Wishing stars

Lucia laughed, watching Bailey and knelt down by her, waiting until the small girl stuck out one little foot followed by the other. Lucia righted the socks, making sure they were on correctly and then stood, setting the small girl on her feet. She was adorable!

Bailey smiled widely at her then pulled on her red cowgirl boots, both being on the wrong feet, and stood. "did you get coco puffs?" She asked rushing over to Tucker, her eyes wide as she watched him pour the milk into the bowl. "Of course," he chuckled and led her over to the table, helping her up into the chair and fixing her boots with a smile.

Half an hour later, Bailey was tugging Lucia along by the finger, an ice cream bucket in hand. "Come on! We gots ta get the eggs!"

Lucia laughed and followed after the small girl, nodding. She led her to all of the chickens and seemed to have no hesitation, pulling eggs, even from under chickens! Lucia was a bit more reluctant, a bit nervous. After a minute, though, she pulled some of the eggs that were a bit higher up. A chicken jerked to attention when Lucia reached under it and she let out a small shriek, pulling her hand back and then lauging.

Bailey looked at her and giggled happily. "Lif me up! I can get it!" She said holding her hands up in the air and standing on her tip toes.

Tucker was forking loose hay down from the loft to give to the animals and keep from getting to many rats.

Lucia lifted Bailey up with a grin and she plucked two eggs from under the chicken. It seemed they were done. "Is that all the eggs?" She asked, putting Bailey down and smiling.

"Now we gots ta feed em!" Bailey said as she liftd the bucket of eggs, it taking both hands. With the way she was going about it, they'd all be cracked by the time they got back to the house, but she had a large proud smile on her face. She went over to the small grain bucket that was hidden from the chickens and leaned over the edge of it, her finger tips just barely missing the coffee can at the bottom.

Lucia lifted Bailey up again, letting her grab the can and scoop grain. She watched as the small girl fed the chickens and chuckled. Tucker was lucky to have her. She grinned when Bailey was done and dropped the coffee can back into the feed. "What now?"

"Now we gots to take the eggs in and washed them and puts them in the boxes." Bailey said as she went back to trying to carry the egg bucket. "And we gots to take daddy lemons laid." She nodded, her little blonde curls bouncing.

Lucia pursed her lips and then broke into a chuckle. "Lemon-aid?" She asked with a smile, but the message was clear enough. Lucia pulled a chair up to the sink and helped Bailey clean the eggs off. A few of them were cracked, but there were still some that were intact. When Bailey hopped down, Lucia put the chair back at the kitchen talble. "Where are the cups?" She asked.

"Mmm," Bailey's brow furrowed and she looked around then pointed to a cupboard just above the sink and to the right. "They're in there!" She said excitedly as she rushed to the fridge and forced it open, grabbing the bag of lemons. "And the eggs go in here!"

Lucia put the eggs into the fridge where she told her and then she pulled out a cup. She brought back her chair with a smile and lifted Bailey up and helped her made the lemon-aid. She chuckled at the little girls enthusiasm. "Now what?" She asked, when it was made.

"We ring the bell! It's lunch time! See?" Bailey said pointing to the digital clock on the stove. "One two free, fou." 12:34. "It's lunch time, that's always when Granny rings the bell to make him come in." She smiled and tugged her hand, leading her out to the porch where a cast iorn triangle bell hung from the roof of the porch, a small bar attached to a string hanging from it.

Lucia laughed even harder and helped Bailey ring the bell. She couldn't help but cringe a little when Bailey mentioned her grandmother so easily. But, that was the joy of being young and ignorant. If there was one thing she loved about Bailey, it was her endless excitement.

Tucker was visible from the porch five minutes later. Bailey was dancing with impatience as she watched him get closer. Finally, when he was almost to the house, she ran down the steps. "Daddy!" she giggled, her arms out as Tucker picked her up and held her above his head, laughing happily. He pretended to drop her, making her squeal and then giggle wildly when he caught her again, carrying her up the porch to Lucia. He was sweaty and smelled of musty hay, some of it sticking to his face. He kissed Lucia gently and gave a small smile. "How are you?"

Lucia brushed the hay off his face with her thumb and kissed him back. She took a deep breath and thought over his question. "Great," she said. "Bailey's been keeping me busy," she chuckled. They had been talking about Tucker most of the time and about how they both loved him. Bailey had been rambling, which had Lucia laughing. She looked at Tucker and grinned. "How about you?" She asked.

"I'm good," Tucker said with a small nod and kissed her again, then led her inside, setting Bailey down. He took his boots off at the door and walked to the kitchen with them, Bailey sitting on the kitchen floor, trying to take her boots off. "What's for lunch, Bails?"
"Lemons laid and um...." she looked at Lucia. Shoot, they forgot to make the lunch. "Penuts and butter and jelly samiches." She finally said and went to grab the bread after she took her boots off.

Lucia supressed another grin by biting her lip, following Bailey into the kitchen and helping her make the sadwiches. She put them on a plate and carried them out, Bailey by her side. Lucia's smile was large, nearly beaming. She hadn't been this happy in a while.

Tucker watched them, smiling happily, though his phone was to his ear, his eyes holding a slightly sad look. A note pad sat next to him on the table, a pencil in hand. "Yes...yes the pinewood." He said with a small nod. "Uh..no we don't need help with the funeral part. Ya, we got it....no I don't want to do an open viewing..." He ran a hand through his hair, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees.

Lucia realized what Tucker was doing on the phone and her smiled dimmed a little. She lifted Bailey onto her lap and picked at a sandwhich, looking at Tucker's notes on the table. She looked down at Bailey and smiled a little bit more. She wished she was that oblivious.

"Thank you," Tucker said and forced a small smile. "Yes, I call them next. Yes. Thank you." He hung up the phone and sat it down. Bailey was eating her sandwich her eyes glued on him.
"Eat, Daddy. I made you a samich." She said, pointing to the one where the bread was torn from her obviously trying to help. He chuckled and smiled, doing as he was told. She set her sandwhich on the table and walked over and pulled his face down to where she could reach it and kissed his cheek, then walked off to where the shoes were.

Lucia took Tucker's hand, squeezing it gently and she looked up at him, her smile gone. It was a look of hope and determination that kept her eyes bright. She wanted to tell him that everything would be alright and that they'd get through it all. It was just the matter of not being able to get the words up.

Tucker sighed, squeezing her hand back and forcing a small smile. He heard cluncking and turned to see Bailey in his boots, his Ford hat sitting on her head, covering her eyes. She tilted her head so she could see them and gave a big grin. "Look! I'm just like daddy!" She giggled happily and Tucker smiled, chuckling. He grabbed his cellphone and quickly took a picture, setting it as his background. "You're silly." He chuckled.
"Are we going on the tractor today?" She asked hopefully.

Lucia chewed on her lip gently, looking down at her hands, which were folded on the table. Tucker just seemed so... So... happy with Bailey. If she was hooked to him with velcro, he'd probably never be sad. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and let her eyes wander back to Bailey, her green eyes lighting and a smile starting to tug at her lips.

Tucker shook his head and gave a small smile. "Nah, I got to go check fences today sweetheart. You know how long that takes." Bailey rolled her eyes and sighed, nodding vigerously.
"Ya! Like forever dora's!" She exclaimed, putting her hand on her hip like Gran use to. His eyes tightened slightly, but he nodded, chuckling at how she measured time by tv shows. "Yup. So you're gonna stay and play with Lucia, alright?"
"Ok!" She smiled at Lucia. "Do you like tea parties?"

Lucia smiled and nodded. "I love tea parties," she said, chuckling quietly and her eyes flickered to momentarily before going back to Bailey. She used to have tea parties with her friends all the time, but that was nearly... 12 years ago. She couldn't even remember how those things worked anymore.