Page 28 of Child of Mine

Suppressing the eye roll at being called old, I ask, “Where do young people play video games, then?”

“At home on, like, a Nintendo.” Abby makes a face. “Of course, we don’t have one.”

“Or an Atari,” Lilah says. “Jennie’s brother has one, and she sometimes gets to play. He only lets me watch.”

“She’s so lucky,” Tami says.

“I know.”

So, it’s not just cable TV shows, it’s movies on video cassettes and video games kids can play right in their family rooms. Or bedrooms.

Do kids ever go outside anymore?

“You know who’s really lucky, though?” Abby says, answering my unspoken question. “Polly. She got to go to her cousin’s farm last weekend and watch kittens get born!”

As she holds forth on the miracle of nature, it becomes clear that changing the pace won’t be enough to try to hang on to their attention. Turning the show into a live-action video game could be fun. But if we could also open our audience’s eyes to the wonders of the world by taking our cast out where the real drama is happening—in nature—that would be inspirational.

Instead of being limited by the credo “by kids, for kids,” we could open up the concept so our cast can model learning by doing. The question is, how?

* * *

Unfortunately,the next day my mom and Lilah wake up with a stomach bug. After getting them both settled in front of the TV with ginger ales, I call the station to let them know that I can’t come in.

Thankfully, James tells me not to worry about it. “We do have a small set of letters that I’d like screened by tomorrow. Do you think you could work from home if I can get someone to drop them off?”

I give him the bookstore’s address, since I’ll be shuttling up and down from our apartment to the shop in case there’s a miracle and we actually have customers.

A few hours later, when the bell jingles over the front door, it’s not a customer or a delivery, but Henry. Before I can open my mouth to ask what he’s doing here, Quinn and Izzy scramble my thoughts and feelings.

You need to tell him right now, Izzy says.What if Lilah comes downstairs and he sees her? She looks exactly like him!

How ’bout we skip the confession and shag him on the counter,Quinn counters.He’s a guy. That’s all he cares about anyway.

That’s pretty sexist,Izzy snaps.

I’m just telling the truth here, sweetheart. Isn’t that what you want?

“Everything okay?” Henry asks, making me realize that I’ve been listening to the girls yapping on my shoulders rather than him. “You’re not getting sick too, are you?”

Wiping a hand across my brow, I send him a shaky smile. “Just didn’t get much sleep.” I gesture overhead. “We had a rough night.”

“You live upstairs?” He knocks on his skull. “Ah, now I get the name of the shop. I thought The First Story referred to the Bible or something.”

“Nope. The pun was too much for my parents to resist when they bought the place.” I gesture around the shop. “This was my playground growing up. And now I’m back. Pretty lame, huh?”

“Pretty cool, I’d say. Though I was a hyper kid, so I don’t know if it would’ve worked for me. My mom used to make me do laps around the house before I could come inside after school. Then I could sit still for at least twenty minutes.” He sets a box of letters on the counter. “That’s why I offered to bring these over. Needed to get out of the office.”

Before I can thank him, he juts his chin at the inventory list in front of me. “How many jobs do you have, anyway?”

“None of them are full-time.” I shrug. “But to answer your question: three. Four if you count being a mom.”

“Which you should,” he says, leaning against the counter like he’s settling in for a chat. “I don’t know how you do it.”

I hold up myComedy of Errorsscript, which I’ve also been studying. “Obviously, I’m used to multitasking, so don’t worry. It won’t affect my work on the show.”

His hands go up in surrender—a gesture he seems to make a lot with me. “I didn’t say anything about that. It’s just that… I have no patience.” Leaning in, he whispers, “I’m terrible with kids.”

“Good to know.” Hm… how to break the news that he might need to get over this problem he has with kids?

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