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“I love you so much Belle.” Ned squeezes her little hand in his, her worn blonde doll framing her sweet halo head, her purple blankets gently touching the floor of her tiny bed.
“I love you too grandpa.” Belle smiles up at her papa, her face radiant youth glowing with unfettered dreams and pure delight, her high voice singsongy like a swallow.
“What would you like tonight before bed, water, a story?” Ned says this slowly eager to break open his favorite storybook and lull his granddaughter into gentle dreams.
Belle thinks with her eyes closed, shut tight, her hands squeezed together under the covers.
“Tonight I want something different grandpa.” Belle opens her eyes slowly and turns their full power on Ned’s. The green of her luminescent lids like beacons of forest shades.
“Yes baby anything you need. What is it?” Ned leans closer his long grey beard touching the purple covers.
“I need you to leave grandma.” Belle purses her lips and looks up at the roof where the plastic stars await their chance to shine in the absence of light.
“Leave grandma..” Ned repeats in a soft whisper. “But why?” He asks, his reluctance tightening his stomach into stone.
“If you truly love me as much as you say you will do it.” Belle responds sweetly. “It just must be done.” She adds with a small nod of her pointed elf chin.
“I can’t-“ Ned falters, “Your grandmother and I have been together through so much.” Ned screws his eyes shut as they begin to sting salty like he opened them wide in the pool.
“Yes but if you hold on to the past how will we ever move into the future?” Belle stares at Ned, deadpan, refusing to blink. “Don’t you think it’s time we all moved on?”
“Did she do something to you?” Ned chokes his hands brushing his beard strikingly fast the other resting on his stomach and then flying up to his cheeks to grab a hold of the skin.
“No of course not.” Belle laughs. “I heard on youtube that we are now entering the age of Aquarius and Venus is resting in the house of pisces. I see how watery you get for that girl in your yoga class. My inner light revealed to me that it is time you bring your desires to life and stop caretaking grandma, she’ll be fine.” Belle takes her hands out of her blanket and rests them contentedly on her chest, enclosing her fragile heart.
Ned snaps up his spine straight to the roof. “I am going to have a talk with your father about that youtube, your screen time is way too high.”
“Don’t avoid the truth papa, it will hurt us all.” Belle looks pained as she rolls her back to her grandpa. “Goodnight.” The slight disappointment causes her to falter before she says, “If you love me and yourself you’ll do whats right.”
Ned snaps off the bedside butterfly lamp. He walks to the hallway and slowly closes the door. The cat eases past his ankles and he leans his back against the wall. He takes out his phone and navigates to his email confirmation for his yoga class. His finger hovers above the cancel button then snaps down. A second confirmation appears, asking if he accepts the cancelation fee. He holds the phone steady for a long while before slowly lowering it with a clock into his pocket.