Completed: 11/17/04
Rating: G
Summary: Emily’s tooth is loose, and Donna’s explanation doesn’t make any sense.
Author’s Notes: Fourth in the "Emily's World" Series
“Mommy!”
I walk into the bathroom that connects to Emily’s room, where she’s supposed to be getting ready for bed. “Emily, haven’t we discussed your yelling?”
“Yes. It’s Daddy’s fault because I learned it from him, and it’s too late for him, but not for me,” she says with a big smile like she’s proud.
“Right, and you have to remember that just because Daddy does something, doesn’t mean you should do it. Your Daddy yells because he thinks he’s being charming.”
“What’s charming?”
I pick up her socks. “It’s when you do something that other people think is cute.”
“Is Daddy cute when he yells your name?”
Yes. “No.”
“They why do you always smile at him?”
“I don’t.” She looks at me and giggles a little. “I do?” She nods her head up and down.
“You kiss him a lot too. Aunt CJ thinks it’s icky.”
Yeah, well, Aunt CJ doesn’t know how well he kisses. “Did you call me in here for something?”
“My tooth is bleeding,” she says to me as if it’s no big deal but she thought I should know.
“It is, is it?” I sit on the toilet seat and she stands in front of me with toothpaste all over her mouth and on her hands, and a little in her eyebrow. She’s definitely her father’s daughter.
“Not a whole bunch, like when me and Daddy were having a swing pushing contest with that little boy and his daddy at the park, and I fell cut my knee, but a little bit.” She opens her mouth wide. “See?”
I start to put my finger in her mouth and she pulls back abruptly. “What are you doing?” she asks me, flabbergasted.
“I’m going to check your tooth.”
She starts shaking her head back and forth and slams her mouth shut. Emily’s a little freaky about what goes in her mouth. You should be around when I try to get her to eat…well, anything green. Not that it’s any worse than trying to get Josh to eat anything green. But anyway, she doesn’t like things in her mouth and we try to respect her wishes, whenever possible.
“Fine. You do it then. Touch it and see if it moves.”
She goes back to the mirror and starts flicking her tooth back and forth with her index finger. “Why’s it all wiggly?”
“Because it’s going to fall out.”
“What?” she screams, snapping her head in my direction.
“It’s going to fall out.”
“It’s going to fall out?”
“Yes.”
“Out of my mouth?” She has Johs’s squeak. I love it.
“Yes.”
“Am I going to have a hole there?”
“Yep,” I reply.
“So, you’re saying my tooth is going to fall out of my face and I’m going to have a hole there…”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
She stares at me for a minute. “That can’t be right. Are you teasing me?”
I can’t help finding this all very amusing. “No. A new tooth is ready to grow in there, but that tooth has to fall out first,” I say, pointing to her mouth.
“Mommy!”
“What?”
She looks at me and stalks out of the bathroom. When she comes back a minute later, she’s holding her glue stick. “What are you gonna do with that?” I ask, laughing.
She looks at me like I’m crazy. “I’m going to glue my tooth down.”
“Emily, you can’t glue your tooth down.” She sticks her bottom lip out and starts pouting. This pout of hers gets Josh every time, but it doesn’t work with me. Now, when she flashes the dimples, I’m lost, but I can control myself around the pout. “That’s not going to work.”
“Please????”
“No.”
“Can we tape it?”
I shake my head, trying to take this seriously, but she’s just so cute standing here with a glue stick in her hand. “No, it has to fall out so your big tooth can grow in its place.”
“How long till the new one grows in?”
I shrug. “I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s going to be a while. And you should know, all of the teeth you have now are going to fall out.”
“What?” she screams. She obviously can’t believe this is happening to her. I’m wondering now if I freaked out when I lost my first tooth.
“Those are baby teeth. They’re like…practice teeth. Now that you’re getting bigger, you need bigger teeth. So these are going to fall out and bigger ones are going to grow in.”
She looks at me for a long time, studying my face. I know this look. Emily doesn’t just buy things. She needs proof. Before the end of the night, we could very well be online doing research with index cards. “I need to make a phone call.”
“You need a second opinion?”
She tilts her head to the side. “I just want to check with some people.”
I nod. “Fine.” I like that she wants to understand things, it’s part of what makes her so smart.
We walk into her bedroom where her purple cordless phone is, and I sit down on her bed. Why does a five year old have a phone in her bedroom, you ask? Well, you can thank Aunt CJ for that. She bought it for her while Josh and I were on vacation in St. Maarten; something about it matching her book bag, like that matters. She also got two new outfits, a new purse, a new pair of shoes, a stuffed giraffe from the zoo, a new pink bicycle helmet, and Yatzee Jr. All after I forbid her to buy Emily a single thing. Anyway, because it was a gift from CJ, she’s programmed into the speed dial at number one. Josh’s cell is number 2, the office is number 3, and my cell ranks clear down at number 4. Still, my name's the one she calls when she has the flu.
She dials and waits a few seconds, and then I hear her talk. “Daddy, Mommy's trying to steal a tooth from my mouth.”
“Emily,” I say sternly. She looks at me with an innocent look on her face.
“I mean, I have a wiggly tooth and Mommy says it’s going to fall out.” I can’t hear Josh, but a few seconds later she says, “But I’m going to have a hole in my mouth.” A few seconds later, “I tried, she won’t let me.”
Then she turns to me. “Mommy, Daddy says we should glue it! I told you!”
I close my eyes and shake my head. He’s as bad as she is. “Ask Daddy if he’s teasing.”
“Are you teasing?” She’s quiet again and then she sucks in air in shock. “Daddy! Don’t tease! A tooth is going to fall right out of my head and I’m going to have a big hole there and I’m going to look ugly!”
She’s quiet after that for several seconds before talking again. “But…” and tears start pooling in her eyes. She keeps the phone pressed up to her ear, but she climbs up into my lap and I start rocking gently back and forth. I can hear her sniffling a little, but she’s still listening to whatever Josh is saying.
“Promise?” she asks in her pout voice. Great, Josh is promising things. This scares me a little bit. Once, he promised her that the goldfish he won her at a carnival would never die. When it did die three weeks later after Emily had gone to sleep for the night, we had to decide if we were gong to be like those parents who lied and bought the look-alike, or if we were going to tell the truth and reveal Josh as a fake promiser. While we were discussing the issue, Emily woke-up to go to the bathroom and saw that her fish was gone. She came in our bedroom and announced that it ran away and she needed a new one. Josh said ok, but that we couldn’t promise the new one wouldn’t die.
“When are you coming home?” She’s still pouting and sniffling a little. “Well, some ice cream might help.”
“Absolutely not young lady,” I say. “You’re getting ready for bed.” I have to be the strict one or my daughter would live off ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. Well, for that matter, so would my husband.
“Never mind the ice cream Daddy, Mommy said no.” Then she whispers into the phone, “We can get some tomorrow when she’s in class.” Emily and Josh are like partners in crime. I’m finishing up my masters, which means that for three hours every Thursday night, they’re on their own. I don’t like to think about what happens here during that time, but I’ve learned to schedule the cleaning service for Friday’s.
“You really think I’m still gonna be pretty?….Ok… Will you come kiss me goodnight when you get home? Even if I’m asleep?...I love you too…I love you mostest.” Now he has her giggling. “Yeah, well I love you intafinitifity plus one…Night Daddy.” She hangs up and wipes her eyes before jumping off my lap and kissing me on the cheek.
“I’m sorry I told Daddy you were trying to steal my tooth,” she says with a big smile on her face.
I grin back at her. “I forgive you. Do you feel better?”
She nods hard once. “Yeah, Daddy said I’m still gonna be pretty.”
“Of course you’re still going to be pretty. I would’ve told you that.”
“Well, yeah, but…” But she’s Daddy’s little girl and his approval is everything to her.
“Right. So, what else did he say?”
“Something about some pretend fairy lady who takes teeth and leaves money. Why would she want my teeth?”
“She’s just pretend; she doesn’t really want your teeth.”
“Good, cause that’s kind of weird.”
“I agree. Now, why don’t you go in there and finish getting ready for bed. You have toothpaste in your eyebrows. How did that happen?”
“The squirter went crazy, Mommy. It must’ve been detective,” she says very seriously.
“Defective?”
“Yes, it wasn’t my fault.”
“I see,” I tell her. “Well, wash up and hop into bed.”
She starts into the bathroom and casually says, “Maybe I could stay up till Daddy gets home.”
“No, I don’t think so,” I answer just as casually.
She turns around and stares at me in shock. “No?”
I shake my head. “No.”
Her mouth drops open. “Can’t we at least negoshit?”
“Negotiate, and no.”
Here comes the bottom lip. “Daddy lets me negotiate.”
“Well, Daddy’s a sucker.”
She tilts her head to the side and ponders this. “He said Aunt CJ's a sucker.”
I nod at her. “She is too.”
“But you’re not?”
“Nope.” She looks at me for a few seconds and then goes into the bathroom. I pull her Barbie covers down for her. I’m not sure about the Barbie thing, but whatever, she’s five.
“Mommy!” she yells a few minutes later.
I walk back into the bathroom. “The yelling, Emily.”
She turns around and looks at me with big eyes. “I’m sorry, but my mouth is bleeding again and I don’t know what to do with this tooth,” she says, holding out her hand to show me her tooth, while at the same time spitting into the sink.
“You pulled your tooth out?” I can’t believe she just came in here and yanked her tooth out of her mouth. I was giving it at least another four or five days.
“Yes, but don’t throw it away. Daddy said we could save it. Blood tastes yucky.”
I take the cup from her sink and fill it with cool water. “Here you go, swish that around and spit it out.” She takes the cup from me and swishes it around her mouth. When she spits it out, it gets all over her pajama top and the sink. This kid has no aim.
“Oops.”
I sit on the toilet seat again. It’s pink. Her whole bathroom is pink. “Let me see your mouth.”
She’s swishing again, so she spits, this time getting it on the equally pink rug in front of her sink. It’s possible that she’s the messiest kid alive. “Are you gonna put your hand in my mouth? Cause I pulled it all by myself ‘cause I didn’t want your hand in my mouth.”
I guess I should’ve seen that one coming. “I’m not going to put my hand in your mouth. I’m just gonna take a look.”
She comes over and stands in front of me and opens her mouth. Her tongue's dancing around the hole where her bottom front tooth used to be. “It feels funny.”
I laugh a little at her. “Em, I can’t look at it with your tongue in the way. Did it hurt to pull it out?”
“Yeah, but I’m tough,” she says nonchalantly.
“I know you are,” I reply.
Then she whispers, “I cried a little, but don’t tell anyone.”
I kiss her on the cheek. “It’ll be our secret.” She smiles at me and looks absolutely adorable with a missing tooth. Of course, then she leans over the sink and spits again.
She swishes again, this time managing to get some on me, and then looks in the mirror. “Daddy’s right, I’m still pretty.” Her self-confidence is… well, strong.
I stand up and stand behind her at the sink, looking at her in the mirror. “Yeah, I agree.”
It takes about ten minutes for the bleeding to stop, and I suggest putting her tooth in her “Important Things In The Life Of Emily Joan Lyman” box. She decorated and titled it herself. In it is a picture of Josh and me holding her the day she was born, her first pair of shoes, the first book she read, a newspaper clipping of Josh, a blue marble, origin unknown to me, the crown she wore last Halloween when she dressed up like a princess, and a heart with “Be my Valentine, Love Daddy” written on it. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but she is such a Daddy’s girl.
“We can’t put it in there, Daddy hasn’t seen it,” she says yawning.
“How about you show Daddy in the morning, and then we’ll put it in there.”
“Ok, I’m tired, Mommy.”
“It’s been a busy day,” I tell her, leading her to her bed and tucking her in.
**********
About three hours later, I wake-up when I hear voices, so I get up and go to Emily’s room. When I get there, I stand just outside the door where I can peek in and listen to Josh and Emily talking. He’s sitting on the edge of her bed and she’s whispering in that way that children do that’s really not a whisper at all, but they think it is.
“And I pulled it all by myself, and I was brave. I didn’t even cry.”
“Well, that’s cause you’re a big girl. Were you scared?”
“No, I was ok. Mommy was here. She did good, but she wouldn’t negotiate with me.”
“Hmm… how can that be?”
“I don’t know. I even pouted.”
“Oh, well that’s it. With her you’ve got to flash the dimples. The pout only works for me.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“So the pout with you and the dimples with her. Ok,” she says, and even though it’s dark, I can hear her smiling.
“I’m sorry that my meeting lasted too long and I didn’t get home in time for you to pull your tooth,” he whispers, a hint of regret in his voice.
“That’s ok, Daddy. It’s probably better that you were gone. It bled for a long time, like ten hours or something like that. Mommy says you don’t like blood.”
“That’s a very good point. So, what do you think we should do with it?” he asks, holding the little plastic baggy in his hand, looking at the tooth again.
“Hmm…” I can tell she’s thinking this through. “I don’t know. Maybe you should take it to work tomorrow and show it to Uncle Sam. He’ll probably want to see it. Some of the other Senators too.”
Josh laughs. “And Aunt CJ will probably want to see it. We better take it to her house and show her.”
“Yeah, and we better call Grandma and Grandpa Bartlet and Uncle Toby. And Grandma Lyman and Grandma and Grandpa Moss too. We should probably take a picture of it and e-mail it to all of them.”
“That’s a good idea, we should take a picture of you, and send that too.”
“Ok,” she says, yawning.
He leans over and kisses her forehead. “Night Em.” He stands up to leave.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?” he asks, looking back down at her.
“Am I still as pretty as Mommy?” she asks with uncertainty in her voice.
“Hmm… let me see. This is a serious matter. You’re mother is very beautiful. The most beautiful woman in the world.” This is why my husband gets lucky so often.
“Tell me the truth, Daddy. I can take it,” she says seriously.
He looks at her face for several seconds, turning her head in his hands to get a good look, and finally nods. “Yep, you’re just as beautiful as her. You’re not more beautiful than her though. You’re exactly as beautiful as her.”
“Really?” she asks hopefully.
He leans down and kisses what I assume is her cheek since she’s a freak about lip kissing. “You take my breath away,” he whispers. Then he stands up and as he turns around to leave, I see him suspiciously wipe his eyes. I was wrong before. This is why he gets lucky so often.