Her face lit up immediately after her cell phone did. She’d been eagerly awaiting the call, which came at the same time every day he was on one of his trips. Usually, while in the midst of this insufferable waiting, she got distracted by something around her and had to run back to her phone to answer before it went to her voicemail. For the first time, her eyes were glued to the phone’s screen when it came alive and said
‘Daddy Calling’
“Hello, Victoria,” his voice cheerily sang to her from far away. “How has my precious little princess been today?”
“Good, daddy,” she said with a smile.
“You haven’t been making any mischief for the nanny?” he asked, following his standard line of questioning for his calls.
“No,” she lied.
“That’s good to hear. How was your day? How was school?”
“Good. Mrs. Stenson lost track of time so we got to spend a lot more time outside for recess.”
Her father didn’t share her enthusiasm for the extra play time. “I’m glad you got some more fresh air, but I’m not paying what I’m paying to send you to that school just for you to play.” Victoria rolled her eyes. Everything was about money with her daddy. “Was Mrs. Stenson still able to go through everything she needed to teach the class that day?”
“Yes,” Victoria replied in an agitated, tired tone.
“And was the class still able to make sure they got through all of Mrs. Stenson’s lessons for the day?” he continued to grill her. She should’ve expected that. Any time she gave her daddy any sort of attitude as a response, he buckled down and became equally gruff in his questioning.
“I don’t know about the rest of the class, but it was no problem for me,” she said, relaxing her tone to a more docile one. She’d picked up that he spoke more reasonably to her when she wasn’t giving him what he called ‘an attitude.’ “She gave us our first homework assignment!” she said excitedly. It’d been the first time she’d ever been given homework, and like the rest of the kids in her class, it was enthralling to finally be treated like big kids.
“Have you finished it already?” her daddy asked after a pause. She had no doubt he’d checked his watch and worked out what time it was back home.
“Yeah, it was pretty easy,” she said with a touch of remorse. “I don’t know if I’m going to get a good grade on it.”
“Why not?” the faraway voice asked.
“We were supposed to make a family tree. Include pictures of our family and relatives, but…you told me you didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and your parents were both only children…and all the photos of them were burned up in the house fire that killed them. So, I don’t know what I’m going to have on the tree besides you, me and mommy.”
Her daddy didn’t take long to come up with a solution. “I’ll find you a picture of your mother’s parents so you can have your mom’s side filled out. For my parents, just draw a picture of what you think they look like, and turn it in. If your teacher gives you a bad grade because of it, I’ll talk to her.”
Victoria smiled, relieved. She usually benefitted when her daddy spoke to someone.
“Okay. Sometimes I’m sad that I’ll never meet them.”
“Well, Victoria, what do I always tell you.”
“’We can’t stay upset over things that will never be,’” she recited.
“That’s right,” he said fondly, then paused. She imagined he was checking his watch again. “Alright, princess, I’ve got to go. I should be back home from my meetings in two days. Love you lots.”
“Love you more,” she said and hung up.
She got to work coloring a picture of her grandparents with markers, and although she was sad she didn’t have a real picture of them to see what they looked like, she soon became engrossed in the coloring itself, instead of what she was drawing. Victoria handed in the assignment the next day, and had it returned to her not only with no problems, but a perfect score.
By the time she came home the following day, she’d forgotten all about the family tree she’d made, and its subject matter.