Overheard in a Dream. Torey Hayden

too many M&Ms,” Becky replied. “Because Mum bought the bag for both of us, but then I went to the bathroom and Mikey pigged down practically all of them while I was gone. So it’s his own fault. I don’t feel sorry for him.”

      “You should, you little monster,” James said playfully and smooched her on the nose. “He’s your brother, no matter what.” Then he whisked Mikey up in his arms again. “I bet you threw up polka dots, huh, if it was M&Ms?” Mikey giggled. “Your mum should know better than to give you a whole bag of candy.”

      “I’ve got a surprise for you,” James said, as he collected their bags and headed for the car.

      “What is it?” Becky asked as they left the terminal building.

      “Just wait and see. Out here. In the car park.”

      “A pony?” Becky asked hopefully.

      James laughed and ruffled her hair. “No, silly, I wouldn’t come to pick you up riding a pony, would I?”

      “Uncle Joey says everybody rides horses out here.”

      “No, look at Daddy’s cool car!” James pointed to the copper-coloured ’71 Ford Mustang convertible. “Isn’t that beautiful?”

      Sandy had kept the Range Rover because it was a safe car for the kids. James drove out to South Dakota in a clapped-out Ford Taurus his brother Jack had picked up off eBay. Buying the convertible with its over-sized, futuristic bonnet and powerful Boss 429 engine was James’s first acknowledgement that his old life was over.

      Becky wasn’t quite so impressed. “It’s just a car,” she said with disappointment.

      “It’s a classic car.”

      “It’s an old car,” she replied disdainfully. “It’s a cool car. For cool people. Like us, huh, Mike? What do you think? Does your dad drive a cool car or what?”

      “Yeah, I like it,” he said and ran his hand along the fender.

      Becky peered through the window as James put the suitcase in the boot. “The back seat’s really little. I don’t see how you get in. There’s no back doors.”

      “Here. You open the front door, then press the lever down on the back of the front seat and tip it forward, like this.”

      “It’s kind of stinky in here. Like somebody smoked.”

      “That was a long time ago, so don’t worry about it. Just get in. You too, Mike. And fasten your seat belts.”

      “Where’s your other car?” she asked. “The real one.”

      “If you mean the Jeep, that one isn’t actually mine. It belongs to Uncle Lars. Usually when you visit, we trade. He takes this car, because yes, you’re right, there isn’t really lots of room for getting in and out. But Uncle Lars is hunting elk this weekend, so he needed to use the Jeep himself because it has four-wheel drive. Anyway, this car’s way nicer. You’ll see. If the weather stays nice, I’ll put the top down. You’ll love it then.”

      “Daddy?” Mikey asked. “Is Uncle Lars our real uncle?”

      “He’s not an uncle by blood. Uncle Lars is my partner in the practice. But he and Aunt Betty are Daddy’s good friends and they always remember you in nice ways, so we make them honorary members of the family.”

      “Yeah, we got another uncle like that,” Mikey replied. “His name’s Uncle Joey.”

      “Yes, the guy who thinks we all ride horses out here. So who’s he?”

      “Well, basically he’s Mum’s boyfriend,” Becky replied.

      “Then he’s not your uncle,” James muttered irritably.

      “Mum said we should call him that. Probably just ’cause like with you and Uncle Lars, he’s her good friend,” Becky said.

      “Uncle Jack’s your uncle back there. He’s your real uncle. And I’m your real dad.”

      “Yeah, I know.”

      “Yes, well, be sure to remember it.”

      James missed the kids so much that it had become easy to want the visits to be perfect, to cram in all the treats and fun he missed sharing with them on a day-to-day basis. Anyway, a little spoiling never hurt.

      Their new family tradition had become a trip to Toys ’R’ Us for a shopping spree on the day Mikey and Becky arrived. It always started with James playfully exclaiming that because they were not with him all the time, he “didn’t have enough toys at his house” and they needed to “get something to play with” while they were there. This always generated squeals of excitement and a pleasurable orgy of toy shopping.

      Before going to Toys ’R’ Us, James first stopped off at the house to take the suitcase inside. It was at that point Mikey vomited all over the kitchen floor.

      “I wonder if he’s got stomach flu,” Becky said.

      “Let’s hope not,” James replied as he filled a bucket with water and disinfectant.

      “Let’s hope I don’t get it,” Becky said. It sounded like a threat.

      Mikey wasn’t well at all. Clutching a plastic dishpan, he lay down on the couch in front of the TV.

      Becky, tired from the long journey and miserably disappointed at this turn of events, started to moan. She didn’t like what Mikey was watching on TV. She didn’t want to be around him because he was sick. There weren’t any good DVDs to watch. The clothes in her suitcase were all wrinkled. She’d forgotten to pack her hairbrush. Most of all, however, she moaned about not going to Toys ’R’ Us. She wanted to go. Now! Desperately. Please couldn’t they go? Why couldn’t Mikey just walk around for a little while?

      James gently explained that Mikey was too sick at the moment to be taken out.

      Becky wasn’t in the mood to be understanding, wailing what was the point of coming all this way when there was no trip to Toys ’R’ Us?

      “I hope there are other reasons for coming besides toys,” James said, feeling a bit hurt.

      “This is the worst visit in the world,” she exclaimed, adding “I wish I was home” as she stomped off.

      Things went from bad to worse overnight. Mikey continued to vomit, and James was up and down all night comforting him. He came out bleary-eyed into the kitchen to find Becky spooning sugar into her Coco Pops.

      “Hey, not the whole bowl,” he said

      “I wish you had a parrot, Dad,” Becky replied brightly.

      “A parrot?”

      “Uncle Joey’s got a parrot. His name is Harry and he can say 23 words. I wish you had one, so I could talk to it.”

      “I don’t have one because parrots really shouldn’t be kept in captivity. They’re too intelligent. They need lots of stimulation. It’s cruel to keep them as pets.”

      “Guess what else Uncle Joey has?” she said. “A house out on Long Island right on the beach. He’s going to take me and Mikey and Mum out there on the weekends when it’s summer.”

      “Lucky you,” James replied.

      “Know what he got me? That Barbie horse that I’ve been wanting so bad.”

      “Becky, I got you the Barbie horse.”

      “No, not that one. That’s the old kind. Uncle Joey got me the one that has legs you can bend so that you can pose it like it’s really walking. And guess what else? He got me the carriage that goes with it too and I didn’t even ask for it.”

      “What’s Joey do to afford all this loot? Rob banks?”

      Becky laughed. “No, silly. He’s