Dani Lorenzi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alittletoolegal) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2015-08-25 07:10 pm
alittletoolegal) wrote in muserevival2015-08-25 07:10 pm
Entry tags:
098.2. Muse Prompt - Quote
"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother’s love is not." - James Joyce
Having a sick child was never easy, especially when they were so young and didn't really understand why they were feeling bad. Part and parcel of parenthood was battling the germs and bugs. Dani never wanted to be one of those super-obsessive parents who drowned their kids in Lysol and was constantly armed with a miniature bottle of hand sanitizer to douse them with at every turn. She didn't want to be a mom who went overboard on the healthy shit and started hyperventilating if her kid so much as breathed near a McDonalds. She had tried to raise her little boy well, but she never wanted to wrap him up in cotton wool so he looked back on his childhood feeling like it was always about Mommy being a pain in the ass and keeping him under the thumb 24/7 in case he caught the sniffles or a tummy bug.
The latter was what she was dealing with. It was a pretty nasty bug too, and one of those situations where some extra worry and wrapping up in cotton wool was warranted. Her son was just a couple of months shy of his third birthday. Like she had been, he was a small kid and would probably grow up to be vertically challenged like she was. But he was always a perfect fit in her arms when he wanted cuddles and comfort. As much as you wanted to take away their bad feeling, you just had to ride it out and wait for them to bounce back.
Somewhere in the early hours of the morning, Dani had brought Benny to bed with her. She had all the usual tools on hand for when he got sick again, and was now back into his well-loved, well-worn Elmo pyjamas because all his other pairs - and his bed clothes - had become casualties. She was lying on her side with him snuggled in against her chest and wiping down his face with a cool cloth after he recovered from yet another bout of throwing up miserably. She kissed his head, trying all the while to soothe him. Benny was usually a lively, talkative little kid, but feeling so poorly, he hadn't said much. That was why Dani was taken by surprise when he did speak up, and with a question she should have been preparing herself for but had been too distracted taking care of him.
"Mommy, who was that man?" Benny asked, big tired brown eyes looking up at her.
After a couple of internal mental kicks to herself, Dani plucked up the courage to answer her son. "That's Curtis..." he began, though there was hesitation before she began. "He's your daddy, angioletto." That still felt weird saying out loud. No matter how much she could have tried to practice for this conversation, nothing would have prepared her for it.
She could almost see the wheels ticking over in her little boy's brain while he processed that, but having raised him to not think a father was vital in the equation or that he had any sort of void in their family, it probably wasn't making a whole lot of sense. And he still had another good ten years to go before the Sex Talk would happen, so technicalities and logistics weren't going to be able to come into things.
"Like Ariel has in The Little Mermaid?" Benny finally asked.
Dani did nearly confirm that as that case, until she rapidly remembered that Ariel's dad was a bit of a douchebag in the Disney movie with his disapproval and what not. "No, not really like that, sweetie. More like... like..." She floundered, her brain whirring to try to find an appropriate father Benny could liken his understanding to here. Then she suddenly remembered Mark telling her once that his little girl, Sunshine, thought her big brother, Justin, was like Nemo because his daddy went looking for him and found him. She had thought it was adorable at the time, and now she was going to have to borrow the four year old's wisdom for her own cause. "Like Nemo has."
Benny was watching her closely, and she was bracing herself for any weird, wonderful or awkward questions her little son might throw at her here. Hallelujah for Disney, or else she might not have gotten through this without guilty tears welling up. "He came to find me?"
Yet, they still might come with questions like that and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself crying. Maybe it was a cop-out, but it was such an innocent way for him to be able to understand here. She didn't want Benny going in thinking Curtis never wanted him, or not understanding why he hadn't been there, but suddenly was now. This could probably work. For now, anyway. "Yes, he did, sweetie. And from now on, you will always still have Mommy, but you'll also have a daddy. He will do all the same sorts of things as Mommy, but he will just be with you some of the time. Not all of the time, like Mommy. He loves you very much, just like Nemo's daddy loves him."
Benny didn't say anything else. He just nodded, seeming to accept her explanation for what it was. She kissed his head again, managing to stifle a sigh of relief that she had the chance to break the ice smoothly. A lot of this still hurt, and might keep hurting for awhile, but the common factor was that neither she nor Curtis wanted Benny to hurt in the process. For now, all it could be was a work-in-progress.
Dani Lorenzi
~ original character ~
Having a sick child was never easy, especially when they were so young and didn't really understand why they were feeling bad. Part and parcel of parenthood was battling the germs and bugs. Dani never wanted to be one of those super-obsessive parents who drowned their kids in Lysol and was constantly armed with a miniature bottle of hand sanitizer to douse them with at every turn. She didn't want to be a mom who went overboard on the healthy shit and started hyperventilating if her kid so much as breathed near a McDonalds. She had tried to raise her little boy well, but she never wanted to wrap him up in cotton wool so he looked back on his childhood feeling like it was always about Mommy being a pain in the ass and keeping him under the thumb 24/7 in case he caught the sniffles or a tummy bug.
The latter was what she was dealing with. It was a pretty nasty bug too, and one of those situations where some extra worry and wrapping up in cotton wool was warranted. Her son was just a couple of months shy of his third birthday. Like she had been, he was a small kid and would probably grow up to be vertically challenged like she was. But he was always a perfect fit in her arms when he wanted cuddles and comfort. As much as you wanted to take away their bad feeling, you just had to ride it out and wait for them to bounce back.
Somewhere in the early hours of the morning, Dani had brought Benny to bed with her. She had all the usual tools on hand for when he got sick again, and was now back into his well-loved, well-worn Elmo pyjamas because all his other pairs - and his bed clothes - had become casualties. She was lying on her side with him snuggled in against her chest and wiping down his face with a cool cloth after he recovered from yet another bout of throwing up miserably. She kissed his head, trying all the while to soothe him. Benny was usually a lively, talkative little kid, but feeling so poorly, he hadn't said much. That was why Dani was taken by surprise when he did speak up, and with a question she should have been preparing herself for but had been too distracted taking care of him.
"Mommy, who was that man?" Benny asked, big tired brown eyes looking up at her.
After a couple of internal mental kicks to herself, Dani plucked up the courage to answer her son. "That's Curtis..." he began, though there was hesitation before she began. "He's your daddy, angioletto." That still felt weird saying out loud. No matter how much she could have tried to practice for this conversation, nothing would have prepared her for it.
She could almost see the wheels ticking over in her little boy's brain while he processed that, but having raised him to not think a father was vital in the equation or that he had any sort of void in their family, it probably wasn't making a whole lot of sense. And he still had another good ten years to go before the Sex Talk would happen, so technicalities and logistics weren't going to be able to come into things.
"Like Ariel has in The Little Mermaid?" Benny finally asked.
Dani did nearly confirm that as that case, until she rapidly remembered that Ariel's dad was a bit of a douchebag in the Disney movie with his disapproval and what not. "No, not really like that, sweetie. More like... like..." She floundered, her brain whirring to try to find an appropriate father Benny could liken his understanding to here. Then she suddenly remembered Mark telling her once that his little girl, Sunshine, thought her big brother, Justin, was like Nemo because his daddy went looking for him and found him. She had thought it was adorable at the time, and now she was going to have to borrow the four year old's wisdom for her own cause. "Like Nemo has."
Benny was watching her closely, and she was bracing herself for any weird, wonderful or awkward questions her little son might throw at her here. Hallelujah for Disney, or else she might not have gotten through this without guilty tears welling up. "He came to find me?"
Yet, they still might come with questions like that and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself crying. Maybe it was a cop-out, but it was such an innocent way for him to be able to understand here. She didn't want Benny going in thinking Curtis never wanted him, or not understanding why he hadn't been there, but suddenly was now. This could probably work. For now, anyway. "Yes, he did, sweetie. And from now on, you will always still have Mommy, but you'll also have a daddy. He will do all the same sorts of things as Mommy, but he will just be with you some of the time. Not all of the time, like Mommy. He loves you very much, just like Nemo's daddy loves him."
Benny didn't say anything else. He just nodded, seeming to accept her explanation for what it was. She kissed his head again, managing to stifle a sigh of relief that she had the chance to break the ice smoothly. A lot of this still hurt, and might keep hurting for awhile, but the common factor was that neither she nor Curtis wanted Benny to hurt in the process. For now, all it could be was a work-in-progress.
~ original character ~