Broadway Baby by Alexandra James

mug of coffee at her own. Shelby couldn’t stop the smile when Lily looked longingly at the coffee in her mug.
    “Couldn’t I have just a small cup of coffee, Mama?” Lily asked.
    “Juice for you, Lily.” Shelby’s voice was firm making Lily sigh once more.
    “Fine, but when I complain of a headache later you’ll only have yourself to blame.”
    “I’ll take the risk. Eat up, little girl, you and I need to talk about a few things today.”
    “Are cookies part of that talk?” Lily asked pausing from shoving her toast into her mouth. “Because I think we should have a rule that cookies for breakfast can be a very good thing.”
    “Yes Lily, I promise you that we will talk about cookies.”
    “Goody.” Lily began to swing her legs under the table. “This is the best French toast, Mama. How did you learn to make it just right?”
    “Years of practice.”
    Lily nodded, “I guess so, after all, you’re almost ancient. I mean when was the last time you jumped on the bed or decided to have cookies for breakfast?”
    “Back when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth.”
    “Wow, did you get to ride in cars like Fred Flintstone?”
    “All the time.”
    “And did you…”
    “Yes, I had a Pebbles hairdo as well,” Shelby teased.
    Lily giggled as she put the last of her breakfast in her mouth. “You’re silly, Mama.”
    “I try.” Shelby finished her food as well and motioned for Lily to help her put the dishes in the sink. “Ready for a bath before we talk?” she asked turning from the sink and looking down at Lily.
    “With bubbles?”
    “Of course.”
    “I’ll be in the bathroom waiting,” Lily called stripping as she ran through the apartment.
     
    * * *
     
    Entering the bathroom Shelby took a deep breath, “Freeze, little girl.”
    Stopping before the bubbles were tipped into the tub, a now naked Lily turned slowly. “I was just helping, Mama.”
    “Thank you for wanting to help, Lily, but Mama gets the tub ready for your bath.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I don’t need you to use the whole bottle to make bubbles,” Shelby explained.
    “But I wasn’t gonna use the whole bottle,” Lily protested as she flushed the toilet. “Just half.”
    “That’s still too much, Lily.”
    “But I like tons of bubbles.”
    “And you will have a ton of bubbles,” Shelby promised. “Pick some toys for your bath and by the time you’re done you can get into the bath.”
    “Okay.” Going to the basket of toys in the corner of the bathroom, Lily rooted through it, quickly and pulled out three of her favorite toys in addition to a large bath crayon. “I think I’ll use purple today, I feel it’s a purple kind of day.”
    “Ready?” Shelby asked.
    “Yep.”
    “In you go,” Shelby helped Lily into the tub handing her the toys and placing the bath crayon on the edge of the tub. “I’ll let you play for a bit, and then I’ll help get you washed.”
    “Will you wash my hair, Mama?”
    “Don’t I always?”
    Lily nodded, “Yeah, but I had to check. You are getting old,” Lily teased again.
    “You are such a scamp,” Shelby kissed the top of Lily’s head and sat down on the closed toilet lid, allowing Lily to play as she had promised.
    Shelby watched as Lily seemed to lose herself completely into little Lily. The girl was singing to herself as she played with her toys and then began telling a story as she took the purple bath crayon and began to draw pictures to go along with the story on the wall.
    “Do you like my pictures, Mama?”
    “I love your pictures, baby.” Shelby kneeled on a folded towel on the floor and grabbed the nearby washcloth. Dipping it into the tub she once more thanked the inventors of three in one bodywash. Shelby slowly began to wash Lily’s back as gently as possible.
    “Tell me about the cookies this morning, Lily.”
    “I just felt like cookies, Mama.” Lily shrugged. “They make me feel better when I’m sad.”
    “And you were feeling sad this morning?” Shelby