I’ve been dropping Finn off at daycare the last two days so that Mama has more time to crank on work projects. We load into the CR-V and scoot down I-95 with the other commuters, listening to NPR and talking about all the schoobuses, dumptucks, pickle tucks and mototycles we see on our route. This morning I carried her over the wet stairs and handed her off to Miss Sara, and she happily bounded into the living room to play with her friends. Miss Sara suggested to Finn that she say bye-bye to daddy and tell him I love you, and she immediately said, “bye-bye-daddy-I-lub-you!”

Miss Sara then put her on the couch so she could watch out the window as I went back down the stairs, and I waved to her all the way out to the car, a tiny head pressed up against the screen of the window, her little voice repeating, “bye-bye daddy”.

I drove home with a huge empty space in the carseat over my right shoulder and a hole in my heart. I love that little girl so much.