Waltz of Her Life

Hayley wandered down from upstairs, where she'd probably been talking on the phone, one of her pastimes. "Hi Daddy," she said, casually. "What's up?"

Stephen held the bag behind his back, where she could not see it. He moved everybody toward the dining room and invited Hayley to sit down on a chair he pulled out. "Now close your eyes tight."

Their daughter sensed something wonderful was coming and she started to smile as she sat straight on the dining room chair, keeping her lap clear. Stephen glanced at Linda before extracting the box from the shopping bag and setting it delicately on Hayley's lap. The box showed a picture of a stylish, fluorescent lime green laptop computer, exactly the kind Hayley had yearned for. Linda mouthed the words "You are in so much trouble Mister" to him.

"You can open your eyes now, sweetie!" Stephen announced, as proudly as if he had just stated the words "It's a boy."

Predictably, Hayley's pretty eyes lit up and her mouth dropped open when she saw the box containing a brand new laptop. "It's a clamshell SE! With a DVD! Oh, daddy, I love you!" She quickly set the box down and leaped up to embrace her father, who swung her triumphantly from side to side.

When they settled down, Stephen said "Well, open it up! Let's see how she works!"

Linda wondered when she was going to get her husband alone to blast him over making such an extravagant purchase for Hayley. Their daughter happily broke the seal on the box, lifted one flap, and laid it open on the dining room table. The computer had been wrapped delicately in transparent plastic, gleaming and shiny. Another package contained a stack of compact discs, and yet another held a round disc-like object that looked like a miniature flying saucer. Hayley had everything unwrapped and sitting atop the dining room tablecloth within minutes.

"This is so cool, this is so cool," Hayley kept saying over and over as she set the neon green laptop on the table and creaked it open. The little flying saucer turned out to be the power adapter.

When Hayley was ready to turn the machine on, Stephen intervened. "Now here's where it gets a little complicated. You'll need to use some of these discs to set it up."

Linda jumped at her chance to pry him away and lambaste him over buying the laptop: "Before you get all involved in that, Stephen, could you help me with something in the kitchen?"