Leslie was just shy of three feet. She had pudgy legs and a little tummy. Her cheeks were full but I wouldn't consider her fat. Really, it was more a matter of the baby-fat not going away quite yet. She could talk, of course, but it was still the broken, three-word sentences common at that age. She had beautiful brown eyes that reminded me of almonds. Her hair was brownish-blonde and Janice always tied it back in a ponytail to keep it out of Leslie's face. She was an outgoing girl, afraid of nobody. All in all, I thought her an extremely cute little girl, even though I didn't see much of her.

That's why I was so surprised when Janice stopped by with Leslie one night. It was early yet, about seven.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, seeing the red rimmed eyes that told me she'd been crying.

"It's Jack," Janice said softly. Leslie held her mom's hand reassuringly.

"What?" I asked, ushering her into the apartment.

"He got busted for drunk driving. Again. He's sitting in the drunk tank and I need to go bail him out." She said, starting to cry again.

"Okay, I understand. Leave Leslie with me, okay? She doesn't need to see daddy in J-A-I-L," I said, spelling out the word.

Janice looked instantly relieved, "Thank you SO much! They said it would take a couple of hours, total, so I can pick her back up at eleven or so, if that's okay?"

I shook my head. "I suspect Jack's going to be pretty po'd - why don't you leave her here with me for the night and I'll drop her off in the morning?"

She thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Okay, yeah, thanks so much!" And then Janice was gone.

"Hey Leslie, how are you doing?" I asked the little girl. Far from being frightened, she was exploring my apartment, looking at magazines and playing with the remote for the TV.

"Okay!" she said cheerfully. "Is mommy sad?"

"Yeah, a little bit. Daddy got in trouble and mommy's going to help him out. You're going to stay here tonight, is that okay?" I asked.

"Sure!" She said, either ignoring or absorbing what I had just said.

"Got toys?" she asked me.

In fact, I did. My niece had left some of her stuff so I grabbed the blocks, a couple of books and a plastic toy train. I set them on the floor and watched as Leslie played for a while.

Finally, I screwed up my courage and approached the little girl. "Wanna play a game, Leslie?"

Her face lit up and it became clear to me that the little angel didn't get much attention. "Yeah!"

"How about we play 'doggies'? You be Little Dog and I'll be Big Dog!" I suggested.

She nodded and smiled. "How we play?"....(cont)