It’s you I like, every part of you, your skin, your eyes, your feelings, whether old or new, I hope that you’ll remember even when you’re feeling blue that it’s you I like, it’s you yourself, it’s you.” 

Her eyes felt so heavy, and she swore she could hear a trolley going by, beeping every now and then, going in and out of the tunnel. She thought of King Friday, Daniel Tiger, and even Prince Tuesday. She felt her lips turn up at the corners, with a sigh of content, she settled down further in the unfamiliar bed. There was that beeping again, and this time, she was able to open her eyes just enough to notice the machines lighting up the dimly lit room around her. 

“Cece,” Pam jolted across the bed, wrapping her arms around her daughter, pulling her toward her. 

“Mom,” it was groggy and tired, “hurts,” she mumbled, she released her, and pushed bangs out of Cece’s eyes, 

She turned to her right and found her father, knees against the bed rail, his chair lifted up in the bag, as he leant in toward her. 

“Hi,” it was a familiar smile in a gruff voice, as though he hadn’t spoken for hours. Pam caught his eye. 

“Hey,” Cece muttered, she brought a hand up to her own face, wiping the side of her mouth, she caught sight of the IV in her hand and winced. 

“You’re okay,” she looked to her mother. 

“What happened?” She felt suddenly anxious, tears stung her eyes. 

Jim cleared his throat, sitting back in the chair he was in, waiting for Pam to step in, to fill Cece in on the last few hours but she didn’t, she just nodded at him. Unfamiliar territory, he wanted to surrender. He wanted to just get in the bed with her, hold her close, and sing, rub her hair, anything to make her feel better. Sometimes words were much harder. 

“Um,” he put his hand over hers, closing it around her palm, “Honey, you remember feeling pretty sick?” 

“My belly really hurts,” the tears fell on her cheeks, anesthesia can make children often upset when they wake up, it’s completely normal 

“I know, and you’re going to be fine,” he stopped himself, 

“You know what,” she continued to stare, waiting for answers, “you had appendicitis, and I should have known before, because you got really sick, and I shouldn’t have let that happen, and it could have been much worse” he swallowed hard, hoping she wouldn’t see the absolute fear in his eyes, and in his voice that he’d completely and totally screwed up as a parent...again. 

“Dad.” She had a tell. When she wanted him to listen, she’d done the same thing since she was old enough to talk. She’d grab his face between her hands and put her forehead on his own-it was her call to attention. 

He felt a sigh of relief and a lump deep in his throat, “It’s okay, I’m okay. Do you hear me?” She kissed his head and leaned back in the bed, looking so small in such a big bed. 

“I hear you,” it was more of a promise. 

Pam sighed, wiping her own tears away, and grabbing tissues from her purse, 

“There’s something I want to talk to you about Cece,” 

She bit her lip, 

“I can’t play the game this weekend Dad, this hurts too much,” 

He let a small laugh escape from his lips, “Sweetie, you’re going to be on the couch for a while,” she laughed, a hand to her stomach wincing in pain. “But seriously, no more games.” Her eyes widened,

“What?” 

“You don’t have to play softball anymore, or basketball. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. And if you don’t want to take horseback riding lessons you don’t-” 

“No, no,” she put a hand out to stop him, “No, Daddy, I want to keep riding horses,” she gave him a small smile, “are you sure you don’t want me to keep playing?” 

“I shouldn’t have pushed you, and I’m sorry. If I was paying attention to anything else other than your pitching arm for the last five years, I probably would have noticed how miserable you were,” 

“It’s kinda boring,” she smirked, 

“Yeah,” he didn’t feel his heart sink as he expected, he was just glad she was here, that she was okay, and he never wanted to relive the last few hours. 

She looked up at the television that was off in the corner, “Were you guys watching tv?” 

Pam giggled, “No honey, it was off this entire time,” 

Jim just smiled at her, standing up and pulling her close to him. The voice was quiet, shaky, as it always had been, and the familiar song in her ear had her asleep again just moments later. There are many ways to say I love you, just by being there when things are sad and scary, just by being there, being there, to say I love you