by Hadley Quinn
Yum, I bet she did a seat drop onto the floor and spread shit everywhere up her ass and then some.
After David’s ID checked out, I stepped back to let him in my house. He went straight for Mia with a huge smile and a voice way too high for a man.
“Mia-Pia! Hi, princess!” She didn’t look too excited when he picked her up.
Ha, so I’m not the only one being hated on.
“Whew!” he sniffed the air and then her backside.
Why a person would sniff a kid’s butt when it’s more than obvious she’d shit her pants…I just don’t know.
“Seems like someone is in desperate need of a change. That’s not good.” He gave me a look like I’d totally failed the whole babysitting thing, as if that was the most important part of my responsibility. Hey, I kept the kid alive for thirty minutes. I’d say I did my job just fine.
“You must bring out the best in her,” I replied with a shrug. Ass. You’re going to judge me for not changing a diaper within two minutes of her shitting it?
I packed up Mia’s bag quickly and handed it over without a word. David carried Mia to the door while I opened it for them, and he baby talked the entire trek to the sidewalk about how horrible it must be to sit in a bunch of poo-poo.
Fine by me. You have fun with the poo-poo. I need a shower just from thinking about it.
6
My morning started off like it normally did, except when I stepped onto the front porch to have a smoke, there was a bunch of garbage spread all over the place. Then I realized the pieces of blue paper were the remnants of a gift bag, and the torn-to-shreds cellophane must have held some sort of edible item.
“Fucking dog,” I growled, cursing the neighbor’s lab mix that always got into people’s yards. He’d find anything he could tear apart and crap wherever he wanted.
I picked up the scraps, curious as to what had been inside, but most importantly if it’d been left on my porch or came from someone else’s. Then I saw a blue envelope below the steps and went to retrieve it. It was a bit tattered but mostly in tact. It had my name on the front, so I tore it open.
Thank you so much for your help last night. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I owe you big time, but here’s a tiny token of my gratitude. I hope you like chocolate chip!
Clare
Hmm, assuming she meant chocolate chip cookies, I cursed that damn dog even more. And if they’d been homemade chocolate chip cookies—which I supposed they were—it made me even more pissed. It was bad enough for that dog to shit in my yard…stealing my cookies aggravated me even more.
I found Clare’s number where I’d set it on my dresser. I wasn’t even sure she’d answer—I planned on just leaving a voicemail so then she at least had my number too—but she picked up on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey Clare, it’s Matt. Hope you don’t mind me calling. I just wanted to say thank you.”
“For what? And I wanted to call you to say thank you but stupid me didn’t get your number last night. I was in such a hurry…”
“It’s not a problem,” I smiled. “Everything went fine. You didn’t have to bake me cookies, but thank you.”
She paused. “What cookies?”
Ohhh shit. What kind of mix-up was this? “Um, on my porch? Isn’t that what was in the bag…?”
“Oh. Uh, I made you chocolate chip muffins… Um… Were they really that awful you couldn’t tell what they were?”
Oh jeez. Chuckling, I answered, “Well, actually the neighbor’s dog got to it before I did. I was just guessing what was in it. I’m really sorry.”
“Oh my gosh,” she sighed. But then she laughed. “That stupid Lab-thing across the street?”
“Yep, that’s the one. Dozer. He gets into anything he can when he gets out of their backyard.”
“Yeah, apparently he likes dirty diapers, too. Goodness, what a mess this morning.”
It was my turn to pause at the mention of diapers. Did what’s-his-face say something to her about Mia having a poopy diaper for too long? Was she hinting at something?
“I guess I shouldn’t have left it on your porch, that was dumb of me,” she said. “I’ll bring over some more—”
“No, no, that’s okay. I’m headed to work anyway.” I was actually running a bit behind, so I found my keys and wallet and headed for my truck. “And by the way, how is Sadie? Is everything okay?”
“Oh. Yes, she’s fine—just a bad ear infection. I assumed that’s what it was, but I was so worried about the fever. She’s on medication and doing much better. Just have to wait it out until it clears up. And again, thank you so much for watching Mia last night. I soooo appreciate it, you don’t even know.”
“It was no problem at all. I think she was happy for a bit.”
Clare paused as I climbed into my truck. “Really? Were you watching the right kid?” she lightly laughed. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you more, but Mia is… Well, she’s my difficult one. I should have explained that it doesn’t matter what you do for her, she’s just going to cry.”
Starting my ignition I asked, “With everyone? She cries, like, all the time?”
“No, no, no, not with me. With strangers. She was screaming her head off when I got home last night and David was almost in tears himself because he couldn’t make her happy.”
I wasn’t sure if I should gloat or feel bad for the guy.
“Anyway,” she continued. “I’m so sorry for putting all of that on you—”
“Clare, it was perfectly fine,” I interrupted as I pulled out of my driveway. “She was a bit grumpy at first, but then we were like besties.”
She paused again. “Ha-ha, Matt. Very funny.”
I raised my eyebrows as I passed her house down the street. “I’m not making that up. She was perfectly fine. I mean she did crap herself, and it took me a few minutes to take action on it, but that’s when your friend showed up.”
Clare sighed. “Yeah, she’s not potty trained yet. Sadie is, but Mia… It just doesn’t work the same way with her. She has problems with communication and she barely speaks. Sometimes I don’t know if Sadie is just a super genius baby, or if Mia is way behind. Maybe it’s a bit of both. Anyway—oh shoot. Hey, I gotta go. Toddlers are awake. Thanks again, Matt. Bye!”
“You’re welcome—” I could tell she’d already hung up.
Smiling, I felt a bit of pride wash through me. So Mia was pretty much a nightmare with everyone? She tried to be one with me, but apparently music was entertaining enough to deter her.
I actually looked forward to telling Clare a little more about it. I had no idea Mia was a slow learner; maybe she just needed more one-on-one time with someone. Looking back at my own childhood, I remember Trent being a bit of an introvert. I think it had to do with me being the older brother, and since we were almost always together, he just let me do the talking any time it was needed. He had also been pretty quiet in school, too.
Well that was surely a different scenario now. Trent wasn’t shy about anything these days.
***
“What do you mean, no gym?” my brother questioned over the phone. “We’ve got three-on-three tonight, man. Don’t back out on me. I need my wing.”
“I just have other things to do. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“This is for a chick, isn’t it?” Trent asked. “It’s for the milf down the street.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t call her a milf, and yeah it’s a long story, so I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
I hung up before he could object any further—or, more importantly, voice his opinion—and pulled into my driveway just after five-thirty. I couldn’t tell if Clare was home or not, but I gave her a call as I walked through my front door with a bag of groceries.
I got her voicemail.
When it beeped, I said, “Hey Clare, it’s Matt. Uh, I was wondering if you’d want to bring the girls down for dinner at my house. Tonight. I know it’s last minute,
but I just got home and I’m going to throw some food on the grill… Well, let me know. I just, uh, wanted to talk to you about Mia.” Shit, I just had to add that, huh? Like I was looking for a better reason for Clare to see me. “Anyway, give me a call back or send a text.”
I hung up, wishing I could re-do the message. Why did it feel so fucking awkward leaving a message for a female? It was like I was a pubescent teenager all over again.
She called back about five minutes later, when I had everything prepped for cooking, not knowing whether or not she was coming. She seemed extremely grateful to have been invited, but assured me I didn’t have to go through the trouble.
What trouble was she talking about? I realized I was befriending a single mom with twin girls—definitely an idea I’m sure most guys would avoid—but she was just a neighbor down the street. I didn’t know much about her, but I felt like she needed a friend in the area. Whatever had brought her from San Mateo didn’t matter; everyone needed to have people they could count on.
She arrived just after six, and when I opened the front door, both girls were holding her hands—one on each side. It was pretty cute, I’ll admit it. Mia and Sadie had matching outfits but in different colors, and their headbands had little flowers on top.
I knelt down in front of them where they still stood on the porch. Okay, I was going to give this a try…
After studying them for a few seconds, I pointed at the one on the left and said, “Sadie.” I pointed to the other and said, “Mia.”
Clare softly laughed. “Wow, ‘A’ for effort.”
“I’m wrong?” I stood, shaking my head. I could have sworn I would have guessed Mia. I mean we totally had a history now.
“I don’t know, are you wrong?” Clare teased with a smile.
It made me smile too, and I liked seeing more of one on her face than she’d given in the past. I ushered them in the house, and after shutting the door, went for my guitar. “I’ll find out,” I told her. “Mia, come play,” I said, motioning to the little girl I was pretty sure was her.
The other one’s eyes went big and she toddled right over, immediately grabbing for the strings.
“I was wrong,” I said out loud to myself. “Dang, I was so sure…”
“Hey, what is this?” Clare asked, her eyes also wide as she watched her daughter pluck at the guitar. “How did you…? Is this how you kept her happy last night?”
I looked up, trying to read her face. She looked a bit peeved, but I wasn’t sure why. “Did I do something wrong?”
Clare paused for a moment, watching Mia slap at my guitar a little bit. “No,” she shook her head, finally looking at me as her face softened. “I’m just surprised. She just…she just walked right up to you right now…?”
Realizing that this kid must have a way deeper fear of strangers than I thought, I nodded and answered, “She really liked doing this last night. We sang a couple of songs and—”
“She sang? I mean she sang?”
Bobbing my head, I replied, “Yeah, she tried to. And when I stopped she told me to play it again.”
Clare’s mouth dropped open. She rushed over to the couch and plopped onto it, pulling Sadie up on her lap. But Sadie tried to slide off after realizing what her sister was doing, and she came over to observe for a second. Then she smiled and said, “Mia pay a song.”
Clare nodded with a smile and said, “Yes, Mia is playing a song.” She turned to me and asked, “Did she say anything else to you? Words?”
I recapped my night with Mia, even the poo-poo talk. Clare seemed a little blown away, so to continue our conversation from earlier on the phone, I told her about my brother and how “behind” the other kids he seemed growing up. I wasn’t an expert, but suggested maybe Mia was used to being in her sister’s shadow.
“Yeah, and I realize that,” Clare nodded. “It’s just so hard to separate them and—”
“Oh shit!” I jumped up from the couch, careful not to smash two toddlers with my guitar. Setting it down for them, I said, “Pardon my language and for interrupting, but I forgot about the meat on the grill.”
7
I rushed out to the back patio without waiting for a response and sure enough my chicken breasts were practically on fire. With a groan, I scooped them off with a spatula and dropped them on an empty plate.
So much for being a master griller.
Clare came out the sliding glass door and glanced at the plate of blackened chicken. “Sorry we distracted you,” she bit back a smile. “But I actually like my food grilled that way.”
“Burned?”
“No,” she chuckled. “It’s not burnt. Just charred a bit. I like my hot dogs charred over a fire, my marshmallows black… Maybe I’m weird that way.”
Damn, she sounded like my brother. He liked his food charred, too. “Well, what about these two beauties,” I knelt down to Mia and Sadie’s level. “Are you hungry?”
They both stayed at their mom’s side and didn’t respond.
Standing, I looked at Clare and said, “Okay, so I’m not used to kids—I can admit that—but I did try my best to figure this out so it works comfortably for you girls. Just let me know what else you need, but I think that’s okay for them to sit at?”
I pointed to a little toddler table and chair set that had been stored in the garage for the past year-and-a-half. Two of Aubrey’s sisters had little kids, and even though they were all over three, that table had come in handy for family gatherings. I’d never really had much to do with Aubrey’s nieces and nephews—maybe because I wasn’t that close to her family—but I’d watched her pull that table out of the garage several times and wash it down before her sisters would come over.
“Wow, I’m…impressed,” Clare answered after looking it over. “Look girls, your own table.” She knelt down and pointed to it. Sadie wandered over first, and then Mia followed right behind.
I observed them both for a moment and then told Clare I’d watch them while she went into the kitchen to fix them some food. It didn’t exactly work that way because the second she stepped through the door, both girls were right on her heels.
“Hey, what am I? Useless?” I joked, taking the plate of chicken inside. I expected it, though. I just let Clare be a mom and prepare them each a plate from the assortment of food I had ready on the counter.
“This is amazing, Matt. You didn’t have to go through so much trouble.”
“Hey, I bought the potato salad and the rolls. Yep, I can cut up fruit and steam vegetables, but no I’m not really a master in the kitchen. I usually do pretty well on the grill though…”
She laughed. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”
I helped carry her plates outside while she got Sadie and Mia situated at the little table, and then filled one up for myself. I also had a plastic table with two chairs for adults. Clare and I sat at that, but she angled her chair so she could help the girls, too.
“Thank you for inviting us,” she said. “This was really nice of you. I don’t really take these two out very often.”
“What about your family? Do you have any around?”
She teetered her head from side to side, seeming reluctant. “My parents live about an hour away, and I have a brother down in Sacramento. And I don’t really know anyone on this side of the bay.”
I took a bite of diced watermelon. “So what made you move over here?”
She wiped Sadie’s mouth with a napkin. “Well I have my teaching degree and got a full time position in San Mateo after I graduated. After having these two five years later, had to take some time off. Now after everything else… I’m trying to get back into the field. I got offered a position to replace a teacher over here that’s leaving in the fall, but since that’s several months away, I’m just working at a preschool for now. To be honest, it’s the only place I can work and have my kids there with me. I have no idea how things will be in the fall. I guess I’ll have to face that when it comes.”
I considered the
information for a minute while we ate. I was assuming she was around my age. I was twenty-eight, but if I were to guess her age based on the quick little timeline she gave me, maybe she was about twenty-nine or thirty? I didn’t care if she was older than me—actually I kind of liked the idea. I certainly wasn’t into women that were younger than me these days, but I could definitely dig the females that had a few months on me.
I wished she would tell me everything I wanted to know without me having to ask. That’s unrealistic, but I found myself feeling a bit indecisive about how to approach it. If I asked about the girls’ father, would I seem nosy?
“How about you?” she asked. “Do you have family here besides your brother? Well, assuming he lives in this area…”
“Yeah, he does. And no, not really. My dad left us when I was about eight—I’m not even sure where he’s at these days—and my mom passed away a few years ago. Trent and I used to live together until my girlfriend moved in with me. Then he moved across town with one of his friends.”
“He doesn’t get along with your girlfriend?” she asked as she helped Mia with a tiny bite of potato salad.
“Well we’re not together anymore, but no, he didn’t really care for her. They would co-exist, but they fought more like siblings than he and I ever did.”
She smiled. “Sounds like my other brother and me. My oldest brother lives in Connecticut now, so no chance of that.”
“How’d he end up over there?”
“He went to school over there and ended up starting his own marketing firm. He’s a busy guy; no time for family. He never calls or anything, and he’s already on his third marriage. I’m not sure what he’s seeking in life, but he just moves on to the next thing like it’s what he’s supposed to do. He gets bored of something—like a relationship—and ends it to find something new.” She sighed with an uncomfortable smile. “Sorry, that’s probably more information than you needed.”
“No, it’s fine,” I shook my head. “I’m interested in anything you have to share with me.”
