EJ
Life is like Lego; build it piece by piece,
and it comes together beautifully.
~ Liam Johnson
Angie’s door swings open and she stares at me, wide-eyed and obviously in shock.
I guess her mom didn’t tell her I was coming over.
“EJ?” she finally says after a few beats of silence. “What are you doing here?”
Jack shouts, “Hi! Mister EJ!” and Levi says, “We had our bath already!”
I smile at them and then look back at Angie. “I’m the sitter.”
“You’re the …” She turns and puts a hand on her hip. “Mom!”
“Sorry!” her mom shouts from somewhere at the back of the house. “I’m heading out. See you when I get back!”
“Mom!” Angie shouts again.
The sound of the back door falling shut is her answer.
“You’re the sitter?” Jack asks.
Then he looks at Levi and they exchange some sort of unspoken communication and burst into spontaneous cheers, running around and jumping and saying, “Yay! Yay! Yay!”
“I’m going to kill her.” Angie mutters so only I can hear.
“It’s fine,” I assure her. “I’m here. I’m ready.” I hold up my duffel bag.
“What is that?” She points to my bag
“It’s my duffel.”
“Your duffel? You’re not staying the night.”
I chuckle. “I know that. It doesn’t have my clothes.”
“Sorry,” she shakes her head, holding the door open a little wider so I can step in past her. “What’s in it?”
“I picked up a few toys, a new LEGO set, and some books.”
“You …” Angie’s brow scrunches. “EJ. Are you sure?” Her voice drops to nearly a whisper. “This is a lot. They're a lot.”
“Toys!” Levi shouts.
“You bringed LEGOS?” Jack asks.
“I did.”
The boys dart past us, running in a circle around me changing their chant to “LEGOs! LEGOs!”
“I can cancel my plans,” Angie offers.
“If you want to cancel you can, but I promise you I’ve got this.”
