I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face against his sweet neck savoring this gift Carter had given me.
"Did you have fun today with Reggie?" I asked him, as I carried him to the kitchen where I could hear Reggie cooking.
Meeting Regina, who insisted on being called Reggie, had been a godsend. I had taken it as a sign that moving to San Diego was the right thing to do. Reggie worked at home running her own freelance business, but had been struggling to pay her mortgage and needed a little extra income. We worked out a situation in which I was able to rent two rooms which helped her cover her mortgage, as well as paying her to watch Tanner when I had to be out visiting with clients, that gave her some extra money.
Because the company I worked for, allowed me to do much of my paperwork from home, the time away wasn't as much as if I worked a traditional forty-hour a week job, which then made sure that Regina had enough time to work on her freelance business.
"You have to come see what I made mommy," Tanner said, his little hands pressing on my cheeks and turning my head, so I had no choice but to give him my full attention.
"I will baby. Just let me check in with Reggie for a second." I put him down and he grabbed my hand jumping up and down,
yanking my arm while he urged me to go with him.
"How was he today?" I asked her as she scooped up the carrots she chopped and put them in the salad bowl.
"Busy as ever," she said with a laugh as she looked down at Tanner getting more and more impatient. "You should probably go see what he built today."
"Yes mommy, come see."
"I'll be right back to help finish with dinner," I said as I let Tanner lead me towards his room.
"By the time you're done with the tour, it will all be on the table," Reggie called after me.
Tanner pulled me to his room, but it was impossible to go inside as there were building blocks and stuffed animals all over the place. "What is this?"
"It's my zoo, mommy. See here is where the monkeys are," he said pointing to his stuffed monkey surrounded by little plastic brick walls. "And over are the bears," he said as he carefully moved over his buildings to show me where his stuffed bear was sitting.
"This is wonderful Tanner."
He stood in the middle of his creation clasping his hands together and looking at me with a joyous grin on his face. It was another thing that made me think of Carter. The way he could smile and have it look so full of bliss and mischievous at the same time.
"Dinner," Reggie called from the hall.
Tanner and I returned to the kitchen and sat at a little dining table.
"It's quite some zoo he built, isn’t it?" Reggie asked as she handed me the platter with baked chicken and roasted potatoes.
"It's something else,” I said putting a drumstick and a couple potatoes on Tanner's plate, along with some lettuce and carrot from the salad.
"Can I leave my zoo up so I can play with it again tomorrow?" Tanner asked. The general rule had been that we picked up his toys every night so he could start fresh in the morning. But I could see that the zoo had probably taken up most of the day, and while I liked to be neat and clean, especially since technically we were living in Reggie's house, I also wanted to encourage his creativity and imagination.
"Okay, this time you can leave it up.”
"Yay!" Tanner's hands shot up in victory.
I really enjoyed the situation that Tanner and I were in with Reggie, but I also knew that sometimes it was a challenge for her. I was sure when she put the ad online for a roommate, she'd been hoping for a single full-time worker and not a single mom with a child who needed childcare. And in fact, if I went ahead and told Carter about Tanner, and assuming he believed me, we could probably get our own little place so Reggie could have more time, quiet, and space.
"Thank you again so much Reggie for all you do for us. I really do appreciate it."
"It's nothing, girl, you know that. Besides, it gives me great practice for when I have my own little babies, doesn't it, Tanner?"
Tanner looked up at her and grinned. "Yep."
"Speaking of having a family, I have a guy friend who I'd really like to introduce you to," Reggie said.
I was shaking my head before she even finished. "I'm not interested."
"It's been what, four years? You can't still be in the I'm-not-ready-to-date phase."