Kat hung up the phone as her father walked in the front door. Tucked away in his armpit was a folder. He was whistling like he was a Broadway performer. Kat listened closely and realized that he was humming Christmas carols.
Kat smiled.
“Isn’t it early for Christmas?” she asked.
“Not today,” her father said excitedly. He picked Kat up and spun her around. He could care less that a fourth grader is too cool to spin with her father in the living room. This was a moment for celebration.
“What’s going on?” Kat asked.
Her father sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. Kat obediently took a seat and stared at her father. He beamed and made his eyebrows dance.
“You’re being so weird,” Kat giggled.
“Merry Christmas!” he said handing the folder under his arm to Kat.
Kat read the name on the cover slowly: Serendipity Designs. She had seen signs with the name on it before, but couldn’t remember what they sold.
“What is it?” she asked with a smile.
“Open it,” her father said. “I promise it doesn’t bite.”
Kat grinned and opened the folder. Inside, she found a business card with a picture of a perky blond woman. Her name was Sandy Evans and she was here to ‘Make Every House a Home’. Kat pulled out other papers: blue prints, floor plans, and pictures.
“I don’t understand,” Kat said as she flipped though photos of bathrooms and kitchens.
“That’s our new house,” her father said softly. He seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief at the word ‘house’.
“House?” Kat yelled in excitement. “You mean, we, I, us. House?”
She couldn’t catch her breath. Her mind raced at what all of this meant.
Her father reached over and pulled out a picture of a cozy light blue room. Outside the windows was a forest and Kat could swear she could see a family of squirrels living in the trees.
“This’ll be your room,” her father said. He paused and looked at Kat. She stared at the photo like it was a precious treasure.
“Now I know it’s only a townhouse,” her father said. “But it comes right up to the park land. Just down the street is a little pond. The realtor said that it’s full of turtles in spring.”
Kat hugged the picture and closed her eyes. She’d have a new home, another new start.
“What about Uncle Chad and Princess Puffball?” Kat asked suddenly concerned.
Her father laughed out loud.
“Are you really worried about the Gray Terror?”
Kat smiled softly. Things had been getting better. Princess Puffball was sleeping next to her every morning now. Lily and she were friends. It was strange to have her enemies grow to like her, but Kat was finally happy.
“But Dad how can you afford it?” Kat asked as a thought struck her mind.
He smiled big and looked at the pictures of the house one more time.
“I landed the job of a lifetime,” he said. “In one weekend I’ll be able to pay off our first two months mortgage.”
Kat gasped in excitement. “Where did you find a job like that?” she asked her eyes awash in wonder.
“Your school,” he said proudly.
Kat let the bedroom photo drop from her finders. She felt as if she had been punched in the stomach.
“Your principal called me today and I was certain that you were in trouble for something else. Honestly this whole glitter business is absurd. Now your uncle got suspended or a good reason. Eggs and scaling the school is a good reason to get in trouble.”
“What did he tell you?” Kat asked panic rising in her voice.
“He said he’s got a pest problem in the fourth grade. Whole bunch of pests.” He winked at Kat and grinned at his joke.
“Ha ha,” Kat said clearly not amused.
“He said that whole school needs to be bug bombed,” her father said seriously. “Kat I don’t understand why this is such a big problem. Your principal is helping to pay for our new home!”
“And he’s doing it by killing Bob,” Kat said pushing the rest of the house photos out of her father’s hand.
“Hey now,” her father reprimanded. “What are you talking about?”
“Bob!” Kat shrieked and stood up. “The daddy long legs. You can’t kill him. Everything is better because of him.”
Kat’s father looked at her completely confused. Killing bugs had always been his life.
“And now Puff likes me and Lily isn’t going to deck me in kickball anymore,” Kat continued to rant. “I have friends now! You can’t kill Bob because of a dumb rule. You can’t!”
Tears began to stream down Kat’s reddening cheeks. Her father hadn’t seen Kat like this since her mother had passed away.
“Kathryn” he said softly touching her hand. “I thought that you wanted a new home.”
“I do,” Kat sobbed. “But I also want Bob.”
Her father sighed hard.
“This is my job Kathryn,” he said apologetically. “And the contracts have already been put in.”
Kat shook as she silently stared at her father through tear blurred eyes. She choked on two sobs before he left the living room with the pictures of her pretty house scattered all over the floor.
She ran to her bedroom and slammed the door. Princess Puffball lay curled up on her bed. She mewed softly and walked towards Kat. She rubbed up against Kat’s side as Kat sat down on the bed.
Kat looked at her dresser and tried to force the tears out of her eyes. Sitting on top of her dresser was the one thing that meant more than anything else right now: a t-shirt.
Kat reached over and slide the fabric over her head. She looked down and knew what she would do as soon as she got done with being suspended over some stupid glitter.
Save Bob!
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