The Nuisance Across The Hall

Five: The Park Days are Over

     Saturday morning rolled around and I slept until nine. Well, I was woken by Sophia at nine. I didn't get home until three this morning because of my shift so I really needed some sleep.

     "What are we gonna do today?" Sophia asked, climbing onto my bed.

     "Sleep," I mumbled into my comforter.

     "But I did that last night!" She complained, falling onto the pillow next to me.

     "Well, I didn't. So I need to do it now." I countered.

     "Can Sky come over?" She asked me, not catching on that I need quiet. I knew she wouldn't let me sleep, I just needed to lay here.

     "Maybe later. She's at work right now, remember?" I reminded her.

     "What about Zack? Can he come over?" She asked me.

     "No, he's probably at work too. Not a lot of people work at night like I do, Sweetie." Not to mention I don't want to see him. He was nice before, but he's bound to come swinging back with his arrogance.

     "My teacher doesn't work on weekends." Sophia reminded me.

     "But you don't go to school on weekends, so she doesn't have to teach you," I told her. Why was she so talkative? Can't she be talkative later in the day?

     "Let's go ask Zack if he's working!" Sophia said and hopped back up to her feet.

     "Oh no, you don't!" I said, sitting up and grabbing her ankle. She fell back onto the bed, laughing.

     I crawled over to her and started tickling her. Her laughter filled the room as she began kicking and flailing her arms to get me away.

     "Stop it! Stop it!" She tried to yell through her laughter. She was extremely ticklish and it was hilarious. Her legs kept kicking my arms but I was persistent. She wanted to wake me up early when neither of us had school? She's not getting off easy for that.

     After a few minutes of torturous laughs, I let her compose herself. She tried to tackle and tickle me, but being bigger and stronger had its perks.

     "No fair! I can't tickle you?" She complained, crossing her arms and sitting on her legs.

     "You got more sleep than me. That's not fair." I told her, mimicking her position.

     "Yeah, it is. I'm the kid so I need more sleep." She defended.

     "Yeah but I have a job and school," I told her. "Which requires double the energy." I reminded.

     She didn't say anything else. She tried staring me down with the cutest mean face but I didn't break. She wasn't tickling me. She doesn't need to know this, but she got her ticklishness from me.

     We both eventually climbed out of bed and into the kitchen for breakfast. I poured us both bowls of Cheerios and some apple juice, Sophia's favorite.

     "Mommy?" Sophia called after eating her first spoonful of cereal.

     "Yeah, sweetie?" I answered, gulping down some juice.

     "What was Daddy like?" She asked. I almost choked on my juice.

     I wiped my mouth with a napkin and looked at Sophia. Her eyes were curious, but not the playful kind. She genuinely wanted to know.

     "Why do you want to know all of a sudden?" I asked her.

     "Well, some of my friends at school were talking about their dads and what all they do with them. And I was wondering where my Daddy was." She admitted. I could tell she was as nervous about this as I was. We never talked about him.