Everywhere you looked on the walls there was something to discover. A bird and nest tucked in the vine and a fairy sitting on a toadstool. Dragonflies and butterflies fluttered among the flowers. A crowned frog hid in a hollowed-out tree stump.
The windows had roller shades. When pulled down, they looked like forests beyond a stone wall. Gauzy pink drapes would flow in the wind when the windows were open.
The hardwood floors bloomed with roses and pansies in pink and lavender carpet cutouts.
The dark wood armoire with double doors hid a TV and DVD player with every movie Emma liked. A wooden chest sat at the foot of the bed. Inside Marti had stashed costumes for Emma to dress up and have tea parties, or be a pirate, or princess, or whatever she dreamed up. A matching dresser stood against one wall with oil lamps converted to electric lights. A matching pair on either side of the bed sat on the marble topped nightstands.
The queen-size bed was the most spectacular piece in the room. A wooden box frame surrounded the bed with four posts supporting a top piece. Draped from all sides and tied back, white flowing gauze drapes completed the elegant look.
The spectacular part was when you laid on the bed, you looked up into the box above the bed and it appeared you were looking at the night sky. Marti had spent hours painting the top of the bed. She wanted it to be just right.
A special surprise waited in the night sky too. On a cloud brightly reflected in the moon’s rays, Emma’s mother gazed down. While Emma slept, her mother would watch over her from heaven.
She waited to see Emma’s reaction to the room. The little girl stood silent next to her father staring. Tears ran down her face.
“You don’t like it after all. I can change it if you want something else, maybe a jungle, or a forest? No theme at all. You want a grown-up room.”
She looked at Cameron and he shrugged.
“It’s just what I imagined. You asked me once what my favorite things were about the pictures in the books. There were lots of different pictures and I liked different things from them all, but none of them was exactly right. This is exactly right.”
Marti stood speechless and filled with pride. Her eyes glassed over. Leave it to a five-year-old to tell you the truth and knock you to your knees.
Emma wiped her tears and ran to the toy chest and threw it open. She hollered about all the costumes. She ran to the windows and pushed the shades up and looked out at the garden below. She chattered and touched the designs on all the walls.
Energy and enthusiasm poured from Emma and filled Marti’s heart with joy.
“Emma, the two empty spots on the wall are where we’ll hang some paintings. They aren’t ready yet, but I left the spaces ready for them,” she pointed to the two spots and the hooks on the wall. She would give the paintings to Emma and Cameron at the benefit. “Come here. Up on the bed.”
Emma used the step stool to get up on the high bed. She bounced up the steps and landed on her knees on the mattress. She’d look like a dwarf when she slept in the bed. Marti wished she’d be there to watch the little girl grow up and fit in the queen-size bed.
Marti lay down next to her, and Emma oohed over the sky.
“Cameron, would you turn off the light for a minute?”
Cameron hit the switch and walked over to the bed to see what held their attention. When he came close, he looked under the ledge and saw the inside of the bed lit up with stars. They’d been painted with glow-in-the-dark paint, and around the outside of the painting were little white Christmas lights.
“Emma, when I sail, this is the sky I see. When I’m on my ship and you’re in your bed, we’ll see the same night sky. Your sky has something very special. Look up on that cloud, the one closest to the moon. Who do you see?”
“Mommy,” she squealed.
“That’s right, Sugar Bug. Your mommy will watch over you every night. She does anyway, but now you can look up and see her. When you’re sad or lonely, you can talk to her. She’ll always be here for you.”
Cameron’s hand lay on her thigh, he squeezed, letting her know in a