He grabs the necklace from my hand, inspecting the smooth, golden-brown stone that’s attached. “What’s this?”
“That’s a tiger’s eye stone.” My voice is higher and louder than usual, my excitement over the stone is impossible to hide. “It’s said to bring courage, focus, and confidence. I use it to attract good luck. I know you have Sophia’s bracelet, but I figured a little extra luck couldn’t hurt.” I shrug my shoulders, suddenly feeling a tad self-conscious about how giddy I am over chakras and stones. My past boyfriends would always call me “ridiculous” or even “crazy” if I ever so much as suggested using a chakra stone.
But Niko doesn’t bat an eye, he simply slips the chain around his neck.
He looks up to find me watching him. “I love it. It looks like the stone on your necklace.”
Sheepishly, I look down and grab my own necklace. “Yeah. It is.”
Niko’s eyes hold me in place for a moment, before he looks back down at the chain hanging around his neck. “I’m definitely wearing it under my gear tonight.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
Niko takes a step forward, closing the distance between us. “I want to.” He reaches out and gives my upper arm a light squeeze. “Thank you, Sadie.”
“You’re welcome.”
My words come out barely above a whisper. Niko hesitates for a moment but then drops his hand from my arm.
“See you tonight.” He gives me a small smile and then turns to leave the house.
I watch him through the front window for the entire walk to his car. My head and heart can’t seem to decide what’s best for me.
It has been complete chaos since Niko left an hour ago. First, Sophia accidentally dropped one of her Hot Wheels down the toilet. She was afraid I’d be mad and flushed it down to try to hide it. The toilet is now clogged and there’s water all over the floor of the bathroom.
After I reassured her she wasn’t in trouble, I finally got her settled down for a nap after two stories. But as soon as I started singing a lullaby to her, she freaked out and threw one of her books across the room. She just got done telling me I’m the “worst nanny ever.”
I have no idea what brought on such big emotions, maybe it was the whole toilet debacle, I’m not sure. But I’m sitting on the bed with her as she cries into her pillow. She’s crying so hard, she has to try and catch her breath in between sobs.
I’m afraid to agitate her any further, but I hate seeing her like this. I move my hand to her back and start rubbing small circles with my fingertips. After a few seconds, she finally starts to calm down, but is still quite upset. I try to wrack my brain for some child mindfulness techniques I learned back when I got my certification. There are some fun breathing techniques that she might like so I decide to go for it.
“Sophia, you know those dragons in your book that love to eat tacos?”
She turns her head to look at me and nods.
“Remind me again, do dragons like spicy tacos?”
Sophia sits up, still crying softly, but whispers, “no.”
“Right. It makes them breathe fire! Sometimes I like to breathe like a dragon. It helps me calm down and feel better. Can I show you?”
Sophia nods, so I sit up straight, ready to demonstrate.
“First thing I do is sit up straight so I’m nice and tall like a dragon. Then I breathe in with just my nose and count to four.”
“Hey, I’m four!” Sophia hiccups in between words, still trying to find her breath.
I smile at her. “That’s right, you are. Then I breathe out hard, like I’m shooting fire everywhere! Watch.” I demonstrate the breathing technique, making a whooshing sound when I exhale the “fire,” causing Sophia to giggle.
“Want to try?”
Sophia nods excitedly and we spend the next few minutes, breathing like dragons at each other. As soon as she’s calmed down, she leaps into my arms and apologizes to me over and over.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Sadie. I didn’t mean it. You’re the best nanny ever.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’m not mad. What do you say we get some rest now and start fresh after we wake up?”
She squeezes me tight and then hops out of my lap and under her covers. I stay with her until she falls asleep and quietly exit her room once I know she’s down for good.
