“Mama is upset.”

Bona knocked at Kokomo’s dark wooden door and entered at her high tone invitation. Kokomo was laying on her stomach on the rug, feet in the air, head resting on her hands. In front of her was a book, and a pink highlighter.

“I’m really sorry for making mama mad.” Kokomo turned and sat up, with her hands on the rug behind her, and her head down.

“Hey, no pouting, I don’t want to see my little Goose sad.” Bona walked over and sat down in front of her. “Mama was upset at me mostly.” Bona scratched the back of his head. “She wouldn’t tell me what you did. Said I needed to ask you.”

“Oh. Mama isn’t mad at me?” Kokomo clasped her hands together in front of her.

“Apparently. So, what’d you do?”

“Oh… ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,” Kokomo stopped for a breath, “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.”

Bona held back the urge to laugh, trying to be serious as Kokomo’s lips stretched out trying not to smile while she hummed longer.

“Ah, I know what I did now. Hehehe.” Kokomo stood up and walked towards her dresser to her right, Bona stood waiting for her. She pulled out a white and purple button up shirt. “Mama was mad at me because I broke a button on my shirt.” Kokomo pouted as she slowly walked back.

Bona leisurely grabbed the article of clothing, looking it over.

“Oh.” Kokomo quickly jogged over to her dresser, her light hair bouncing and swaying as she quickly reached into the drawer. She stuck out a closed fist upon her return.

“What?” Bona held onto the shirt as he opened his right hand. Kokomo dropped a bright red button into his palm. “How?”

Kokomo looked down, trying not to smile. “I… I’m sorry.” She clasped both of her cheeks, pulling her face down. Bona laid the shirt out on his palm, it was missing it’s fourth button out of 7.

“Little Goose…” Bona dropped his head with a sign and shrugging his shoulders while stifling his laugh. “Oh, that woman I love. Now I get it.” The shirt was held by the shoulders, in front of him as he continued to examine it.

His eyes took in the small size of his daughter, expressed through the shirt that was no longer than the length of the tip of his middle finger and close to his elbow. He thought to himself, Kokomo was just reaching 3’10”, I hope she doesn’t grow up anymore, damn it. He felt his heart skipping a beat, imagining his daughter wobbling around 4 years ago. A warmth crept upon his face, a pressure in his eyes, as he reminiscent.

“Papa? Are you okay?” Kokomo walked up and pulled at the hem of his t-shirt as he imagined Kokomo’s body filling out the shirt.

“Little Goose. I love you, you know that?”

“I really am sorry.” She clung to Bona’s shirt as her head hung low. Bona pulled at the loose threads that once held the button. “Ma…mama said I need to learn how to sew it myself. I told her I didn’t want to.”

“Kokomo.” Bona warned, “You don’t say that to your mother when she tells you to do something.”

“Papa?! I thought you were on my side?” Kokomo reached up to him as her body leaned into his legs. “Are you mad at me?”

Patting her head, he said, “Explain yourself. Mama would’ve been really mad at you, and I’d be mad at you if you were being disrespectful. Heck, even Metalli would be mad at you after complaining that I’m messing you up.”

Kokomo stepped back. “I… I saw mama prick herself with the needle.” Kokomo poked the pad of her left finger, and quickly pulled the finger back with a grimace. “Eeekkk. I don’t want to hurt myself.”

“Okay. I see.” Bona understood, if Kokomo explained it that way to his wife, of course she couldn’t be mad at her. He had to hold back his desire to pick her up and show her all the affection he could muster. “Well, Kokomo, I know what you did, and why Mama is so mad at me. But I’d like to hear you explain what you did wrong.”

She looked up at him and brushed her hair to the side before animatedly describing her actions. “I, um, I didn’t undo all the buttons. I only undid a couple. And… and then I tried, and, uh, tried pulling the shirt. Pulling it over my head like, ugh, ah, haaaa, but it wouldn’t, it didn’t go easy. So, I pulled harder and then it went on super easy. But I heard a pop, and a clack and looked over at the bright button on the ground and at Mama. And, she was… she had scary eyes.” Kokomo covered her eyes and hunched over.

“Okay. Now I have to apologize. You saw me putting my shirt on like that, didn’t you?”

“Umm hmm.”

Bona let out a deep sign. “Okay, I’ll go grab the sewing kit. And, don’t put your shirt on like that anymore, you rascal.”

“Huh? You’re… Papa, the needle.” Kokomo’s cheeks were raised, making her eyes look sunken.

“Kokomo, what did your mother say?”

She looked at her fingers as the words escaped her trembling mouth. “I… I had… I needed to learn to sew.” The words were more of a squeak than actual words.

“Would you rather mama, or Metalli help you?”

Kokomo shook her head and waved her hands in front of her. “No, no, no, no. Papa, you are the best teacher. I wanna see you do it.” She smiled and tilted her head with her hands behind her while she bent forward.

“Ohhhh. See me do it.” Bona pointed at himself, holding the button with three fingers as he pushed the door with his left shoulder holding Kokomo’s shirt close. “But Papa would be so much happier seeing Kokomo do it.” He grinned.

“NOOOOOOOO! Please Papa!” She fell to her knees and prayed.

“Hey, Little Goose, a great friend of mine once said that you need to learn to deal with your own problems. That you have to tackle what scares you, to face the scary things. That will help you grow, that will help you hold on to what you treasure. If I didn’t fight what scared me, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Papa, something scares you?”

Bona looked at the girl still on her knees, her fingers interlocked, and felt an emptiness inside. “Yes. Something scares me a whole lot.” He smiled at her. “But I’m willing to fight it, to move past it. Kokomo, you say you want to be strong? How will you be strong if you can’t look fear in the face and scream, COME ON, COME AND GET IT!”

She closed her eyes and slowly tilted her head up while taking in a deep breath. As she finished exhaling, she opened her eyes, looking at the ceiling. “Okay… I can do this!” She proudly exclaimed. “AHH! COME ON, COME AND GET IT!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, breathing heavily when she was finished, Bona turned around and rushed out the door trapping his laugh in his throat till he exited the room.

“Oh, oh man, that was precious. That girl. Jeez.” He maneuvered through the house towards the sewing cabinet through his tears as he couldn’t get Kokomo’s voice out of his mind, and her pantomime of strength. “Busy bee. We made something really, really, really special.” He said to himself as the door to the cabinet quietly swung open.

Kokomo sat bearing weight on her arms as they pressed into the comforter that covered her bed. Her feet swayed back and forth, as one hit the wooden frame, the other took off to the sweet sound of her humming. She heard the door open but ignored it as Bona stood at the doorway sewing kit, button and shirt in hand watching the slight smile on her face as she bathed in the sunlight, staring at her feet.

“Papa, sit.” She patted the open space to her left three times as her eyes continued to watch her feet.

“Little Goose?” Bona’s voice gently rumbled the warmly lit room.

“Hmm.”

“I love you.” Bona said as he rushed towards the bed and gently bumped into Kokomo while sitting. “I love you, love you, love you.” He leaned in till she laid in bed with Bona laying on top.

“Ahh, hahaha, Papa, your gonna make me poop.” She broke into laughter as she tried to push her father off.

“Hey.” Bona chuckled. “You still remember that, huh?” Bona sat up setting the shirt and button down on the bed and started preparing the sewing kit.

Kokomo laid down, kicking her feet up and laying them on Bona’s lap. “Yeah, Metalli laughed so hard the first time I said it. Hehehe. I… I was like ‘eeeekkkk, Metalli your gonna make me poop.’” She shook her hand and flailed her arms. “Because she was holding me, and squeezing me, and I was sleepy, and I… I, hehehe. She laughed so much.”

“You really love her.”

“Mmm. Maybe I can marry her?” Bona’s grinning face froze along with his body.

“Ah, what?”

Kokomo sat up swinging her feet back over the bed. “Will, do I have to wear a white dress like MS. Anna? I mean that shirt was cool,” Kokomo pointed at the shirt that laid on the bed, “but I think the marrying people looked so, so, so much fancier. But I don’t have a dress like that.”

Bona hadn’t moved. “Papa, hey, papa.” Kokomo slammed her tiny body into her father.

Bona shook his head and looked at her, his face smoothed over as he imagined the little girl with a worried look in a small, elegant wedding dress. “Say, Kokomo, you know what a wedding is about?”

She pursed her lips out and raised her cheeks to her eyes. “Yes, I think so.” Bona hummed an inquisitive hmm, at Kokomo. “Ah, it, it is when two people who love each other very much get on stage to tell everybody. They stand, dressed very fancy, they smile at each other lots, and one of Mirth’s friends makes sure they mean it, that they love each other, and tells everybody to be honest about their feelings. And then, they live together forever, or, um… they stay together, because Ms. Anna left with her husband to a far place for a while... Am I right, Papa?”

“Okay, yooooouuuuuu got the gist of it. But…”

“Ha, ha. I am smart. Oh, after I marry Metalli, then I can marry you, mama, Ms. Emily, Deneb, Ms. Freya, and, and all my friends.”

“Whoa, whoa little Goose, quit your honking. You know how expensive a marriage is? Besides, I’m already married to your mama, you… can’t… have… her.” Bona said in between laughs.

“Aww. Wait, if I love you both very much, and you two love me very much, why don’t all three of us marry? Oh.” Her eyes sparkled. “We can have one big wedding for all of us.” She smiled so brightly, Bona turned away… and laughed under his breath.

“Alright girly, let’s get you sewing your own buttons now.” Bona thought to himself, Love, this girl is nothing if not the definition of love, the story of my redemption, the center of my world.

As Kokomo sat sewing a scrape piece of cloth, Bona watched. She had done an excellent job sewing her own button on her shirt, and was so excited about her success, she wanted to learn more about the hobby. Bona was teaching her how to sew two pieces of clothing together, explaining that mastering this meant you could essentially make your own clothes. And that if she were on an adventure and ripped her clothes, she could repair it in the field.

Kokomo jumped with joy as she heard Bona’s explanation. He marveled at how much she’s advanced in one sitting. She was at a point where she didn’t have to stick her tongue out and fully focus on each passing of the needle. Instead, Kokomo sat humming, piecing together the scrape cloths at a decent speed.

Bona signed leaning against the wall as Kokomo leaned against the footboard, he felt as if a smile was permanently on his face whenever Kokomo was around. “You know, little goose.” Kokomo stopped sewing and looked up at her papa. “One day I will be walking you down the aisle towards that stage where you’re gonna stand with the person you’re gonna love. Someday I’ll walk you towards that stage, but I won’t be the one to stand there with you. In fact, I’ll be giving…” He stopped, “I’ll be giving you a high five as I step back.”

“Oh. Nah, just stand there with me… and everybody else. Oh, I was reading about our history. Maybe we can invite the hero and her sister, you fought with them so maybe they can come and marry me too. Though… I don’t know them… but maybe Mirth can teach me to be like his friends so I can the person that makes sure you three really do love each other and have you guys promise too always be together from now on.”

Bona chuckled. “Yeah, maybe. Maybe I will stand on that stage with you and everybody, because I love all of you.”