They walked to the table where he usually put his phone and his other stuff and sure enough the indicator on the phone was blinking. Danny press the power button and unlock his phone and saw that it was a message and not a missed call.

“Christy must have heard the message tone and thought it was the call tone – Good, she can understand now and make sense of the world around her – I think she’s growing up just fine.”

All these came as an after-thought. Danny then touch the message icon to see the message.

He passed Christy to his left arm in order to use his right to hold the phone and view the message.  It was from his father. The message was blunt.

“Maxie koros wantem Jemma na paitim em. Ring kam”

Danny felt a tinge of pain in him after viewing the message. Maxie is his smaller brother and Jemma is his big sister. They are five in the family – three sisters and two brothers.

He looked at Christy and thought of his family who he has not seen for some years now because of his work as a teacher in another province.

“Tenk yu doll long kam toksave long daddy. Mi putim yu go daun na yu stap wantem mummy insait lo haus o yumi go stap outside?”

“Go autsait,” came Christy’s reply whose attention is now on the changing wall papers on the smart phone in Danny’s hand.

“Okay, yumi go outside na daddy ring long bubu man pastem,” Danny shifted Christy again in his arms. “Ba mi putim yu go daun na yu wokabaut o mi karim yu?”

“Kalim mi”.

“Okay doll, let’s go outside”.

He looked over to Julia and saw that she was busy in the kitchen with her back to them.

Sometimes he wonders how the universe brought them together in the first place. It was nothing romantic like love at first sight. It wasn’t lust if he recalls correctly, just a look and an understanding shared mutually, and their fate was sealed.

They were introduced by family friends and something clicked and here they are. He fell for her modesty and honesty. She radiated this beauty somewhere from within her that appealed to his senses and connected with him.

They usually have disagreements once in a while in the years they have been together but tend to work on their disagreements and come to a solution or understanding.

They have learnt that for them to have peace in the house, they have to trust and respect each other and complement each other in their roles and responsibilities.

It’s been a little bit trying after the little one came along but they are able to manage.

They have also learnt that it is wiser to apologise and ask for forgiveness as soon as possible whenever they have arguments or disagreements.

To them it is never advisable to let any disagreement or argument boil over for a number of days, the earlier they are sorted, the quicker peace is restored.

Before reaching the door, Danny looked over to Julia and at same time she turned from the kitchen bench and looked at him. He knew she’s been taking in all the activities of the past few minutes and wanted to say something but didn’t.

“Hey, mi na doll bai stap outside na mi ring long old man pastaim”

“Okay, em salim text lo yu?” she asked knowingly.

“Yeah,” Danny paused to make sure Christy is still occupied with the changing wall papers on the phone, “em tok bai mi ring go long em.”

“Sampla samting kamap?”

“Yeah, Maxie koros long Jemma.”

Danny tried to think of a better way to talk more but decided not to because Julia has not met his family and it would not make sense now for him to explain. Though she has heard about them but has not physically met them.

“Okay, na doll ba stap wantem yu?”

“Yeah, em tok lo stap tasol ba hat lo mi ring na holim em tu.”

“Olsem, okay em kam stap wantem mi na yu ring pastem.”

Julia came over and took Christy from Danny’s arms. The little one refused and protested because she was still looking at the wall papers when her mother took her away.

“Thank you.”

“Okay, plis pasim dua taim yu go autsait.”

Danny closed the door behind him and went to his peace seat. He could still hear the little one’s protest in the house and her mother still comforting her.

He sat down and checked his phone for available credits. He had two kina credits. That’s about a minute of talk time.

He dialled his father’s number.

The phone rang once, twice …

“Halo, Danny, yu ah!?”

“Pap, mi ya. Yu salim text na tok lo ring, olsem na mi ring”

“Oh. Okay gupla nait lo yu na tambu meri and bubu meri. Mi toksave osem Maxie na Jemma koros aste. Na Maxie sulapim Jemma na maus blem kat na mipla go lo vilis kot na stretim pinis.”

“Okay, units blo mi ba klostu pinis nau. Na ol tok wanem lo kot?” Danny enquired.

“Mipla stretim tok nau na kot painim aut pinis as blo koros, Maxie yet rong. Em ting susa blem gossip na tok beksait lo em tasol nogat, em meri blo Maxie yet giamanim Maxie na em dring spak kam na koros na sulapim susa blem natin. Ol lain lo kot tok Maxie ba stretim susa blem lo K500 bikos em givim blut lo em. Na olgeta lain stap ol wanbel na ol sekan tu. Na em tasol pikinini blem mi.”

“Okay, Pap. Gutpla nait lo yu na gutpla yupla stretim displa hevi.”

“Gupla nait pikinini.”

And Danny ended the call and felt relieved that his family had resolved their dispute peacefully. He’ll tell Julia later in the night.