Cate's Neighbor

Meeting the Kids

btw I just pick these songs based on the vibe not necessarily the lyrics especially with this one but the later parts are actually for the meaning of the song

I hung. I hung up?! I HUNG UP! Shit! I call her back immediately and she picks up just as quickly as the first time. I see her face again and I'm still mesmerized, "I'm so sorry" I say nervously laughing. "It's fine honey, are you ok?" She asks and I can see her little smirk, "no, yes. No?" I say I sure and she chuckles lowly. "I'm fine I'm just..." I can't find the word, surprised is an understatement. "Startled?" She says grimacing, "no! Absolutely not! You look more than fine... I'm uhhh... woah. I'm just taken aback is all" I say and she nods slowly. "Well now I feel like I look like absolute shit" I say covering my face. 

"Ahhh so she does curse, would you look at that? Uncover your face darling you look radiant" she says and I obey her request. She softly smiles at me while I just stare into her eyes getting lost. I look away and blink a few times to release myself from her trance she so easily caught me in. "How come you never mentioned... this" I say gesturing towards her. "That I'm old?" She asks funnily, "fuck you. That feels like an insult to MY ego" I say and she chuckles. "I thought you knew" she says and I can tell she's being honest. "If I knew I'd be such a nervous wreck" I confess and she rolls her eyes. "So all the talk about lord of the rings..." she says curiously. 

"It's actually one of my favorite collection of movies. I genuinely adore them as well as the hobbit trilogy of course. Oh... did you think I was fangirling?" I ask curiously, "well yes if you call it that. I thought that's why you mentioned it" she says. "No... I actually was trying to pass time before the call so I wrote a bit and then tried to find a movie. I couldn't really find anything interesting so I just went with the classic. I watched all three which is basically 9 hours and I feel asleep about an hour before you called I think" I recount. "So this entire time you haven't known?" She ask in disbelief, "no they didn't really tell me anything and I didn't know your last name" I shrug. 

"So you just managed to impress me completely unintentionally?" She asks with an even more visible smirk, "I guess so" I say rolling my eyes. "Hmm... would you be up for talking to the kids?" She asks hopefully and I nod happily with a smile on my face. I sit up a bit more and I see her get up and exit the room she was in. She walks down the hall knocking on each door three times before stopping. I hear doors opening and closing and then she continues walking. She sets the phone up in a table I presume and they're all sitting on the couch. Edith is on her lap kicking her feet lightly back and forth. "Kids this is Catalina, she might be your new nanny" she explains and they all look at me. 

Press play

Edith with a slight blush, Roman questioningly and Ignatius curiously. I notice her other child is not present and I assume he's away at school. Ignatius was the first to speak up which I wasn't at all surprised about given her facial expression. "I'm Ignatius" he says simply with a small smile, "Roman" he says raising his hand. Edith looks at Cate and whispers something to her, Cate smiles and nods. "I Edith, I think you vewy pwetty" she says and I smile softly. "Thank you Edith, I think you're very pretty too" I say and she giggled burying her head in Cate's neck. "So Roman, what's up with you?" I say as he looks down towards her feet. 

When he processes my question his head darts up towards me. "What do you mean?" He asks slightly annoyed but more confused, I expect this of course. "You're quiet" I say simply not backing down like I'm sure he's used to. Cate gives me a warning look while also glancing and Roman confused. "I just don't like talking" he says, "I find that hard to believe" I challenge. He squints his eyes at me thinking of a response. I allow the silence to take over while he tries to formulate a response. "You don't know me" he says finally and I try to fight back a laugh. "What're you smiling about?" he asks sounding angry, "Roman" Cate says in a warning tone. "I'm smiling about you. I know you better than you think" I say and he cocks an eyebrow silently allowing me to go on. 

"You like reading, playing video games, writing... and... I get the feeling you don't like sports" I say. "That's generic" he says in response, and I don't hold back my laugh this time. "Maybe you're just basic then" I say and I can see him fighting back a smile. "Maybe you're basic" he says trying to maintain his persona. "You don't think I'm special?" I ask tearing up a bit and looking sad. "Are you crying?" He asks and looks to his mom, while they're looking away, I wink at Ignatius. He gets and tries to hold back his smile by biting his lips. 

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry" he says sincerely and I can see he's getting sad. "Got ya" I say wiping my tears away and smiling. "That's just cruel" he says with his mouth agape, "look at the little boy with empathy" I tease. "I'm not a little boy" he says, "ok little man" I say and he rolls his eyes before smiling. "I like her" Ignatius says and I smile softly as Cate stares at me in awe. "She's alright" Roman says trying to hide his big grin by rolling his eyes. "Your eyes might get stuck like that. You know I knew someone once who rolled his eyes too much then boom! All of a sudden, he woke up and his eyes wouldn't roll back in place. He had to get surgery and everything" I say trying to remain serious. 

"I'm not that gullible" he says, "I didn't say you were. I'm just saying you never know" I say smiling slightly and he chuckles. "She's funny mommy" Edith says quietly but I could still hear her. "And you're the most gorgeous little girl I've ever seen" I say and she whips her head towards me. She didn't expect me to hear her, and I could tell my compliment made her happy. "Gosh can you come tomorrow?" She says happily and I put my finger to my chin like I'm thinking about it. "If Roman admits he likes me I'll get on a flight right now" I say looking at him. Ignatius and Edith look at him too and they all exchange looks. "Not gonna happen" he says stubbornly which I again expected. 

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait it out guys" I say and shake my head. "Rome!" Ignatius says punching his arm and Roman rubs it as if he's hurt. "Iggy if you hit me again she'll watch you get beat up" he says. "I won't watch anything cause that's not happening" I say seriously. Ignatius looks at me and smiles slightly while Roman gives me a challenging look. "I see how it is... you wanna be difficult" I say and he scoffs. "Fine I like her, whatever" he says and stand ups leaving the room. "I like you too Roman" I say loudly so he can hear me, it's quite for a few seconds and Ignatius looks towards where Roman was. He giggles and then the sounds of the door being closed can be heard. 

"Iggy can you take Edith to her room to play before bath time" Cate requests. Iggy nods and looks at me, 'she likes you' he mouths and I shake my head. "See you later Catalina, by the way that's a really wonderful name" he says and I thank him before he leaves. Cate centers herself on the couch so I can see her better before leaning back and sighing. "Holy shit you're incredible" she says chuckling and I shrug as she looks at me. "They literally hated the last nanny for a solid 3 months. They warmed up eventually but I know they only did that for me" she says shaking her head. 

"I guess I really am special then" I joke and she rolls her eyes. "You are more than special. Plus Roman never talks that much to strangers or anyone besides us really. I was a little... apprehensive when you first started with him but it all turned out well" she recounts. "Yeah sometimes they need a little push, I could tell he's a tough one. By that I mean just hesitant to open up ya know? Which is understandable, like you said I am a stranger. My brother is just like him though, so I knew how far to push him" I say smiling think of my brother. "You're amazing. Could you actually come tomorrow?" She asks and I can't tell if she's serious. 

"You're kidding..." I say and she shakes her head with wide eyes. "I guess I could... I really just have to pack my clothes and call the building manager" I say and she grins. "Really? That would be wonderful" she says happily and I can't help but smile too. Her joy is completely contagious. "Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then" I say processing it myself. "Thank you so much darling, I just met you, but I don't what I'd do without you" she says sincerely. "You'd be just fine" I say, "I'd be clawing my eyes out" she says jokingly and we share a laugh. After a bit we get off the phone and I flop back into my bed.

 
I guess it's moving day...