Page 64 of Waiting for Gilbert

“Like sixty percent?”

“He either will or he won’t. Take this.” Diana drapes a burp cloth over my shoulder.

“Go away.” I pat his face with the cloth. “I’m going to stew in here with Jack until I’m not mad at you anymore.”

“All right. I love you.”

“Yep.”

Jack offers an open-mouthed smile when I sit with him and clear drool spills from his mouth. Four white teeth peek along his bottom gum and two on the top. I run my finger along the row of new baby teeth, and he chomps my finger. I squeak in pain, and it startles him so he cries.

“Oh, Jack, Jack, Jack,” I croon.

Huge drops of tears pour from his baby blues before he pulls it together.

“Sorry, dude. That was totally my bad. You have every right to bite the finger in your mouth.” I sit him up on my knee and bounce him while chanting. “You—can bite—the fing—ger in—your mouth.” Giggles erupt because I am the funniest thing he’s ever seen. “Yesssir. Now listen, little man. When you grow up to be big and strong like Aunt Cordy, keep it together. Figure out what you want, and go for it. Don’t wait around. Wasting time. The time is now! Got it? You jiggin’ with me?”

His round cheeks are like pillows. Smile relaxed, more drool spills out and I wipe it with his own sleeve. “You jiggin’ with something. Swallow that, buddy. Swaaalllooowww. People might look at you funny if you keep that up.” He stares at me so seriously while waiting for my next joke.

“You like to bounce, don’t you? We can bounce. Bounce, bounce, bounce!” His laughter is heart-melting. “I should bring you along on my date. You might scare him off.”

I’m over it before I even start. Why am I doing this again? I pull out the phone and show Jack the picture of David. “What do you think? Look like uncle material to you?” I sigh. “Uncles are supposed to be cool. You know who’d make a really cool uncle?”

No. I won’t even say it to a baby. No, no, no, no, no! This is torture. Why can’t Gilbert like me back?

I’m crushing so hard on my landlord it’s unacceptable. The man is amazing. He is so funny, and talented, and he has those muscles, and he’s nice. Nice! Ha. He’s beyond nice. John is nice. Gilbert Conner is fire-under-my-skin. And that smile. Killin’ me.

I’m convinced the only way to get a song that’s stuck in your head out of your head, is to find another song. Even that resolution isn’t enough to stop my next text.

Cordelia: Instead of the coffee shop. Want to meet at the mall food court instead? I heard there’s going to be live music.

David: Sounds good. More food/drink options. That could be fun.

And it could be torture.

The office door creaks and I swivel around to see who’s intruding this time.

“Oh, good.” Aunt Jewels steps inside and shuts the door. “You’re alone. Mostly.”

“Sorry. Is it okay that I’m in here?”

“Hush. We haven’t much time. Gilbert’s birthday is next month. I want your help to throw his party.”

“Me?”

“You’re such good friends, it would be silly not to include you.”

“But I hardly know him.”

“Rubbish.” She pulls a yellow notepad from the shelf and licks the end of a pencil. I don’t think you’re supposed to do that. “Now, hon. I’ll have you get him there, since he’ll never suspect. He’ll be so distracted this time, we’ll surprise him for sure. Golden thirty. Oh, to be thirty again. What a decade that was. We’ll have John arrange the food. He can get the trays catered by the grocery no problem. Nickie will spread the word around town. Between the grocery and the clinic, we’ll have the whole town. The real trick is getting him to the church. There’s no way we can host it here. Too small.”

Jack tries to take my earring and I grab his hand. “But are you sure a big party is really what he wants?”

She stops writing and then draws a line across her page. “Oh, my stars. What was I thinking? You’re right, you’re right! See, now this is why I need your help. I know the boy, but I get so excited about parties I forget who it’s for. Dear me, I’m planning the wrong party. Wrong party, indeed. Heavens to Betsy. Too much attention will run him off. He can play, but don’t make him mingle. New plan. Best friends. Small group. We’ll have it here after all. You’re completely right.”

She sings a soprano trill of excitement. “You, me, John, Nickie, Cameron. Cameron should still be here by then. Who else? We’ll invite Diana’s crew to fill in the gaps. Never good to have too quiet of a party. Too bad his parents are out of the country this whole time. We’ll get them on a video chat for a few minutes at least. You know they’re working with the refugee missionaries in Germany?” Her pencil trails down the list then she adds another note to her paper.

“I suppose that’s easy then. Your job is much the same. Still very important. You’re going to need to get him here under false pretenses. Don’t lie to the boy. He’ll see right through it. We’ll think of something. I can’t just invite him over or he’ll suspect. I want this to be perfect. He deserves to be celebrated. Everyone does, you know. When’s your birthday?” She laughs under her breath. “No surprise party for you this year. You’ll never suspect the first year.” Her intense expression holds mine as she peers at me over her red glasses. “Birthday?”

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