to see her baby. She was the cutest little girl Alex had ever seen, and her bright red hair shone like a beacon in the bathtub.
“Shhh …” Annabelle said seriously, holding her finger to her lips. “Mermaids don't talk.”
“Are you a mermaid?”
“Of course I am. Carmen said I could use your bathtub and your bubble bath if I let her wash my hair tonight.” Carmen smiled at her employer and Alex laughed. Annabelle loved to make deals, and Carmen was as much putty in her hands as her parents were, Annabelle didn't take unfair advantage of it, but she knew that she was everyone's darling.
“How about if I take a bath with you, and we both wash our hair?” her mother suggested. She wanted to take a bath anyway before Sam came home for dinner.
“Okay.” Annabelle thought about it for a minute. She hated to have her hair shampooed, but she was beginning to suspect there would be no way out this time.
Alex slipped out of her black suit, and high heels, and Carmen went to check on dinner, while Annabelle continued to play mermaid, and a moment later they were both in the big tub, having a conversation about their respective days. Annabelle liked the fact that her mother was a lawyer, and her father was a “invention capitalist,” as she called it. She always explained that it was sort of like a banker, and he gave away people's money, which was not exactly the way her father described what he did, but it satisfied Annabelle. She knew her mother went to court and argued with the judge, but she didn't send people to jail, which was simpler.
“So how was your day?” Alex asked, luxuriating in the warm water and the bubbles, feeling like a mermaid herself after a day at the office.
“Pretty good.” Annabelle looked at her with obvious pleasure. Her mother had kissed her hello when she got in the tub, and Annabelle was happily sitting beside her.
“Did anything special happen at school?”
“Nope. We ate frogs though.”
“You ate frogs?” Alex looked intrigued, but was familiar with her daughter's shorthand and knew there was more to the story. “What kind of frogs?” Surely not real ones.
“Green frogs. With black eyes, and coconut hair on them.” The “coconut hair” was the tip-off, as Alex wondered how she had ever managed to live without her.
“You mean like cupcakes?”
“Yeah sort of, Bobby Bronstein brought them. It was his birthday.”
“That sounds pretty good.”
“His mother brought gummy worms and spiders too. They were pretty gross.” She was delighted at the scary report that had intrigued her mother.
“Sounds yummy.” Alex smiled down at her as Annabelle shrugged, unimpressed by the culinary delights she had encountered.
“It was okay. I like your cupcakes better. Especially the chocolate ones.”
“Maybe we'll make some this weekend.” … after Daddy and I make love and try to make you a baby brother or sister…. She reminded herself again about the blue kit.
“What are we doing this weekend?” a familiar voice asked as they both looked up to see Annabelle's Daddy, watching them from the doorway with obvious amusement. It was an appealing scene, and his eyes met his wife's with all the love he felt for both of them, and then he leaned down to kiss his wife and his daughter. Alex caught him by the tie and held him there for another kiss, and he didn't object as he kissed her.
“We were talking about making cupcakes, among other things,” Alex said seductively, as he raised an eyebrow, and then stepped back from the tub and took off his tie and opened his collar.
“Any other plans for this weekend?” he asked casually, he had also remembered the blue kit.
“I think so,” she smiled at him, and he returned the look in her eyes with pleasure. Almost fifty, he was still a strikingly handsome man, and looked ten years younger than he was, as did Alex. They were a good-looking pair, and it was obvious that Annabelle had done nothing to dim the passion between them.
“What are you two doing in the bathtub with all those bubbles?” he asked Annabelle, and she looked at him matter-of-factly.
“We're mermaids, Daddy.”
“Any interest in having a big whale join you?”
“You're coming in too, Daddy?” she giggled, and he took off his jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt, as the three of them laughed, and a minute later, he had locked the door so Carmen wouldn't come back in, and he was in the tub with