When Secrets Spill

Her dark blonde curls fell flawlessly from the white towel and around her waist. Tossing the towel to the corner of the room, Tiffany looked in the mirror. Loving herself had never came this easy. Accepting her flaws as an intricate design of a being greater than her had never crossed her mind as it did now. Her jeans were a little snug, and she should have bought her black top in a bigger size; but, looking in the mirror, Tiffany smiled any way. Using mousse to solidify her soft curls, she flipped all of her hair over her right shoulder and left the bathroom to go see how everyone else was getting ready.

Her oldest daughter, Noah, was sitting indian style in the middle of the living room floor, finishing off a piece of halloween candy stolen from the treat drawer and watching a cartoon on the family tablet computer. Before Noah noticed, Tiffany wanted to remember this, steal it as a memory of her own. When Noah was an infant, Tiffany tried to drink up all the moments and capture all of them on her camera, but time moved entirely too fast and now here Noah sat in the living room floor with one shoe on and a halloween costume half-haphazardly put on, so she could appear ready for church as she finished eating her stolen chocolate.

Tiffany smiled, as Noah looked up catching her staring, “Momma, I can't find my other princess shoe.”

“Remember, we said we would only wear this for dress-up from now on. Let's look in your closet for a dress and some other fancy shoes you can find a pair of.”

Noah got up in despair, throwing her arms wildly to her sides, “But I want to wear this one!”

Tiffany sighed, taking a deep breath in through her nose and holding it. She went to go get the outfit herself and prepared for an early morning battle. On her way to Noah's room, she peaked into her six-month old son's, Nehemiah's, room and noticed her husband, Brock, taking a peaceful morning nap with Nehemiah, both dressed in their Sunday best, causing wrinkles to set in.

Tiffany walked in and gently shook her husband's shoulder.

“Uh, wha- Did I fall asleep again?” Brock sat up straighter and took the bottle that had fallen from Nehemiah's mouth and into the crook of his arm, placing it on the floor beside the rocking chair.

“Yup, and that's why I'll be driving to church this morning. Want to put him in the swing downstairs and help me bribe Noah to wear something other than her halloween costume to church?”

“Gosh, that girl's going to be the death of me. It's November twentieth.” Brock stands up and readjust Nehemiah in his arms.

Tiffany laughs, “Yeah, I don't think toddlers care what the actually date is. They just want to look like a princess forever. Think I can convince her that her yellow dress is Princess Belle's?”

Brock smiles slyly and shakes his head, “Nope, she inherited her mother's stubbornness, but good luck trying.”

Tiffany pretended to be shocked and playfully hit Brock on the shoulder, as he walked downstairs with the baby. Walking into Noah's room, Tiffany sat on the floor in her closet and shifted through the dresses on the hangers. There was a purple one from a wedding they attended, probably a little too small. There was a green, sparkly one, that just might persuade Noah away from the halloween costume, but it had a tear in the hem, Tiffany quietly cursed for always forgetting to fix that. A yellow dress came into view, and Tiffany sighed, relieved. This dress was the one Noah wore to her preschool graduation, and hadn't been wore since. With a pair of leggings, Tiffany knew she could make it work in the chilly fall weather, she just had to get Noah on board, who suspiciously entered the room with another treat in her hands.

“Daddy says if I wear my yellow dress that I can has this piece of candy on the way to church.”Noah shyly hands the chocolate to Tiffany.

Mulling this new bribe over in her head, Tiffany decides it's easier to pick your battles then to turn everything into a life lesson, so she agreed, dressing her daughter in a yellow dress with white leggings with yellow and orange autumn leaves on them and black flats with a velcro strap to ensure they won't fall off, although they would, twenty times in the car, and about a hundred to the church, and maybe fifty more while in the church.

Brock was getting Nehemiah in his carseat as Tiffany and Noah bounded down the stairs.

“Great parenting this morning.” Tiffany winks at Brock.

“Decided World War Three could wait until we had to force her to eat her vegetables for lunch.” Brock hefted Nehemiah's carseat up and walked out to the car sitting in the garage, as Tiffany grabbed Noah's sweater and her purse.

Noah listened to kids worship music on the family tablet computer, while Nehemiah cooed at everything passing the windows, and Brock took a nap. Tiffany took the quiet in the car to secretly think about all the changes that she had made in her life in the last five years, and how she hoped the people at church wouldn't spill any of her secrets.

“Mommy, this is the church you went to when you were my age?” Noah asked breaking the silence.

Tiffany readjusted her thoughts to the present and took a moment to answer, “Not quite. I was a teenager, but it is the only church I went to while I lived in Ohio.”