Ava is already stuffing the sugar muffin in her mouth while chasing it down with hot cocoa in record time.
“I thought we could go to the science museum,” I state.
Carly nods her agreement. “Sounds like fun,” she adds as she hurries back around the corner, emerging a minute later with her bag in hand.
“Have fun, Peanut. I’ll see you later,” she says as she kisses Ava on the head.
“No more sparkly muffins today,” she warns as she points to Ava and then me.
Ava rolls her eyes. “Fine,” she mumbles as she eats, the word coming out sounding more like “mime.”
I make an “x” over my heart, and now it’s Carly who rolls her eyes.
“I’ll try to be back by three forty-five,” she says while opening the door.
“Take your time,” I assure her. My shift at the hospital starts at four, but it’s only an eight-minute walk. One of the many reasons I love where I live. The woman walking out the door is another.
And in some parallel universe, we’re together, not as friends but as lovers. Unfortunately, I live in this universe. And that’s never going to happen.
“Can we get ice cream after the science museum?” Ava asks as she finishes the final bite of her muffin.
“Sure, kiddo. Let’s get your shoes on, and we can head out,” I state as I usher her to her room. I walk inside and wince. It looks like a tornado came through here.
“Change of plans. Let’s find your floor first,” I say as I begin picking up stuffed animals.
“Wait!” Ava shrieks, running over and grabbing a stuffed moose from my hand. “They’re having a tea party. Morris is the host. He can’t leave.”
She motions to the other stuffed animals.
I lean down to find that they are indeed in a circle on the floor with small tea mugs and plates.
“Fine,” I grumble as I step toward a pile of games.
“No!” she yells and flings herself at my leg. “That’s Mount Monopoly! Edgar and Taylor are going to scale it.” She points to two dolls that are arranged to look like they are, in fact, climbing the boxes.
“OK. Can you find at least one thing we can clean up?” I ask, giving it one last attempt.
She places her hands on her hips and surveys the room. I fight a grin because she looks one hundred percent like her mom, and she’s fucking adorable.
Eventually, she steps over two small toy cars and leans down, picking up a stuffed animal that looks like a pillow. She gently places it on her bed beside at least a dozen other stuffed animals.
Turning around, she crosses her arms and smiles proudly. “There,” she says.
I fight an eye roll. “Anything else we can pick up?”
I watch her peruse her room.
“What about those glasses?” I ask, pointing to the cups on her bedside table. There are four of them.
She leaps between me and the nightstand and puts out her arms in a defensive position, seemingly trying to block me. She shakes her head back and forth with vigor.
“Absolutely not. That’s an experiment,” she says.
“An experiment?”
She nods and relaxes her arms. “Mr. Hutch said it would take a month for the water to exasperate.”
“Evaporate,” I correct.
