I gave him a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “How’s my little buddy?”
“Good. Miss Teri and I made pie out of playdoh.”
I gasped in fake surprise. “You did? Was it good? Did it taste good? What kind of pie was it?”
He giggled. “It was apple pie, but you can’t eat it daddy. It’s playdoh. It’s fake.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you for telling me. I see it over there and it looks very delicious.”
I sat him back down and he ran back to his seat at the table to continue eating. I could see that Teri had cut his pasta into little tiny bites for him.
“How was everything?” I asked.
“Oh, it was great,” she said. “We played some games and watched a bit of a cartoon. Then I fixed dinner. He is a sweetheart.”
“Yeah, and he knows it,” I said. I noticed he was wearing his pajamas. “He’s ready for bed?”
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to put him to bed right after dinner or if he stayed up for a bit. Either way, I figured I’d get that out of the way for you.”
“Oh, thanks,” I said. “That helps a lot.”
“No problem. And there is plenty of pasta if you want some.”
“Sure,” I said. I went to the office and sat my things down. Then I checked myself in the mirror, felt I looked sharp, and then I went right back to the kitchen.
“Can I go play for a bit? I’m done,” Bobby asked.
“Sure, buddy,” I said.
He ran off to his playroom.
“Oh, to have that much energy again,” I said.
“Right? I would love to bottle that stuff,” Teri replied.
Teri had a bowl of pasta and a plate of garlic bread waiting for me. It felt good to have someone who cared enough about me to do such a sweet gesture. It felt nice and comforting. It had been a long time since I had anyone in my life who cared to even do little things for me.
“This is great,” I said as I dug in. “Thanks.”
“Sure,” she replied.
“This is really some of the best pasta I’ve ever had,” I said.
“I have a few secrets up my sleeve,” she said.
“Oh, I’d love to hear them.”
“No, they wouldn’t be secrets anymore.”
I nodded. “Right. So, how was your day otherwise?” I felt the need to make polite, adult conversation since she was sitting there at dinner with me. “And did you eat already?”
She nodded. “I did. And my day was fine. The typical life of a college student.”
“So, you are in grad school or still pursuing the bachelor’s?”
“Bachelor’s. I have just one more semester after this. I decided to take a year off after high school to find myself. That was how I ended up working my first nanny job. That was when I decided that I wanted to work with kids.”
I dabbed the corners of my mouth with my napkin. “That’s great.”