Making Memories
Date Friday, March 29, 2024 - 07:29 AM PST
Topic Entertainment


As she glanced at the clock on the wall, she realized Dave's plane would be landing in about three more hours. There was not much time to finish his present, so she had better get done with the final touches. She spoke aloud to herself, "I hope he likes it." Then she sighed softly, as she went back to her sewing. She wanted everything to be perfect for his arrival.

Tuesday morning had been rough. Dave had only found out the night before that he would be flying to Dallas on some company business. He hated leaving Suzanna and Baby Dani, but the business trip was unavoidable.

"Sweetie, I wish I didn't have to go, but I just don't have a choice in the matter." He looked at his baby daughter, then smiled as gently as he could at his wife. Brushing a blond wisp of hair from her face as he said, "I wish Dani could stay like this forever. She's such a little angel."

Suzanna looked at their daughter's cherib face and auburn hair, and suddenly realized just how much she resembled her father. With her voice almost a whisper, she replied, "I know exactly what you mean darling."

Picking up his bags and giving a little wink to Dani as he spoke, " I'll be back on Friday. You guys will hardly have time to miss me." He blew a kiss to his wife and walked out the door.

Later that afternoon, Suzanna had gone into town figuring that a bit of shopping might help her pass the time. While browsing through the shelves in a used book store, she happened upon a book of crafts. It looked almost ancient to her, but leafing through the pages revealed some very interesting ideas for projects. She knew she had to buy it, and so she did.

That night, after Dani was asleep, she spent a good deal of time reading through the old book and planning out what she would need to buy to complete one of the projects. She decided she would get a very early start the next morning, as she wanted to surprise Dave on Friday with one of the projects as a gift . After she made herself a list of items to buy, she headed off to bed.

Wednesday was filled with shopping for an odd assortment of items. Some she found in the grocery store, some came from the hobby store, and some from the herbal shop downtown. Her favorite purchase, by far, was the pair of doll eyes from the hobby store. She felt the color was identical to the shade of hazel eyes that both Dani and Dave share.

Wednesday evening Suzanna laid out her items in her sewing room alongside the craft book. After reading through the instructions for the project, she felt certain that she had everything she needed to complete it. She went to the baby's room, and put Dani into her bassinet. Then she pushed her into the sewing room, and went immediately to work on her project.

The next two days were filled with her working on Dave's gift. Almost before she realized it, Friday had arrived. She was filled with excitement, but still a bit worried if her husband would be pleased. She tried to shove those feelings aside as she heard the car pull into the driveway. As she straightened the hem of the toddler-size, cornflower blue dress she had just made, the front door opened. She raced into the living room to greet her husband.

"Darling, I'm so glad to see you," she gushed as she saw him.

"Well, you sure look excited," he said as he gathered his wife into his arms for a hug.

Suzanna hugged him tightly, and then grabbed his hand to lead him to the sewing room. "Come on darling. I have a wonderful surprise for you."

As he let her lead him, Dave asked, "Should I close my eyes or anything?"

"Sure, go ahead and close them," she said with a huge grin on her face.

As they reached the doorway of the sewing room, she checked to make sure that Dave's eyes were still closed. Then she walked over to her sewing table and retrieved his gift from the table. With excitement in her voice, she told him, "You can hold out your hands now, but no peeking."

Her husband complied with her request immediately, and Suzanna placed his gift in his hands. With a bit of a quiver to her voice, she told him, "You can now open your eyes my darling." She held silent as she waited for his reaction.

As he opened his eyes, he was amazed to see what was he was holding. He smiled, almost not believing his eyes. Then he looked at his wife with obvious admiration. "You are quite a skilled seamstress my darling, and an amazing doll-maker. The dress is extraordinary, but what impresses me the most is the auburn hair, the gentle porcelain skin, even the twinkling little hazel eyes...your work is just amazing." Then a question crossed his mind. "But why a doll for me sweetheart?"

His wife beamed as she explained, "I remembered what you said just before you left for your trip. You said 'I wish Dani could stay like this forever', and I thought this would be just perfect for you."

"Well it's wonderful darling, just wonderful," he said in reply. Then, he noticed the bassinet in the sewing room, and motioned with his head towards it. An excited smile was on his face as he asked in a hushed voice,"I would supposed our little angel is asleep in there right now?"

His wife looked a little bit confused at hearing her husband's question. She glanced towards the bassinet, and then walked over to it. He looked down at the doll he held, and into the unblinking eyes that twinkled in the room lights. Then he waited to see his little daughter.

Suzanna turned the bassinet around, and Dave saw it was empty. He realized he could speak in a normal voice again, as he would not wake the baby since she must obviously be in her room. With an excited tone in his voice he said, "I'll just lay the doll in here while I go see if Dani is asleep."

As he placed the doll in the bassinet, his wife touched his hand and began to speak. "But darling..." She trailed off in midsentence.

He turned to look at her. The expression on her face somewhat startled him, and a deep chill passed through his body. As he looked into the icy blueness of her eyes, he asked her, "But darling...what?"

She shook her head slowly back and forth, and touched the object that her husband had just placed in the bassinet. "But darling...I thought you knew. This is Dani."

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