Safe In The Lawman's Arms. Patricia Johns

Katy asked, pointing at the picture.

      “Um...” Mike looked closer. “My guess is Lippity Loppity.”

      “Okay.” She put her head back against his chest and heaved a deep sigh.

      “‘One day, Lippity Loppity the little bunny hopped away from his cozy burrow toward the big woods,’” Mike read.

      “Is Lippity Loppity a girl bunny?” Katy asked.

      “I think he’s a boy.”

      “I don’t like that. Lippity Loppity is a girl.”

      “Oh.” Mike glanced up at Malory again, humor glimmering in his eyes. “Okay. I must have gotten it wrong. Let’s keep reading.” He turned the page. “‘Lippity Loppity’s mother told him’—I mean, her—‘that the woods were no place for small bunnies to go alone, but Lippity Loppity didn’t listen.’”

      “Where is the mommy?” Katy asked.

      “I don’t see her in the picture,” Mike said.

      “What’s she like?”

      Mike glanced toward Malory with alarm, and she understood his discomfort. This was difficult territory considering that Katy’s mother was in prison, but she needed to believe in warmth and love, even if her life experience hadn’t included the kind of stability she craved. Malory shrugged, giving him a sympathetic smile. This one was his call.

      “Well, I think she would be warm and snuggly,” Mike said.

      “Oh.” Katy considered this.

      “‘Inside the woods—’” Mike began.

      “Does Lippity Loppity have a daddy?” Malory asked.

      Mike flipped forward in the story, scanning each page. When he reached the end, he flipped back to the page they were on and shrugged. “It doesn’t seem to say.”

      “But do you know?” she asked earnestly. “Does she have a daddy?”

      “Everyone has a daddy somewhere,” Mike said quietly. His gaze flickered toward Malory again, and she felt a soft flutter within. She put a hand on her belly. Mike was right. Everyone did have a daddy, even if that daddy didn’t want her. How did you explain that to a child? Sadness welled up inside Malory. She knew the fatherless feeling all too well, and unfortunately, so would her baby.

      “Are you my daddy, Uncle Mike?” Katy asked, big blue eyes fixed on Mike’s rugged face.

      “I, um—” Mike cleared his throat. “No, Katy, I’m not your daddy.”

      “Oh.” Katy’s whole frame sank down in disappointment, and while Mike read the rest of the story, her glum expression didn’t change.

      “‘And Lippity Loppity never went near the woods again,’” Mike read. “‘The end.’”

      Katy didn’t speak, nor did she lift her head.

      “Is she sleeping?” Mike whispered.

      “No.” Malory slid off her seat and moved next to Mike on the couch. Katy looked up at Malory dismally.

      “What’s the matter, sweetie?” Malory asked quietly.

      Katy didn’t answer and likely couldn’t put her thoughts into words. She was too young to grapple with the harshness of her reality. Malory held out her arms.