For some reason, on his way home from work, Tim found a mix CD under the seat.

He remembered it, though he didn’t know how it got there. He was too close to home so he didn’t pop it in, but when Ella asked him to join her in the Step2 Lifestyle Welcome Home Kitchen, he figured it would be a great soundtrack for the night.

Ella started jumping the second she heard the music. “Daddy!” she said. “Play it again! PLAY IT AGAIN!” Tim skipped back a track and started over and Ella banged her hands on the granite-looking counter top, as hard and as loud as she could.

When Tim first made this mix, he had a kitchen not much bigger than the Step2 Lifestyle Welcome Home Kitchen his daughter was enjoying now. His rent back then was… well, not as high as his mortgage today, but it sure seemed like a lot to a kid fresh out of school. He was making minimum wage, heading to the clubs every night, and spending every free dollar on fun. This mix was his “Downloaded Party Mix!” just like it said on the hand-written label, and he would blast it from a tiny boom box as he and his roommates got dressed for the clubs.

Ella pretended to turn the dial on the “stainless steel” oven. “What Should? We? Cook?” she sang over the beats. “What Should? We Cook? What Should? We Cook?”

When this song was new Tim used to live off pizza and cheap beer. “Let’s make vegetables, sweetie.”

Ella opened the pull-out vegetable basket and pretended she found some squash. Just last night Michelle had made squash. Tim hated squash more than anything. But Ella loved it. So squash it would be.

Ella pretended to fill the plastic pot with water from the faucet, and put it on the toy burner, which lit up from the battery-powered light inside. Tim heard the pre-recorded hiss from the speaker built into the pot.

“It sounds great, honey! Mmm, squash!”

“Not yet, Daddy! It needs some salt and pepper!”

Ella pretended to add seasoning to the pot as the track changed. This was Tim’s favorite track. When he first heard this song there’d been a girl on his lap. She was in a bikini top, she had purple hair and was wearing fairy wings. He never got her name and wouldn’t know her today if he passed her on the street. Back then, it had been the greatest night of his life, and he always smiled when he heard this song.

“Daddy!” Ella scolded. “Go back to that other song! That other song was better!”

Tim skipped back obediently and Ella started dancing again. Her imaginary squash was almost ready.

“Squash, squash! Squash, squash!” This used to be the song that meant the boys were on the prowl. The song that meant wild nights, hazy mornings, forgotten names and half-remembered fun. This song was the start of a new adventure every time Tim hit play.

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