When she learned to clap, he clapped back every time, even if she did it fifty times in a row.
One afternoon Jenna said to me, “You know he’s her favorite person, right?”
Caleb heard her.
He tried to look casual.
He failed.
For the rest of the week he introduced himself to people as “Sophie’s favorite person.”
Then, about a month before Sophie’s second birthday, Caleb and I were walking through a shopping center when he suddenly stopped.
There was a children’s clothing store beside us.
In the display window hung a tiny red dress.
Nothing extravagant.
Just soft red fabric, short sleeves, a little satin bow around the waist, and a skirt that flared out.
Caleb pressed both hands to the glass.
“Mom.”
I knew that tone.
“No.”
“But I haven’t asked anything.”
“You’re about to.”
He pointed.
“Sophie would look like a princess in that.”
