Page 24 of The Birthday Manny

CJ and I exchanged amused glances, which…I really liked that. Having someone to share all the cute little things about my daughter with me at the end of the day. It was a little like that when my mom was here, but I worried incessantly that I asked too much of my mother, and I wanted her to have the chance to be a grandma and not a surrogate mom, so I… Huh, did I not include her as much as I should? I’d have to think about that later. For now, I could at least do better by this wondrous man who’d taken our lives by storm. “Would you like to watch something with us tonight?”

His hand stopped mid-scoop. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

I glanced out into the playroom. The one room in the house that had been the bane of my existence with how often I straightened it up for it to be a complete disaster again an hour later. The last week, it was as neat and organized when I returned from work as it was when I left in the morning. It was incredible. “You wouldn’t be. We can sit on the floor, have our dessert, and watch a movie together. It’ll be fun.”

“Yes!” Lexi screamed.

“Inside voice,” CJ and I said at the same time. My eyes found his again, and we both grinned.

“I’m not pushing you if you have something you’d rather be doing, but…you live here, too. I don’t ever want you to feel like you’re banished to your room after dinner.”

He stopped scooping the ice cream and met my gaze. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose, and I really don’t mind?—”

I waved a hand, cutting him off. “It would be fun if you hung out with us tonight.”

“Pease, CJ,” my daughter insisted.

“You just want to eat your dessert on the floor,” he teased her, reaching over and tickling her belly.

She giggled, falling back, but her head bobbed up and down. “Yes. Foor.”

“Okay.” He got busy opening the sprinkles and other toppings he’d brought in. “That would be nice.”

We took our sundaes into the living room, put on one of my daughter’s favorite movies, and hung out. Lexi finished her ice cream and then spent the movie crawling between us. We chuckled together at the parts we knew went over her head and laughed even harder when she cackled because we were. She fell asleep by the time the movie was over, exhausted from another day of playing with her manny, and I carried her up to bed. By the time I came down, CJ had cleaned up the kitchen and retired to his room. It had been a nice evening, really nice. If a part of me hoped for more just like this, it was only because I liked having another adult around, not because of the blue-eyed man with the quick smile who treated my daughter like a princess.

* * *

CJ

Taking care of Lexi was a joy. As cautious and nervous as Kevin could be, his little girl was the total opposite. From the minute she woke up in the morning, she was raring to go and ready for a new adventure. I had no idea how he’d managed to work from home while caring for her. He must’ve fallen into bed exhausted at the end of every day.

Pushing for this job had one hundred percent been the right choice, even if I hadn't wanted a chance to get to know Kevin better. The father and daughter duo were so cute together that it warmed my heart. I'd been fortunate so far, only landing jobs where the parents genuinely loved and enjoyed their children. Eddie told me nightmare stories about some of the families he'd vacationed with. Yes, he was there to be their manny, but it was sad when the parents didn't want to include their children in any of their activities. It was like they’d taken the kids purely out of obligation, but brought Eddie along to make sure their vacay fun wouldn’t be spoiled by their own kids.

Kevin, on the other hand, doted on his Lex-Lex. It was obvious she was the center of his whole universe. Honestly, it had me a little doubtful that dating him would ever be on the table. From what I’d observed, he approached the day with only Lexi and her needs in mind. Although, I did think we were really becoming friends. Our after-dinner movie time had continued, and it was quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the day.

“CJ,” Lexi called, pulling me from my musings.

Picking up my mug of coffee, I carried it to the table where I’d left her coloring a picture. I quickly took in all the pink, purple, green, and yellow straight lines she’d made, one next to the other, and took a guess. “Oh, is that a rainbow?”

She looked up, beaming at me. “Yes.”

“That’s beautiful.”

She smiled, super proud of herself. “Can I call Nana?”

“You want to show your grandma your picture?”

“Nana,” she said, nodding her head in the affirmative. It cracked me up how exacting she was with names, and yet, her daddy called her Lex-Lex, and she didn’t miss a beat. Too cute.

“I bet your daddy will call her for you when he gets home.”

She frowned, then jumped up and ran into the kitchen and dragged her stepstool over to the refrigerator. “What’re you doing, Lexi?”

She pulled a piece of paper off, ran back to the table, and shoved it into my hands. “Call Nana. So I can see.”

“Oh, uh.” I looked down at the list of emergency contact numbers that Kevin had left for me on my first day. I’d been carrying Lexi at the time, but I didn’t realize that she’d been paying attention or even understood what it was. That was my bad. This kid was sharp as a whip. “I really think?—”

“Nooo. Nana,” she cried, big tears popping into the corners of her eyes.

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