LITTLE DAVY, A CHUBBY TWO-YEAR-OLD with blond curls and bright blue eyes stands by the living room door with his mama as Sara and Phillip walk in. And as they enter, Little Davy waddles up and throws his arms around Phillip's leg, then smiles up at Sara, who stoops down and twinkles his nose.

"Hello, little boy," Sara says. "I've got your nose, yes I do." Davy crinkles his nose and giggles, then Phillip picks him up and swings him into the air and Little Davy screeches happily, still clutching his bottle. After another swing into the air, Phillip sets Davy down and turns to mama who now stands by the door, while the boy reaches up his hands for more. Then, thinking his mother might be hungry, Davy turns to her and holds out his bottle. "Mama," he says. "Mama."

His mother, now in her green uniform with her hair tied up in back, smiles and kisses him on the forehead. "You be a good boy," she says. She speaks a moment more to Sara and Phillip, then walks out the door and is gone. Little Davy turns to Phillip and Sara. "Mama?"

Phillip picks the boy up. "Mama's gone now," he says, "but she'll be back soon." Davy reaches out and rubs Phillip's face, then pulls his hand away and sticks out his lip. Phillip is scratchy and Davy doesn't like that. He likes Sara's face more, which is soft and smooth and never scratchy, and he reaches out to her.

Sara looks at the bottle in Little Davy's hand, and shakes it. "Are you hungry, little boy?" she asks. Davy just stares at her, his arms still out. "You want some more milk?" she asks. She takes the bottle from Davy and walks away, and he begins to cry.

Phillip shushes him. "Don't worry," Phillip says, "she'll get you some more. We'll follow her." So Phillip carries Davy to the kitchen, where Sara stands at the sink and fills the bottle with milk, and Davy pops the nipple in his mouth. Now with a fresh bottle, the three of them walk back to the living room and sit on the couch. Davy finds one of his books among the toys scattered on the living room floor, and he hands it to Sara, then crawls onto the couch and leans against her. Sara opens it and begins to talk and point to the pictures. As she does, Phillip takes out another book—Phillip and Sara always bring books—and he begins to look at it. Davy doesn't like their books. They are covered with tiny black marks, and there are no colors or pictures of boys or puppies in them. Sometimes Davy tries to make some pictures in the books with his crayons, but when he does, Phillip and Sara always take the books away and hide them.

As Sara reads, Davy leans against her and listens to the sound of her voice. He doesn't like it as much when Phillip speaks, but at least he throws Davy in the air, which is so much fun.

Although he likes Phillip, Davy doesn't really know what he's there for. He knows Sara is there take care of him when his mama is away—she always has—but Phillip he doesn't quite understand, and Sara doesn't always bring him. He knew what Ginger was for. Ginger was there to lick his face and make funny noises and just to play with. He had soft, brown fur, and his tongue was long and wet. Davy has two brothers as well—Charlie and Danny—who are much bigger than him, but not as big as Sara and Phillip. They are gone now. They often go away for several days, how many Davy doesn't know, but they always came back.

When Sara finishes the book, Davy slides off the couch and rummages through the toy trucks piled in a corner and brings one to Sara. She laughs. "You want me to play?" she asks. Sara takes the truck and the two of them shove cars along the rug and make car noises. After awhile, Davy decides Phillip must play too, so he waddles over to him and tugs at his hand. "What's up?" Phillip asks.

"He wants you to play," Sara says.

"Oh, really? Well, I was tired of the Romans anyway." Phillip sets his book aside and kneels down, takes the car Davy gives him, and follows the boy's truck as it goes around the floor. Phillip makes loud roaring, grinding noises as he follows Davy, and the boy is delighted at that, and with all three playing at once, and he gets so excited he stops and claps his hands and looks at Sara and Phillip, who laugh.

They continue playing, but soon, Sara moves to the couch and begins to read, and Davy sits back and watches her go.

Phillip tugs at the boy's shirt. "That's okay," he says, "we'll play for awhile." Phillip makes his roaring noises again and Davy quickly goes back to the serious business of cars.

Eventually Sara says something to Phillip, and Davy knows it's bedtime. That also means a bath, and Phillip picks him up and carries him off to the bathroom. Davy, who likes baths, splashes in the water and tries to get everything wet. "No, no," Phillip says several times, but Davy thinks he wants to play and throws more water. Soon Phillip pulls him out and rubs him with a towel and Davy giggles. Then Phillip lays him down and puts a new diaper on him, and then pulls a t-shirt over Davy's head that hangs down to the floor. When Phillip turns away to pick up the towels, Davy runs off to the living room and stands there and waits.

"Alright, where's my Little Davy?" Phillip yells from the bathroom. Davy says nothing, but claps and smiles and looks to see if Sara sees. She does and she smiles. A moment later Phillip rushes up on Davy and throws him in the air, and the boy screeches, eyes shining and hands clapping.

"Don't get him worked up or he'll never sleep," Sara says.

"Okay," Phillip says. He wraps his arms around Davy and walks to the bedroom and puts Davy down on the mattress. After he's settled under the covers, Phillip tucks him in. "Now you be good tonight and sleep," Phillip says. "And don't fall out of bed this time." But Davy begins to cry. "What's the matter?" Phillip asks.

"Blankie," Davy wails.

"Oh, right," Phillip says, and stands up and looks around. "Here it is, under the bed." It's a white, knitted blanket, and Phillip throws it over the covers, and snuggles one edge against Davy's chin. "Now, you'll be good, right?" Phillip asks, while sitting on the floor.

Davy lies quietly with his fingers wrapped around Phillip's thumb. The boy holds on this way until he closes his eyes and drifts asleep. Then Phillip slides his thumb free, turns out the light, and leaves the room.

Little Davy doesn't sleep well, and sometime during the night, he rolls out of bed and falls on the floor. He wakes up and begins to cry. He looks up at the light in the hall, and expects someone to come. No one comes, but he hears voices, and he hears his mama. He gets up, grabs his blanket, and wobbles out into the living room. There he sees Phillip and Sara and mama, and all stand near the door. Sara opens the door and walks out, and Phillip begins to follow. But Little Davy is now afraid and he rushes up screeching and grabs Phillip's leg. "No, dada, dada, no!"

"Oh, my," Sara says, and steps back inside.

"Dada, dada no!"

All three grown-ups look at him and each other, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," Phillip says to mama.

Davy continues to screech, afraid dada will go away and not come back. Mama sighs and pulls Davy free and shushes him. As the door shuts behind Sara and Phillip, mama carries Davy back to bed and lays him down under the covers with his blanket. "Dada," Davy says. "Dada, dada, dada."

"No, honey, he's not daddy," mama says, rubbing his chest. "He's just a nice man. Now be good and go to sleep." But Davy doesn't want to sleep, he wants to be with dada, and he tries to get up but his mother holds him down and he can't move, and so he begins to cry. The tears came but dada doesn't, and soon Little Davy wears himself out and falls asleep.


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