Page 20 of Coast to Coast

I finished unlatching the seat belt for him and leaned down so he could climb on my back like a monkey. “Okay, monkey. Let’s go.”

CALLIOPE

Tom and Crew walked up the street as I arrived outside his apartment. Dear Lord, that man was an absolute sin. Add a cute toddler boy to his back, and I was surprised the women weren’t following him around like puppies.

“Hey guys!” I yelled to get their attention, waving.

“Hi, Pee!” Crew called back and as cute as it was, I couldn’t have him calling me pee.

“Hey bud, you know what? I have a nickname, but only really special people get to call me. Do you think you could call me Callie?” I asked.

He nodded, screwed up his face, and tried to say it. “Kiwi?”

Tom and I laughed, and he looked at us shyly. “That’s perfect. Great job saying new words, bud,” I said, wanting to continue to encourage him to try out new words.

“You’ve been upgraded from urine to a tropical fruit. Good on you,” Tom said, shifting Crew to find the key to his front door.

I leaned over and reached my arms to Crew, and he moved from Tom’s back to hang off the front of me. Damn, he was a solid little boy. Once we got in the door, I set Crew down, and he ran off.

“Kiwi, come. Come see my train!”

I looked at Tom, and he gestured for me to follow his son.

“Go ahead, I’m gonna start dinner. I hope pasta and sauce are okay with you. He’s been going through a picky phase, and pasta is the only thing I can reliably get him to eat. He likes smoothies, so I bury as many nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables in his breakfast smoothies as possible to make up for what he misses in the rest of his meals.”

“Perfect. I love pasta. I was hoping for some macaroni and cheese; honestly, I thought we’d have that or grilled cheese.”

“That’s lunch tomorrow. I hope you’re good at cooking toddler food.”

“Chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, pasta, and macaroni and cheese? Easy enough. Did I miss anything?” I asked.

Tom shook his head with a slight smile. I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t for him to be so competent and hands-on with Crew. To be honest, I wondered if the invitation tonight might not have been motivated by Tom wanting help handling his toddler.

“Kiwi, come,” Crew called impatiently from the doorway of one of the bedrooms.

“OK!” I said, following him into his bedroom. The room must be heaven for a little boy. He had a train track on a rug mat to play with his train set.

He sat down on the floor and patted the spot next to him. “Kiwi, sit.” We both raced trains on the track until Tom called us for dinner. We were only in there a moment before Crew dropped his train, and I followed him out to the kitchen, where I helped him into his seat.

Tom sliced cucumbers and served them with ranch dressing to dip alongside Crew’s plate of pasta. “No begtables, Dada. No, thank you.”

“Nice job using your manners, buddy. But you still need to eat your cucumbers. We can have ice cream for dessert if you eat all your dinner.”

Crew’s face brightened, “Chocolate ice cream?”

“Yup. We have chocolate ice cream,” Tom nodded as he spoke, and Crew beamed even as he took a big bite of a cucumber.

“Otay,” he said. “Kiwi, have begtables?”

I looked over at the salad Tom had prepared to go with dinner and scooped a healthy helping onto a plate. “Yep. I love vegetables.”

Tom mouthed “Thank you” from across the room as he piled his own plate with pasta and salad.

“Garlic bread?” he asked, holding a platter with a baguette slathered with butter and garlic. My mouth watered.

“Ooh, yes, please.” I took the bread he offered and mopped up the extra sauce on the plate.

“Crew, Kiwi is going to live with us at our house in Denver, and she’ll stay with you when you are with Mommy and Pops. She’s also going to watch you while I’m working.”

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