family that Mexifries, which were seasoned, deepfried Tater Tots from a local taco place, could solve a host of problems. Being sick was one of them. "How about I ask your aunt Ava to take care of that? Will that make you feel better?" "Yyes." Tyler was sobbing so hard he choked. Poor little boy.Aubrey's heart broke all over again for him as she wrapped her free arm around him. He clung to her, crying as hard as the baby in her other arm. How their mother handled this on a daily basis, Aubrey didn't know. Talk about a tough job. But an important one. A job she'd given up hope on ever having as her own considering the way her life was going. She pressed a kiss to Tyler's temple. "Are you feeling better now?" "Yyeah." He hiccupped and let go to rub his tears away with his fists. "I'm a big boy." "Yes, you are. A very big boy. You're doing a terrific job, champ." "Yyeah." He gave a sniff and stared at his plate. "Do I gotta eat the Mexifries?" "Try to eat something, okay?" She rubbed her free hand over Madison's soft, downy head. The antibiotics she'd picked up earlier hadn't kicked in yet, or at least not enough, and she was still in misery. "I'm going to try rocking her again. I'lHart, Jillian is the author of 'Everyday Blessings ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373874361 and ISBN 0373874367.