‘Pretend Daddy’
– by Stephanie WhiteHutch was sitting on the exam table when Starsky entered the room. Starsky said softly, "Hey Hutch, you ready to go home, partner?"
"It’s about time you got…" Hutch trailed off as he saw the little girl in Starsky’s arms. "Uh…Starsk?"
"It’s a long story Babe. It turns out, I’m going to be a daddy!"
"I’m sorry, Starsk. I must be hearing things. It sounded like you just said you were going to be a daddy."
"I did." Starsky said quietly. "Turns out her parents were booked for possession. Her nearest relative is out of the country and unreachable for the next two weeks. As a result, I’ve got a little girl for a couple o’ weeks."
Hutch’s eyes widened. "Uh…Starsky? Do you know anything about being a father?"
"No." Starsky admitted. "I guess I’ll be wingin’ it for the next two weeks. Will you help me?"
‘Oh Starsky, what have you gotten yourself into partner?’ Hutch thought to himself. Out loud, he said, "Sure Starsk, I’ll help you."
Starsky grinned, "Great! Thanks a lot, Hutch. I mean it! Thanks."
"Now will you take me home?"
"Sure, let’s go," Starsky said with his trademarked lopsided grin. "You mind driving? She went to sleep in my lap and she might freak out if she wakes up in yours."
"Yeah, I can drive. I haven’t taken the pain meds yet. I’m still straight."
"Pain meds? Maybe I should drive after all. You’re not in too much pain, are you?" Starsky asked, concerned.
"Nah, I’ll be okay to drive to my place."
"You ain’t coming to my place tonight?"
Hutch shook his head. "Starsky, where would all of us sleep? You’d probably put her in the bed and yourself on the couch. Then where would I sleep?"
"Oh, you got a point there. Okay, but you will be over in the morning, right?"
"Sure Starsk. Look, there’s an all-night drug store just up the street from my place. I can get my prescription filled and you can get a toothbrush and things for her. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay Hutch. Let’s go."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hutch pulled the Torino into the parking lot of the drug store and ran around to the other side to open the door for his partner – who had his arms full at the moment. As Starsky started to get out of the car with the little girl, she began to wake up.
"Daddy?" She murmured sleepily.
"No, Princess, it’s David. Your daddy went with the policemen, remember?"
She rubbed her eyes and looked at him. "You’re my pretend daddy, right?"
He smiled at her. "That’s right. Your mommy and daddy have to stay with the policemen for a while, so you’ll stay with me if that’s okay with you?"
"Okay!" She said happily. "We can pretend you’re really my daddy."
Starsky smiled and hugged her. Then he said, "You want to walk for a while? You’re getting a little heavy here."
"Okay!" She said as she squirmed out of his arms. He put her on the ground and took her hand as they walked into the drug store. Hutch headed for the pharmacy counter while Starsky wandered through the aisles trying to decide what he’d need to take care of a little girl for two weeks.
By the time Hutch met him at the checkout counter, he had a little pink toothbrush, a bottle of baby shampoo, Sesame Street bubble bath, bubble gum-flavored toothpaste, a bottle of baby aspirin and a small teddy bear.
When Hutch raised an eyebrow at the teddy bear, Starsky said, "Hey, it was there."
As soon as he paid for his purchases, Emily grabbed the teddy bear and immediately started cuddling it. Starsky looked at Hutch as if to say, ‘see, I told you it was a good idea!’
Hutch just shrugged and headed out to the car.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Starsky dropped Hutch off at his apartment and headed for home. When he got to his apartment, he took Emily into his bedroom and started rummaging through his dresser drawers. Finally, with a small grunt of satisfaction, he pulled out a t-shirt with Micky Mouse on it that he had gotten on a trip to Disneyland several years prior. It was a little too small on him, but it would do as a nightgown for her. He turned around and presented his find.
"What do ya think?" he asked the sleepy little girl. "Could you sleep in this?"
"That’s not my jammies!" She said as she looked at the shirt and wrinkled her nose in disapproval.
"I know it ain’t your jammies." Starsky said reasonably. "We’ll go to your house tomorrow and get your jammies and some more of your clothes. Will you just wear this tonight for me?"
She put her little hands on her hips and looked critically at the t-shirt again. Finally, she nodded. "Okay, just tonight. Tomorrow, we get my jammies!"
"Atta girl!" Starsky said. Then, as she stood there with her hands over her head, he said, "What?"
"You gots to dress me."
"Oh." Starsky said. He stood there awkwardly for a minute and then sighed. He knelt down in front of her and pulled her shirt off over her head. Then he pulled off her trousers so that she was standing there in her Winnie the Pooh underpants. He quickly slipped the t-shirt over her head and stepped back to look at her. If he thought she couldn’t get any cuter, he was wrong.
She stood there and stared at him through heavy lidded eyes. Her hair was mussed all over her head from when he pulled off her shirt. His t-shirt was long-sleeved on her and came down well past her feet. She reached up and scrubbed at her tired eyes with a sleeve-covered hand and Starsky grinned. Then he decided that he’d better try the parenting thing.
"Hey, you gotta brush your teeth before bed, okay?"
She nodded and stumbled into the bathroom, tripping over the hem of the shirt along the way. Starsky followed her with the bag of toiletries from the drug store. He unwrapped the toothbrush and pulled the tube of toothpaste from its box. As he handed both objects to her, he noticed another problem: she couldn’t reach the sink. As he watched her trying in vain to shove the toothbrush over into the sink to get it wet, he chuckled softly. He reached down and lifted her up to the proper height. Once her teeth were clean and she had been to the bathroom, Starsky tucked her into bed.
"Will you read me a story?" came a little voice from the bed just as he turned to leave.
"Uh…I don’t have any stories that would be good for a little girl like you."
"That’s okay. When we go to my house tomorrow, I’ll pick out some good books for you."
"Okay, you do that." Starsky said as he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Good night Princess."
"Do you gots a night light? I’m scared of the dark!"
"Tell you what, I’ll leave the bathroom light on. How’s that?"
"Okay!" She sighed. "Good night Pretend Daddy!"
"Good night!" Starsky said as he quietly left the room to settle himself down on his couch.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Hutch quietly let himself into Starsky’s apartment. He smiled at the sight of his exhausted partner crashed out on the couch. Hutch marveled at how much his partner could look like a little kid himself when he slept. Then, he peeked into the bedroom.
There, in the middle of the enormous bed was a little bundle tucked under the covers with a mess of brown hair visible on the pillow. He smiled at the little girl as she stirred and sat up in bed. She looked at him with wide blue eyes. He marveled at how much she actually resembled Starsky. She really could be his daughter.
"What’s your name?" she asked.
"You don’t remember?" Hutch asked. Then, as she shook her head, he said, "I’m Ken. I’m David’s partner."
"I remember you now!" She said. "You were in the car with us when we went to the store!"
"That’s right. Did you wear David out last night? He’s still sleeping."
"He was very tired." She answered seriously.
"What do you say we start making breakfast for him, huh?"
"Okay!" She crawled out from under the covers and Hutch had to stifle a laugh at the sight of the rumpled little girl in the giant t-shirt.
As they came out of the bedroom, Starsky was just getting up. Emily ran over and threw her arms around him. "Good Morning Pretend Daddy!"
Hutch lifted an eyebrow. "Pretend Daddy?"
Starsky just looked at him and shrugged. Then he turned his attention to the child in his arms. "Hey! How’s my little Princess this morning?"
"I’m fine Pretend Daddy! Uncle Ken and me was gonna make you breakfast!"
Hutch lifted an eyebrow at this and met Starsky’s stare. ‘Uncle Ken?’
"Okay, you guys do that!" Starsky said as he put the child down. Then he turned to Hutch. "I’m gonna call Dobey. Then I’m gonna call Edith Dobey."
"Edith? Why?"
"Two reasons." Starsky said as he ticked them off on his fingers. "One, she might have a car seat left over from Cal and Rosie that I could use in the Torino. Two, she is a mother and probably could really help us out with her."
"Two very good reasons." Hutch said, nodding his head. Then he reached down and picked up the stumbling little girl (that shirt was just waaaayyyyy too long on her) and carried her into the kitchen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Captain Dobey looked at his clock and reflected that if his two best detectives didn’t get their butts into the office in the next ten minutes, he was going to have to assign them to filling out traffic reports for a couple of weeks. Just then, the telephone on his desk rang.
"Dobey," he snapped into receiver.
"Cap’n? It’s Starsky."
"Starsky? Where the hell are you and your partner?"
"That’s a long story. We’ll be in as soon as we can, but right now I’m waiting for your wife to come over."
"Edith? Why is she going to your place?"
"I’m borrowing Rosie’s old car seat. I’ve sort of got a kid staying with me for the next two weeks."
"Sort of? What are you talking about, Starsky? Is this some kind of joke?"
"No it’s not. Uh…could you hang on for a sec?"
Dobey heard the sound of the phone being put down and then he heard Starsky’s voice in the distance.
"Emily! Be careful with that! I don’t want you to break it. Hutch, can’t you keep an eye on her? I’m talking to Dobey!"
Just then, Emily found the other extension and picked up the phone. "Hello? Who’s this?"
Dobey started at the sound of the childish voice, "Uh…I’m Captain Dobey. Who are you?"
"I’m Emily. I’m four years old. David is my Pretend Daddy and Uncle Ken and me are making breakfast. We’re making pancakes. Do you like pancakes?"
"Uh…yes, I do. Could you go tell David…er…your Pretend Daddy that I want to talk to him, please?"
"Okay!" She answered cheerfully. He heard her put the phone down and then yell, "Pretend Daddy! Captain Dobey wants to talk to you!"
"What?" Starsky’s startled voice came from far away. Then there was the sound of the telephone being picked up. "Sorry about that, Cap. I guess we lost track of her for a second. She can really move fast when she gets goin’!"
"You really do have a kid there?" Dobey asked, incredulous. "How’d you end up with her?"
"That’s really a long story. Short version: She got separated from her folks at the fireworks; I found her and reunited them. Later she lost them again when they were picked up for possession. Her nearest relative is out of the country for two weeks, so through process of elimination – and the fact that Children’s Services is out of the office for the weekend, I’m elected."
"Oh." Dobey said, unsure of how to handle this particular situation.
"Look, as soon as Edith gets here, we’re coming down there to get the keys to her folks’ house and then we’re heading over there to pick up some of her stuff."
"Oh." Dobey said again. He still didn’t know exactly how to handle this situation. "Well, bring the young lady up to say hello when you get here. I think I’d like to meet her."
"You got it, Cap’n! I gotta go before she and Hutch burn up my kitchen. I’ll see you later." He said and hung up – leaving Dobey staring at the phone as though it had just turned into a turtle in his hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour later, Starsky, Hutch and Emily arrived at Metro. Their first stop was the property room to acquire the keys to Emily’s house. Next the trio went up to see Captain Dobey.
Dobey looked up at the knock on his door. "Come in!"
Starsky poked a head in. "Hey, Cap’n. You want to meet the little princess?"
"Okay, bring her in." Dobey said as he attempted to shift from ‘cop’ Harold Dobey to ‘dad’ Harold Dobey (a tough leap in the precinct!).
Starsky pulled his head out of the office and quickly returned with the child in question. Dobey looked down at the little girl and he could see how Starsky could have been so easily talked into playing ‘dad’ for a couple of weeks.
"Hello. You must be Emily. I’m Captain Dobey." He said as he moved around to kneel in front of the little girl.
"I talked to you on the telephone!" Emily said with a smile. "You’re a nice man."
Starsky and Hutch looked at each other as they both desperately tried to keep straight faces. Dobey looked up at them. "Not one word, you two!"
The partners put on their most innocent faces, "US? What weren’t going to say anything, were we Starsk?"
"Of course not, Hutch. We wouldn’t want to upset such a nice man."
Dobey ignored them for the sake of the little girl in front of him, but he mentally filed their teasing away to deal with at a later date.
After a brief conversation on the merits of Sesame Street and why Mr. Snuffalupagus couldn’t be seen by the grownups, Dobey asked Hutch to remove the child from his office so he could talk to Starsky. Hutch offered to take her to get her fingerprints done. She gladly followed him (any excuse to get her hands dirty!).
"Starsky, how do you intend to keep a child for two weeks? For one thing, I don’t think you know the first thing about being a father. Another thing, what do you do with her while you’re at work?" Starsky looked crushed. "Look, I know you really like her. I can see it when you look at her and I don’t blame you. She’s a beautiful child, but I really think she’d be better off in foster care until her grandmother returns to the states."
"Cap’n Dobey! I’ve seen some of those foster homes! I wouldn’t leave a dog with some of those people! I’ll take my vacation time if I need to! It’s only a couple of weeks!"
"You’ve really fallen hard, haven’t you Dave?" Dobey said kindly.
Starsky fell into the chair in front of the desk. "Yeah, I guess I have. She’s a great kid."
"Okay look, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll let you have the two weeks. We’ll call it personal leave. I’ll ask Edith to check up on you occasionally and make sure you’re still handling the ‘father thing’ okay. If she thinks you can’t handle it, we’ll talk to Children’s Services about a foster home for the rest of the time. Do we have a deal?"
Starsky grinned. "Thanks Cap’n! Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of her. And thank your wife too. I probably will need a little ‘experienced’ help."
"After two kids, my wife is definitely experienced. She’ll be able to give you advice and the like. Just don’t depend on her completely. She still has kids of her own to take care of too."
"We’ll be fine, Cap’n. Thanks again."
"Tell Hutch if he wants to take personal leave time as well, he’s welcome. I don’t think ‘Uncle Ken’ is going to get much done around here if he’s worried about you and the little one."
Starsky just grinned and headed out in search of his partner and his new ward.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After a few days as ‘Pretend Daddy’, Starsky was starting to see the true side of parenting when she decided that she wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t macaroni and cheese – or when she HAD to have her Big Bird t-shirt because it was a cloudy day – or when she decided that she liked playing with that pretty Mexican pot that he had on the table behind the couch (stress the word HAD!).
On the bright side, amongst her belongings that he had retrieved from her house, he had remembered to get the little step stool in the bathroom; so she could now handle that sort of thing more or less on her own. She was fairly well behaved (apart from the Mexican pot incident) and Starsky didn’t have too many fights on his hands. She occasionally missed her mom, but Starsky found that a big hug and a trip to the ice-cream parlor usually did the trick.
However, today was a rather rambunctious day for the little whirlwind. Starsky looked at the clock and decided now was as good a time as any for a nap.
"I don’t want to take a nap!" She whined. "I’m not sleepy!"
"Yes you are. It’s nap time and you gotta lie down!" Starsky said firmly.
"I’m not sleepy!" She insisted.
"Well, even if you ain’t sleepy, you still gotta lie down for a little while."
"I will if you come with me!"
Starsky sighed and decided that if it would keep her quiet for an hour or two, he could compromise. He nodded and she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hutch and Huggy Bear entered Starsky’s apartment quietly. Huggy had expressed an interest in meeting this girl that had so completely monopolized Starsky’s time. As a result, he offered to bring dinner in for the four of them.
"Man, Hutch! Why won’t you tell me what this chick is like? Why hasn’t Starsky brung her to meet me yet?"
"Well, Hug, I’ll tell you; the Pits isn’t exactly a good environment for the young lady."
"What’s wrong with it?" Huggy asked indignantly.
"Hug, just go sit down and I’ll see if I can locate Starsky. His car’s here, so he can’t have gone far."
Hutch looked around until he got to the bedroom where the sight before him melted his heart. Lying on the bed, snuggled together were Starsky and Emily. Both were sound asleep and dead to the world. Hutch stepped out and motioned to Huggy to join him. Huggy started to say something when Hutch put a finger to his lips and pointed to the bedroom.
Huggy walked to the door and his eyes widened at the sight of Starsky and child. He looked at Hutch with a question in his eyes.
"He hooked up with her when she got separated from her parents at the fireworks show on Venice Beach. He reunited them, but then she got separated again when her folks got picked up for possession. Since Children’s Services wasn’t available on a holiday weekend, Starsky took her on."
"This a permanent thing?" Huggy asked softly.
"Nah. Her grandmother is out of the country for another week and a half. When she comes back, they’re gonna see if she can take the kid."
"If? What if she can’t?"
Hutch sighed. "I don’t know. I’m afraid Starsky will want to keep her. She’s a great kid, but she needs a two-parent home. Starsky and me don’t exactly count…a girl doesn’t need two dads."
"Yeah, well that’s up to him, ain’t it?"
"Hutch?" came a drowsy voice from the bed. "When did you get here?"
"I just got here a couple of minutes ago, Starsk. I didn’t want to wake you - you were sleeping so peacefully."
"What time is it?" Starsky asked blearily as he looked at the clock. "It’s almost 5? I suppose I’d better wake her up, or she won’t sleep all night."
"Starsky, m’man!" Huggy said. "When Hutch said you were spendin’ all your time with a cute little girl, I did not realize that it was in fact a real little girl!"
"Yeah, Hug. Cute, ain’t she?" Then he turned and nudged the small form on the bed. "Hey, Princess, time to get up. Nap time’s over."
Emily moaned a little bit and rolled over. Starsky nudged her again. "Come on, baby. Time to get up."
Finally, after much prodding, the sleepy little girl finally returned to the land of the living. She was happy to see her ‘Uncle Ken’ but was a little wary of the tall, spindly black man standing next to him.
"Emily, this is a friend of ours." Hutch said. "His name is Huggy Bear. Huggy, this is Emily."
Emily giggled. "You don’t look like a bear! You look like a man." She held up her teddy bear. "This is a bear. You’re not a bear!"
"I’m just called Huggy Bear because I’m cute and cuddly." He said – his eyes daring Starsky or Hutch to make a big deal out of it.
She stepped back and looked up at him with an appraising eye. "You’re not very cute." She said finally with the true honesty of a child. "I don’t know if you’re cuddly or not."
"This one’s a charmer," Huggy said dryly to an embarrassed Starsky. Then he turned his attention back to the little girl. "Well, I may not be cute or very cuddly, but I am a good cook. Are you hungry little lady?"
"What do you cook?"
"What do you like?"
"Macaroni and cheese!"
"Is that it? Anything else?"
"I haven’t been able to get her to eat much else, Hug. If you can, more power to ya."
"How’s about a hamburger? I make really good hamburgers."
"I like macaroni and cheese!"
"I’ll make you a deal, little lady. I’ll make hamburgers and you taste one. If you don’t like it, I’ll make you macaroni and cheese. Okay?"
"Promise?"
"Yeah, I promise." Huggy said solemnly. "But just remember, if I have to make macaroni for you, I won’t have time to make dessert!"
"Hamburgers are good." Emily said when she realized that her love for macaroni and cheese could cost her dessert (one has to have one’s priorities straight after all!).
Huggy smiled at Starsky like the cat that ate the canary. "You just have to know how to phrase it!"
Starsky rolled his eyes at Huggy and then sent Emily to the bathroom to wash up for dinner.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Starsky was glad that he had unplugged the telephone in the bedroom. Emily was napping when it suddenly rang.
"Hello?"
"You don’t remember to call your mother anymore?" Came the decidedly Jewish Mother-y voice on the other end of the line.
"Is this Friday already?" Starsky said. "Sorry Ma. I guess I lost track of time. Things’re a little hectic at the moment."
"What things? Are you having any trouble there?"
"Not exactly Ma. I got a houseguest and she’s wearing me out."
"She?"
‘Oh brother!’ Starsky thought to himself. ‘Here we go!’
"It ain’t what you’re thinking, Ma." Starsky said.
Before he could explain, his mother spoke up, "You have a girl staying with you and it’s not what I’m thinking? You know, there is a thing called dating and marriage before you live with a girl."
"Ma…Ma…Mom," Starsky was having trouble getting a word in edgewise as his mother went on and on about the merits of marriage before living with someone. "Mom…Mother…MOMMY!"
"What? If you wanted to say something, you could have just said it."
"I’m tryin’ to explain to you. My houseguest is four years old. Her folks were arrested and her grandmother ain’t gonna be back in town until late next week. I’m kinda a foster parent."
"Pretend Daddy?" came a sleepy voice from the bedroom door.
"Hang on, Ma. She just woke up from her nap."
"I heard you yell ‘Mommy’. Is that my mommy?"
Starsky smiled, "No Princess, it’s my mommy."
"Can I talk to her?"
"Hey Ma, Emily wants to talk to you. You up for it?"
"It’s probably the closest I’ll get to a grandchild for a while." Starsky rolled his eyes at this. "Okay, put her on."
Emily grabbed the phone out of Starsky’s hand and held it to her ear with both hands. "Are you my Pretend Daddy’s mommy?"
Starsky watched the little girl conversing with his mother. It struck him again how much he liked the concept of having a daughter. He chuckled when Rachel Starsky was suddenly addressed as ‘Pretend Grammy’. After a few minutes, she said, "Okay, bye-bye Pretend Grammy!" She held the phone back to Starsky.
"Mom?" Starsky said into the phone…fully expecting a dial tone to answer him.
"She sounds adorable, David! Is she as cute as she sounds?"
"Cuter, Ma. You oughta see her."
"Have you taken any pictures?"
"No." Starsky said, surprised that such a thing hadn’t occurred to him before. "But I still got a week. Don’t worry, Ma. I’ll make up for lost time and send you a couple of shots."
"I’ll be looking for them! David, there’s someone at the door, I gotta go. Talk to you next Friday?"
"You bet! I love you, Mom."
"I love you too. I’ll talk to you later! Bye."
"Bye."
Starsky hung up the phone. He turned to the little girl standing next to him. "Do you like getting your picture taken?"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning when Hutch arrived, Starsky had his camera out and was cleaning the lens. He looked up and grinned at the blond.
"Hey Partner! How’re you doin’ today?"
"I’m okay, Starsk. Where’s the little one?"
"Still asleep. I was thinkin’. You wanna help me take her to the zoo? I’m sure she’d have a great time and we could get some really great pictures."
"Pictures?"
Starsky shrugged, "Yeah. I talked to Ma yesterday and she decided that she wanted to see pictures of her temporary grandchild."
"You mean her ‘pretend grandchild’, don’t you ‘Pretend Daddy’?" Hutch said with a grin.
Starsky shot him a look. Then he shrugged with a smile of his own, "It was really cute. She wanted to talk to Mom and she was callin’ her ‘Pretend Grammy’."
"That’s cute, Starsk." Hutch said with a chuckle. "Yeah, let’s take her to the zoo."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two men and little lady had a great time at the zoo. Starsky took her picture whenever he could with whatever he could – a goat in the petting zoo, fish in the aquarium, the door to the restroom, Hutch, a giraffe trying to lick her head, the gift shop, etc…
Hutch also took his share of pictures of Starsky and Emily together. He knew his partner had fallen in love with this little bundle of joy and would really appreciate the photos when she was gone.
Various people around the zoo took pictures of the three of them. Hutch only had to chase down one of them who tried to walk off with the camera.
By the end of the day, Starsky was carrying a sleeping Emily out to the car. She had put her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder and she was out.
"Great day, huh Partner?" Starsky said quietly.
Hutch looked at the adorable picture of his partner playing dad. "Yeah, Starsk. It has been a great day."
"Ya know," Starsky said as he gently placed the sleeping child into the car seat. "When they first told me I had to keep her for two weeks, I didn’t want her. I mean, she was cute and all, but I didn’t want to be a dad."
"And now?"
"Now, I don’t want her to go home. Hutch, I love her and I love bein’ a dad – more than I ever thought I would. She’s gonna be gone in a week and things are s’posed to return to normal. I don’t think I’ll ever be normal again."
Hutch put his arm around his partner’s shoulders. "I know you’re going to miss her. I’ll miss her too. You’ll probably be able to visit her occasionally. Just ‘cause she’s going home doesn’t mean you won’t see her again." He tightened his hold on Starsky, who leaned into the embrace. "Besides, no one says you’ll never have the chance to be a father again. It’s just that now isn’t the time, that’s all."
"Thanks Babe." Starsky said as the two men got into the Torino and Starsky started the engine. "Come on, let’s go home and put the little princess to bed."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next week passed all too quickly. Starsky spent as much time with Emily as he possibly could. It was like he was in the desert and she was an oasis - and he had just been told that it was only a mirage and would wear off any second, so he’d better enjoy it while he could.
Finally, on Friday morning, there was a knock on the door. Starsky looked up from where he and Emily had been playing ‘Candyland’. He stood up and answered the door. Standing on the landing were two people - a young woman in a business suit and an older, kindly-looking woman.
"Detective Starsky?" The younger woman spoke first. "My name is Harriet Fishman from Children’s Services. This is Margaret Taylor, Emily’s grandmother."
Starsky felt a knife in his heart. He knew this day was coming, but a small part of him had refused to believe it. He forced himself to smile.
"Nice to meet you, Miz Taylor." He shook the older woman’s hand and turned around and called, "Hey Princess, there’s someone here to see you!"
Emily came running over. When she caught sight of her grandmother, her face lit up and she went running into the older woman’s arms with a cry of "Grammy!"
Margaret Taylor grinned as she picked up the little girl and hugged her. "There’s my little angel! I’ve missed you. Have you been a good girl?"
"I had to be." She answered solemnly. "My Pretend Daddy is a policeman."
"I know. It looks like he’s been taking awfully good care of you too." Margaret said as she hugged the little girl again. Then she turned her attention to the heartbroken man in front of her.
"Do you have her things ready to go?"
"Uh…not really. I was kinda expectin’ you tomorrow. It shouldn’t take too long to get it together."
"Okay." The two women stood there expectantly.
"Oh, sorry." Starsky said. "C’mon in."
The two women came in and looked around the small apartment. Harriet looked around and raised an eyebrow at the ONE bedroom.
"I slept on the couch." Starsky said with a scowl - reading her mind. She nodded and went back to the couch to sit down.
Starsky packed the little girl’s things methodically, trying not to think about the little ray of sunshine that was about to out of his life. When he found the little teddy bear that he had bought her, his composure slipped and he hugged the stuffed animal as he felt the tears slide down his face.
Finally, he finished packing and took the little suitcase out to the waiting women. "Uh…this should be everything."
Margaret Taylor looked at the man in front of her and finally seemed to notice his distress. "Would you like a few minutes alone to say good-bye?"
Starsky smiled shyly and said, "Yeah, thanks." A pause, "Uh…you don’t suppose I could come and visit her occasionally?"
She smiled. "Of course. We’re just going to be in San Francisco. Let me give you my address." She wrote her address and phone number on a small piece of paper, which she handed to Starsky. Then she picked up Emily’s suitcase and said, "We’re just going to take this stuff down to the car. That’ll give you a few minutes to say good-bye."
As the two women walked out of the apartment, Starsky got down on one knee and held out his arms. Almost immediately, they were full of four-year old.
"You gonna be a good girl for your Grammy?"
"Yes, Pretend Daddy." She lisped. "When I come back from visiting Grammy, do I gets to stay with you?"
Starsky’s heart shattered. He tried to put on a brave face, but could feel himself failing. "No Princess. You’re gonna live with your Grammy until your real daddy and mommy are done staying with the policemen."
"I wanna live with you!" She whined. "I love you Pretend Daddy and I love Uncle Ken and I want to stay!"
The pieces of his shattered heart swelled and then shattered again. "I know, Princess. I love you too and so does Uncle Ken. I really want you to stay too. But it ain’t up to me. Your Grammy wants you to stay with her and I have to do what she says."
She started to cry. Starsky hugged her tightly. "Don’t worry! I’ll come visit you as soon as I can!"
She sniffled, "Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die!"
She smiled again.
"By the way Princess, when is your birthday? I gotta know when to send the present!"
"Present?" Her eyes widened. "My birthday is June 21. Mommy says it’s the first day of summer."
"Yes it is!" Starsky said. "That’ll make it easy to remember."
Suddenly, he was aware that the two women had returned. He hugged Emily again and regretfully let her go. "Okay, looks like your Grammy’s ready to leave, so I guess this is good-bye little Princess."
"Bye-bye Pretend Daddy!" She said sadly as her grandmother took her hand and led her out the door.
Starsky sat down right where he was on the floor and sobbed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hutch was whistling to himself as he climbed the steps to his partner’s apartment. He grinned as he thought of Starsky’s face when he saw the photos from the zoo that he had just picked up from the drug store. He knocked briefly on the door before letting himself in. The scene in front of him broke his heart.
Starsky was still sitting on the floor with tears streaming down his face. He looked up with pain-filled violet-blue eyes and said two words that explained all, "she’s gone."
Hutch didn’t say a word. He just sat down on the floor next to his partner and held him while he cried.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was three days before he could bring himself to look at the photos. He smiled sadly as he looked at the pictures of his ‘Little Princess.’
Hutch stayed close to his partner during this time, sleeping on Starsky’s couch at night. He too missed the little girl and knew that if he was hurting, Starsky must be in agony.
Then, nearly a week after she had gone, the telephone rang. Starsky looked at Hutch and shrugged apathetically. Hutch sighed and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Is this my Pretend Daddy?" a tiny voice came over the line.
Hutch grinned and frantically motioned to Starsky who looked quizzically at him. "No, it’s not. This is Uncle Ken. How’re you doing Sweetie?"
"I’m fine Uncle Ken. Can I talk to Pretend Daddy?"
Starsky lunged for the phone, "Princess? How’s my girl?"
"I’m fine Pretend Daddy. Grammy said I could call you." She bubbled. "She said if I was a good girl all week, she’ll let me call you every single Thursday!"
"Really?" Starsky’s heart lightened considerably. "That’s great Princess! So I get to talk to you every Thursday? I can’t wait for your next call already!"
The giggle on the other end of the line was music to his ears.
"I gots to go now, Pretend Daddy. Grammy’s taking me to sign up for preschool!"
"Okay, you have fun. I love you Princess."
"I love you too, Pretend Daddy!"
"Bye."
"Bye-bye."
Starsky turned shining eyes to Hutch. Hutch grinned and said, "You’re right. I’ll talk to Dobey about getting Thursdays off."
"Yeah. Hey, I better write down her birthday before I forget it." He went to find his date book. He flipped it open to June of the next year (it was a 2-year calendar). When he found the 21st, he froze, pen suspended just above the page.
Hutch looked at his partner, concerned. "Starsk? You okay Babe? What is it?"
"Her birthday’s on the 21st, Hutch. Look at the calendar."
Hutch looked over his partner’s shoulder. When he found the proper date on the calendar, he put his arms around Starsky and held him close. Her next birthday fell on Father’s Day.
End.