“Mommy, did you see me?”

Leilani ran into the room and leaped into her mother’s arms. “Did you see me? I was dancing!”

Chelsie ran her hand over her daughter’s curls, smoothing them gently. “I saw you, baby. You did so good.”

Miss Chieftain, the dance instructor entered into the small room, searching for Chelsie and Leilani. “There you are.” She handed Leilani her dance slippers. “You forgot these, Lani.”

“Thank you. I need to get her a dance bag for her things. We’ll have it for next class.” Chelsie assured her.

“No worries. Lani is very independent, isn’t she?” The instructor mused. “She likes to try new things.”

“She’s like her father.” Chelsie informed her, with a smile. “He kind of did his own thing too.”

“I see. Well, maybe try to convince her to follow the class a bit for next week, so I don’t have a bunch of rebels on my hands, okay?” She smiled at the little girl fondly. “She’s good though, Mrs. Kanemura.”

Chelsie’s smile faded. “Ah…no…it’s Miss Hightower actually, and thank you, about Lani.”

The teacher tilted her head in confusion.

“Her father passed away. We weren’t…you know…we were going to…” Chelsie stammered.

“Oh…I’m sorry…my apologies.”

“No problem.” Chelsie whispered faintly. “C’mon Lani, let’s go get lunch, okay? See you next week, Miss Chieftain.”

*****************************************************************************

Leilani pushed a french fry into her mouth as she studiously watched the other kids bouncing in the ball pit.

“Mommy, what’s passed away mean? You told Miss Chieftain daddy passed away.”

Chelsie let a startled look pass briefly over her face. “Um, it’s another way of saying he died, hun. Some people think it sounds nicer.”

“Oh, okay. I’m going into the balls, okay?”

Chelsie shook her head in wonder at how her small daughter could be discussing something so serious and then just flip back to kid mode with the snap of a finger. She would never understand it. She finished up the last few bites of her salad and sat back to watch Leilani playing. Why had today seemed so full of talk about death? Leilani knew how her father died; she knew why he wasn’t here. Why did she mention it out of the blue this morning? And then at dance class, with Miss Chieftain, and just now. Chelsie shook her head. She knew that it was good to talk about it. Over the years, her therapist had often told her that she would feel much better if she just let it all out, but she still, even five years on, found it very hard to talk about. She pushed it into the back of her mind, trying to forget every day that the plane crash had ever happened. She preferred to think of Mark as just not there, instead of gone forever. And then days like this just hit it home to her that he was gone and never coming back. Chelsie felt the tears sliding down her face and captured them with a napkin. She almost never cried anymore and all day today she had been on the verge of tears.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Chelsie felt small hands stroking her back. She quickly wiped her tears and put on a fake smile to appease her daughter. “Nothing, sweetie, I’m fine.”

“Daddy said not to cry.” Leilani warned, shaking her finger.

“I know, I know.” Chelsie could feel the tears starting again. “I’m trying not to. I guess I’ve just been missing him a lot today.”

“Tell me again how you met daddy.”

“Let’s go get in the van, and I’ll tell you on the way home, deal?”

“I can’t believe I got Chelsie Kay Hightower for a partner.” Mark looked at her adoringly. “This is so awesome. Maybe I’ll last longer than a week on here.”

“And I got the weirdo, great!” Chelsie joked. “I’ll be gone in a week!”

“Thanks, love you too.” Mark shot back, with a grin.

“You’ll be fine. I’ve never seen anyone move like you before.” Chelsie admitted.

“You’ve been watching me move?” Mark raised an eyebrow at her.

“Um…so…what do you think of this dance?” Chelsie wondered aloud. “It’s a little...different.”

Mark realized she was embarrassed and didn’t tease her about her comment. “I love it. It’s got a story I can sink my teeth into. But it’s hard. That damn lift.” Mark smacked his hand on the floor. “I can’t see anything with that skirt in my face!”

“We’ll get it.” Chelsie assured him, rubbing his shoulder. “I know you can do it.”

“Thanks, Chels.” Mark beamed at her. “First time someone’s told me that I can do something or showed confidence in me all day. Feels good.”

“I have to have confidence in you. You’re the one throwing me around out there!” Chelsie punched him lightly in the shoulder. “How about we go out for coffee and then rehearse some more after?” Chelsie surprised herself with her boldness. But she wasn’t quite ready to let go of Mark. She wanted to find out all she could about this mysterious man that was now her partner.

“That would be great! We can get to know each other a little better.” Mark agreed.

“Good! So, I’ve got something I want to know, Mark Kanemura. What’s the deal with your pinkies?”

“I’ve gots weird pinkies too, right mommy?” Leilani held up her fingers and wiggled them in front of her mother.

“Well, a little bit. Daddy’s were way more bent than yours.” Chelsie grinned at her daughter. “They were funny looking.”

Leilani giggled at her mother. “Did you really like daddy right from the very firstest?”

“I really did.” Chelsie sighed. “Right from the very firstest.”