Butterfly Kisses

Painting by Thomas Little

Maria heard the sound of her daughter singing, and when she walked into the room, tears filled her eyes. The tears came so easily these days.

So, this was why her daughter wanted to bake a cake. She had asked for the electric candles, and Maria thought  the cake had been for her stuffed animals. She liked having tea parties. Not trusting herself to speak, she stood behind her daughter and listened.

“Happy Birthday to you. I hope you like the color pink. It’s the best color, and you are the best daddy.”

Looking out the window, her voice dropped a little, and Maria had to strain to hear.

“I miss you, and mommy misses you too. She cries a lot. I try to be  good,  but yesterday Austin was mean and …” Collette paused and crossed her arms. 

“I said sorry but I will tell you a secret, I not sorry, Daddy. He looked funny with ketchup in his hair.”

She giggled, and Maria had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. 

“Come back soon, Daddy, please! I love you.”

Collette blew him kisses. “I hope you can catch all my kisses. They come with a million wishes for you to hurry back to me and Mommy. Then mommy won’t cry anymore. I don’t like it when mommy is sad.”

Maria couldn’t hold back anymore. She wrapped her arms around her precious daughter.

“I love you so much, sweetie!”

Collette hugged her mommy tight, “I love you, mommy. Do you think Daddy got my kisses?”

Kissing her daughter’s cheek, she replied. “Yes, I do, I really do!”

After they ate the cake with some of Collette’s stuffed animals, Collette ran off to play, and Maria cleaned up the kitchen

Her husband, Antoine, had been missing for a few weeks now. With each day that passed and still no word, it was getting harder to hold onto hope. 

He traveled a lot for his job, and Maria always worried about him getting in an accident.  Now, it appeared that her fears may have come true. Where was he?

She had called the local hospitals checking for him, but he didn’t fit the description of any new patients.

Bowing her head, she prayed again. He had to be OK, he had to. She couldn’t begin to imagine life without him.

Life without her French lover, who  had swept her off her feet five years ago. It was a summer of romance that never ended when she was studying at the university for the summer. Little had she known that she wouldn’t be returning to live in the States after that one sizzling summer spent here. 

The phone rang, and Maria’s heart lurched when she saw the name of a hospital flash up on Caller ID.

“Hello..” She was trying to remind herself to breathe.

“Maria, oh my Maria … It’s me.” The tears rolled down her cheeks as she listened to the most wonderful sound of all. Her husband’s voice.

When she hung up the phone, her heart was bursting with happiness about her prayers being answered.

Antoine had been in a bad car wreck and was unconscious when the medics found him. He had been thrown from his vehicle and had no ID on him. Thankfully, when he awoke, he knew who he was and had been able to call Marie.

His voice was weak, but it was music to Marie’s ears, and her body had tingled all over with goosebumps when he told her about waking up.

“I heard Collette’s voice, but it was distant, and I couldn’t make out what she was saying. But then there was a wetness on my cheek that felt exactly like her butterfly kisses. I struggled to open my eyes, for I wanted to see her so badly, and that’s when I woke up. I woke up to our little girl’s kisses. ”

His voice had broke and Maria knew he was fighting back tears. The lump in her throat had been huge, but she finally managed to speak.

“Oh honey, this morning, Collette was blowing you kisses, and you caught them. You caught her butterfly kisses that had been sent with a million loving wishes.”