Excerpt: Protection

AU: this is a flashback from the MC. She's four here, just btw
I was sitting on my bed as Mom put me to bed. It was a Friday evening and Dad was in Daniella’s room, putting her to bed.
“Mommy,” I said to her.
“What is it?” she said, smiling as she pulled my tinker bell pajama shirt over my head.
“What’s this,” I said, pulling the shirt up so my stomach was uncovered (even though she had just pulled it over my tummy). With one hand I tried to hold my shirt up so I could see my tummy and point to the strange spot there.
It was just above my belly button. It was like a lower case T, or a cross like at church, only the top end (from my upside down viewing) looked very sharp and pointy. It seemed slightly elevated, and I always got a thrill whenever I touched it or Mom did.
I once asked Daniella to touch it, just to see it the same thing would happen as when I was taking a bath and washing my tummy so it was squeaky clean or when Mom was tickling me, but nothing happened at all. The same thing happened when Dad tickled my tummy early that day, just before dinner.
I saw Mom’s eyes quickly flash open, but soon she was back to her normal self again.
“Honey,” she said grabbing my shirt and pulling it down. “That’s just a birth mark. When you were up with God before you were given to Daddy and I, the sun kissed you on the tummy!”
“So I was kissed by the sun!” I said, happy to feel to special. The sun had kissed me! How cool was that!
“Yep! You were kissed by the sun! It must have been a pretty big kiss because that’d a pretty big mark on your tummy there kiddo,” Mom said before tickling me.
“Ha ha,” I said, involuntarily curling into a ball.
“Okay you two,” Dad said as he walked into my room. With quick steps he walked over to my bed and tucked me into bed.
“What’s going on?” I heard Daniella yell from her room. I could almost see her sit up, trying not resisting the temptation of getting of bed and walking to my room.
“Your mother and sister are just causing trouble,” Dad said.
I stuck my tongue out at him. I wasn’t the one that had tickled me! It was all Mommy’s fault!
Dad was tucking the covers in, making sure I was nice and comfortable before I went to sleep. Suddenly a question popped into my head and I sat up, pushing the blankets forward so I could sit up.
“Mommy?” I said. “Was Daniella sun kissed like me? Does she have a funny mark on her tummy too? Like the crosses at church, only the bottom is pointy?” I asked.
Mom laughed, but Dad looked very uncomfortable. “Honey,” Mom said giving me a condescending look. “Daniella doesn’t have a sun kiss mark on her tummy like you do. She doesn’t have any sun kissed mark like you do anywhere on her.”
I was horrified. Daniella didn’t wasn’t kissed by the sun? “Why wasn’t Daniella kissed by the sun, Mommy? Why doesn’t she have a mark like mine? Does the sun not love her? Maybe Daniella was a bad girl when she was up with God and so the sun didn’t want to kiss Daniella and that’s why she doesn’t have a mark like me! Is that why Mommy? I hope not! What if God still thinks that Daniella isn’t a nice girl? What if she doesn’t go to Heaven? Mommy, Daniella’s going to go to Heaven, right? Oh, what if the sun still doesn’t like Daniella! That’s not true, right? The sun loves Daniella now, right?” I said getting worried that maybe God didn’t like Daniella and then she wouldn’t be going to Heaven and that would be absolutely horrible!
This time both Mommy and Daddy laughed. “Evelyna, you have a very special sun kiss mark,” Mommy said trying to comfort me. “However, Daniella didn’t get God or the sun angry when she was up with him when she was just a little baby. I promise you, unless Daniella becomes a very bad girl, she will most certainly go to Heaven. Now, I can promise you though that Daniella does have lots of sun kisses, just none look quite like yours, okay?”
I thought about it for a second. “Wait,” I said, getting confused. “If Daniella’s sun kisses don’t look like mine on my tummy, then what do hers look like?”
This time Daddy answered me. “You can ask her that yourself and she can show you her sun kisses tomorrow. Right now though, it’s time for bed. You had a very busy day a school, right?”
I nodded quickly before lying back down. Suddenly, another question sparked in my head. “Daddy! Were you kissed by the sun like I was?”
Mommy laughed but Daddy just rolled his eyes. Looking at Daddy, Mommy said to him, almost like she was making fun of him, “You have admit, you were begging for her to ask you that.”
Dad just hmphed and replied, “Yeah well…”
I was confused. “What are you talking about? Who was begging for that question? What does begging mean?”
Mommy just laughed while my dad groaned. “I was just making fun of your father, honey, no need to worry,” She said facing me.
I suddenly sat up, even more confused. “Why were you teasing Daddy? Mommy, we aren’t allowed to tease people in this family!”
Mommy just laughed some more. “I was only kidding, baby, no need to worry so much. You’re father knows I was kidding,” Then, giving Daddy a gently nudge, she turned to him and said, “Right, honey?”
Dad smiled at her and said, “Right,” before they shared a quick kiss.
“Ew!” I yelled before hiding under the covers.
I quickly heard Mommy and Daddy laugh some more before Mommy uncovered me and Daddy picked me up and put my back in the middle of the bed so I would be lying down right in the middle with my head on my big pillow.
“Okay, well, unless you want to see Mommy and Daddy kiss some more, I suggest you go to sleep, got it kiddo?” Mommy said to me.
“Fine…” I said, getting into my sleeping position. Suddenly I had another question that I just had to ask Mommy. “Wait!” I said just as they were going to leave.
I could faintly see Mommy and Daddy sigh. “What is it honey,” Mommy said in an exasperated voice. “You need to hurry up, it’s getting late and I still need to see your sister.”
“Do you have a sun kiss like I do? On your tummy, even though lots of people don’t have sun kisses like mine?”
Mom and Dad shared a look before Mommy walked over to my bed side. She just stood there looking at me, before she lifted up her shirt showing me her tummy.
“Mommy!” I said laughing before I sat up again and touched the mark on her tummy. It was just like mine! I couldn’t believe it! Mommy had a mark on her tummy just like I did! It was so cool! “This one’s just like mine!”
“Yes it is now it’s time for nighty night, got it? Now,” Mommy said before walking over to my bed room door, and with her hand resting on the light switch, and said, “Sleep tight, honey. I love you.”
Mommy flipped the switch and my night light came on and my big light turned off. “I love you, Mommy!” I said before she left. “Nighty night!”
“Don’t let the bed bugs bight, Sweetie,” Daddy said to me, before I heard my door gently close. “I love you”
“I love you too, Daddy!”