IV - Part II: My "Date" With Madison
As I drove to Alpharetta, I called my mom in a panic. I told her what I was doing and how crazy this was, and how nervous I was about meeting Madison. What did I know about 7-year old girls? Mom laughed and reminded me that I had been one, and asked what I was taking her."What am I taking her? Huh?"
"A gift, Tam. You are taking Madison a little gift, right?"
"Why?"
"Oh, Tam, have I not taught you anything? You need to take her a little something to make friends with her. But don't give it to her right away - find a good time maybe tomorrow after the cookout. Just tell her how much you want to be her friend."
"Mom, I'm on the road. What the heck am I supposed to do now?"
"Ever heard of Wal-Mart? I'd find one real quick if I were you."
"And what do I get?"
"You'll figure it out."
Over the course of the next hour of my two-hour trip, mom called back several times with "ideas" from she and my father about what to get for Madison. A little pair of earrings? A box of paints? A pretty hair bow? Little girl nail polish? Lip gloss? Oh man, this was harder than we thought. And then, on my way in to the hotel that night, I passed a Wal-Mart. Surely, my idea would come sometime in the night and I could pick something up in the morning.
As I attempted to find my way to the restaurant, I found myself miserably, hopelessly LOST. This is no way to impress a man. I rang his cell phone and a small voice answered, "Hi Tamara!" "Well, Madison! Hi! How are you?" "Hungry! Where are you?" "I'm lost" "DADDY! Tamara's LOST!!" Joe then took the phone, and ended up having me turn around and find my way to an exit and wait for him. He talked me through the whole thing, then jumped out in front of my car, and guided me back to the restaurant. Madison jumped out of the SUV exuberantly.
Taking advice from my mom, and asked Madison about her cheerleading that Joe had filled me in on. Immediately, Madison was off like a shot telling me all about the new uniforms and shouting out random cheers at warp speed as she skipped toward the restaurant ahead of us. Joe just put his arm around me as we walked toward the restaurant. He looked down at me, winked, and smiled. I guess I passed the initial meeting test.
After we finished our appetizers, and before dinner arrived, I excused myself to find a restroom. Madison looked inquisitive as I made my way up from the table and to the restroom. The stall I was in had a door with slats in that allowed you to see and hear a little of the world outside. As I sat down, the main restroom door opened. I suppose no other stalls were occupied, giving it away that I was most likely inside the stall with the closed (and locked) door. A little face ran up to the door of my stall and said, "Hiiiii Taaaaammmmaaaaarraaaaaaa!" (Much giggling) "I fooooouuuunnd yoooooouuu!" (More giggling). "Hi Madison", I replied while peeing. "I wanted to see if you needed any help. Girls always go to the bathroom together." Ah, she was learning young about "the rules", I noted. As I flushed the toilet, she bolted out of the restroom. I washed my hands and powered my face, and made my way back to the table. Madison slid down into her chair and grinned, and I approached the table and acted like I was going to tickle her - but I just bumped foreheads with her and grinned right back. Joe and his dad really had no idea what had transpired between the two of us. And it didn't matter. Joe apologized, but said as soon as I'd left the table and gone in, Madison took off after me and he couldn't catch her before she made it into the restroom. I said it was no big deal, and that girls go to the bathroom together all the time. Again, Madison beamed. She ate very little at dinner because she was more concerned with watching me than she was with her food.
As the evening ended, Joe's dad drove away from the restaurant after the traditional "nice meeting you's" and Joe got into his SUV with Madison and they had me follow them to the hotel. Joe attempted to kiss me goodnight without Madison seeing - but that was not to be. She had smashed her little face against the window so she could see every possible thing.
The next morning after I'd gotten dressed, my cell phone rang and it was Madison who had started singing:
Are you alive, awake, alert, and motivated?
Are you alive, awake, alert, and motivated?
I'm alive, awake, alert.
I'm alert, awake, alive.
I'm alive, awake, alert, and motivated.
Apparently, this was a song she had learned in school recently. And she wanted to share the love with me. She asked if I wanted to meet her and Joe at the Starbucks across the street from my hotel. We planned to meet up in an hour. In the meantime, I ran to Wal-Mart and knew exactly what I was after.
I went to the jewelry counter and picked it out without hesitation. The sales lady put it in a cute giftbox and after I paid I slipped it into my purse and was on my way. I made my way to Starbucks and settled into a big comfy chair with my enormous caramel latte and a book. Pretty soon Madison came bounding through the door and crawled up into my lap to give me a hug. Joe smiled down at the two of us, and went to the other side of the place to stand in line for coffee. Meanwhile, I told Madison I had gotten her a little present. I took out the tiny box and she carefully pried it open to find a little sterling silver ring with an amethyst heart. She gasped as if she had been given a diamond. She went to close the box, but I asked her if she wanted to put it on. She nodded, and I took it out for her and put it on her ring finger. She held her left hand with her right and admired it quietly. Then, all of a sudden she jumped out of my lap and bolted across Starbucks looking for Joe. "Daddy! Daddy, look what Tamara got me!" Joe looked confused, and sat down with us. I waited for him to disapprove, but he looked at the two of us like he'd never seen anything more beautiful. He took his time admiring her new ring and telling her how great it looked on her. It was a tiny little ring, but it was apparently perfect. Madison would not leave my lap while we drank our coffee. She laid her head on my chest, and I thought, "Oh no, please don't make me like you. Please no. I already like your daddy way too much. Not you, too."
In the parking lot, Joe pulled me into him and hugged and kissed me. "You bless my socks off", he said, while looking at me in wide-eyed wonder. I felt warm again. "Thanks. It's my pleasure."
We made our way to breakfast, and afterwards it was time to head back to the house. Joe needed to pick up some things at the store for the cookout later, and asked if I wanted to follow them to the grocery store, or go on to the house. Madison then interjected, "Daddy, Tamara and I can go to the house while you go to the store." Uh-oh. I was no officially worried. Joe, on the other hand, was not. He got the garage remote control out of his car and handed it to me, telling me the door was open inside. Great - now I had his only child and entry to his house. I followed his directions and made it to the house in one piece - but emotionally frazzled. Because once in the car with Madison, the real fun began.
She picked through the tapes I had (my car only had a tape player) and saw nothing she liked. She turned on the radio and found some station that seemed to suit her, but turned it back off again.
"So, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?", I prodded.
"I like all of them." Good answer, I thought.
She asked if she could look in my purse. I thought for a second and figured it couldn't hurt. She found a couple of miniature perfumes that I kept in my car - and she proceeded to try each of them on herself.
"Are you going to marry my dad?" I prayed I would not wreck the car.
"Well, your dad and I care about each other a lot - but that is something we would talk about a while from now. You would be the first to know." And just as I started to relax, another question came.
"Do you want kids?" Again, more prayer.
She had found various containers of mints and tic tacs, and put one of each in her mouth. She found some face power, and put some on herself, and then reached over to put some on me.
"Yes, I do." I smiled, knowing I could answer that one.
"If you married my dad, would you want me to be your kid?"
"Absolutely. I think you would be a great kid."
"I think you'd be a good mom, too."
She found some berry flavored lip gloss and puts it on her tiny lips without a mirror. It smeared, but she puckered her lips at me, and I grinned back at her.
"Beautiful."
"I want you to be my mom." Panic set it.
"Well, you have a mom who loves you very much, and she will always be your mom, no matter what."
No response from Madison, who is still digging through my purse and is now counting my change from my wallet. I give it another try:
"I bet your mom is beautiful."
"She is", Madison replied quickly.
And just like that, the depth of the conversation shifted.
"Wanna see my room?"
"Of course, Madison, I'd love to see your room"
Once inside, we headed upstairs where she proceeded to tell me every detail about everything in her room. I admired everything appropriately. She put a sticker on my chest that said "Madison" with a teddy bear on it. I had been tagged. Apparently now I was property. She then pulled an assortment of books off the shelves and asked if I wanted her to read to me. I accepted the offer, only to discover what she really meant was would I read to her. Halfway through the book, we heard the garage door open.
"Hide!", Madison whispered. "Under the bed!"
Heavens, no. Does she not see how big I am? Apparently not.
Thank God the bed in the upstairs guest bedroom was high off the floor.
We crawled under it together and tried to keep from giggling.
We heard the door open and Joe call out, "Hi girls. I'm home."
We giggled quietly.
"Girls?"
We kept quiet as we heard Joe climb the stairs.
"Gosh, I wonder where they are." he said as he made his way into the room.
Madison couldn't help herself and wriggled out from under the bed.
"We were hiding, Daddy!"
"Oh, were you now?"
I wriggled out with some degree of difficulty and found that I was covered from head to toe in dust bunnies and carpet fibers - even in my hair. Madison had run downstairs to inspect the contents of the grocery bags.
Joe lifted me up in his arms, smiled, and told me how beautiful I wam - my lint-covered self. He said he could smell the perfume all the way downstairs.
As Joe prepared food, Madison and I went for a walk down the street to feed carrots to the neighbor's horses. It was then I realized that the day had really been my date with Madison. Joe was just the chaperone.
posted by No Longer In Crisis @ 7/21/2005 03:10:00 PM
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