Divine Charity(Divine Creek Ranch 18)(83)
All three women laughed at the nickname Adam used for his daughter.
“When Adam called, he said they’d hung her new curtains and had put together the bed. Even getting a frilly canopy bed didn’t make her happy. That child is bound and determined to stay ‘the baby,’ which means occupying the nursery.” Grace shook her head and was about to speak when a distinctive chime sounded on her phone.
“Oh, good!” she said eagerly as she picked up her phone from the tray table. “Adam was going to call me on FaceTime and show me how the room turned out. Come here, you can see, too.”
Charity and Justine crowded closer at the head of the bed as Grace opened the app on her phone and waited. A shadow came over the screen which jumped around dizzily for a second and all they heard was heavy breathing.
“What the heck?” Grace murmured. “Adam? Is everything okay?”
The picture focused, showing them the blank walls of a bedroom and then settled with an audible thump on the other end, showing a partial picture of what must be the new canopy bed and a very disgruntled looking Rose Marie.
“Rose Marie, what are you up to?” Grace asked in an even tone.
Rose Marie crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Mommy, you have to come home right now.” Her face was red, her nose was running like she’d been crying, and her tone was a little snippy.
Grace raised an eyebrow and in a steely voice, she said, “Excuse me?”
Rose Marie stuck her bottom lip out and recrossed her arms as though reinforcing her position. “Sorry. Mommy, I really need you to come home now. The daddies are being bad, mean daddies.”
On the other end of the call, they heard a light knocking and Adam’s muffled voice. “Rose Marie, I need you to please unlock this door. Did you take my iPad?”
“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Charity whispered as they all held back their laughter.
Grace tilted her head. “Young lady, you’d better explain.”
“The daddies are moving all my stuff into this too-far room and I belong in the baby room, not here!” she said gesturing to the bedroom.
“I love your new canopy bed,” Charity offered. “What I can see of it and the new curtains are really pretty, honey.”
Rose Marie leaned into the screen, showing a close up of her runny nose and said, “Oh, hi, Aunt Charity and Justine-y! I want my campnopy bed in the baby room, not in here too far from Mommy.”
“The what?” Justine whispered.
“Canopy bed,” Charity translated.
The knocking sounded again. “Rose Marie,” Adam said firmly. “Unlock this door.”
Rose Marie frowned and sat back again, showing nothing but attitude in her flushed, damp face. “No! You’re a mean ol’ daddy!”
Adam continued, sounding more frustrated. “You’d better not be on my iPad bothering your mommy.”
Rose Marie turned a mulish expression toward the door and yelled, “Well I am! I’m tellin’ on you!”
There was a thud on the door and Charity snorted as she imagined Adam applying his forehead to the door before he said, “Sorry, baby. The first thing I’m doing is removing the lock from this door. Now unlock it, Rose Marie.”
“No!” Turning back to Grace, Rose Marie said, “Mommy, I want my room back! I’m gonna be scared down here by myself at night!”
Grace chuckled and made sympathetic sounds. “Oh, honey, you’re going to be very safe in your new room. Daddy Adam always felt safe in that room, didn’t you, Adam?” she called, slightly elevating her voice.
“Yup, I did,” he said from the other side of the locked door.
“It’s gonna be too dark!”
“You will have your lamp in there, too, honey.”
“I don’t wanna! I want the baby’s room! It’s my room! I’m the baby!” Snot and tears combined into a watery mess as she sobbed and then turned and yelled angrily. “You go away, mean Daddy! I’m not talking to you!”
Grace took a deep breath. “Rose Marie.”
Rose Marie turned back to the iPad. “What?” She must’ve recognized Grace’s firm tone because she wiped her face and looked a little guilty. “He is,” she added defensively, mouthing under her breath, “mean daddy.”
“He is not. He’s your daddy who loves you and you are trying his patience and mine. You listen to me now. Are you listening?”
“Uh-huh,” she said around a huffing, breathy sob.
“Mommy needs to redo the bedroom upstairs for your little brother who is going to be here before you know it. We are not negotiating.”