Of Mountains and Men: A Why Choose Romance

Chapter 4

I stretch and yawn, there's a faint beeping that has annoyed me into consciousness. Oh, crap my alarm and I'm on the couch. I leap to my feet, turn off the alarm, thank goodness I'm only ten minutes late waking up. I hurry through my shower, get dressed and start to wake Charley. Then rush downstairs to start tea and oatmeal for breakfast this morning.

"Mom!" Charley yells.

I rush back upstairs, one of the benefits of having him at the daycare is he already prefers to use the toilet and is mostly good about not having accidents. I help him get on his stool to get on the toilet, he rubs his eyes yawning.

"Why are you so tired little man?"

"Bad sleep."

I let out a coo, "I'm sorry. You'll be ready for your nap then huh?"

"No." He crosses his little arms over his chest. "I too old for nap."

I nod empathizing, that sentence was a little fuller than normal. "We'll see buddy. Time to get dressed and eat breakfast."

We speed through our routine, and I have enough extra time to get Rhonda started early. Deciding that it will be too cold tonight I add more wood and keep the stove on low to keep the house semi warm until we're back tonight.

"Ready!" Charley tells me, as I'm putting on my own coat, and see his is on upside down.

I let out a little giggle, "Good try. Let me fix it." With a scowl he watches as I take the jacket back off, and put it on correctly, then zip him in it. "Gloves?" I ask him. He hands me his gloves from the bench by the door. Together we bundle up and head out into the chilly snowy morning.

"It's going to be a busy day. Lots of new kids." I tell him, as always, unless it has to do with him, he ignores me. Silly little guy can't blame him adults are boring.

Lindy is already hustling around setting up the workstations with crayons, paper and glue sticks. Charley goes to his favorite station and starts coloring the page ready on it, a cute teddy bear, of course.

"You're moving a bit fast." I laugh lightly as I clock in and start helping her set up.

She checks her watch, "The first drop offs are at eight, I guess they want to be the first up to go skiing? I don't really know just that we'll be pretty busy with fifteen kids today."

"I thought we were only getting ten in?" I ask confused.

She bobs her head, hitting print on the computer for more coloring pages. "That's what I was told Monday. There are just more guests with kids that will be here for a few days."

"No worries, we've got this! Do we have permission to take them to the playground?" I'm more hopeful than I sound, I love being able to be outside with them especially in the snow.

"Not this time, I'm sorry. All the parents want the kids safely indoors. The older kids got permission to go to the pool for an hour. We got permission to take them on a walk through the resort." She rolls her eyes.

"That's not too bad as long as they hold hands and stick together."

She makes a hmph noise, ignoring me while finishing up her tasks. She doesn't particularly enjoy herding toddlers and young kids through hallways. I love being around the young minds, they have such a different view of the world. I give all the tables, chairs and everything I can wipe down, a thorough cleaning so everything is fresh and as sparkling as it can be. Also putting out fresh fleece blankets on the couch and a few chairs.

"Everything is ready on my front." I call out to Lindy, turning to see she is already checking the first child in. The little girl is with her father, they both have matching brown hair and brown eyes. I crouch down to her level sticking out my hand for her to shake. "My name is Charlotte, what's yours?"

She glances up at her way too handsome of a father first, he gives a nod, "Amelia Clark, I'm five years old." She takes my hand gently to shake.

I smile and stand up, "we're going to have a lot of fun today. Once the other children arrive we'll begin."

She narrows her little eyes on the room, they widen with surprise when she sees a barbie mansion that's five-foot tall. "Daddy, can I go play now?"

Her father levels his gaze on me for a moment, I shrug. "Wouldn't you rather wait for Lexi and Priscilla to join you?"

Amelia puts her hands on her hips, scowling at her father. "I told you we should have waited and came all together. But no, you wanted to get rid of me as soon as you could."

Mr. Clark glowers down at her, "I am not getting rid of you. I'll be back at one o'clock so we can have lunch together. This skiing outing is a team building thing. I've told you this already."

Amelia waves him off, his nose twitches, then he spins back to Lindy. "Picking her up early is not going to be a problem, is it?"

"N-no sir, whatever you wish." She flounders.

I roll my eyes at her flusteredness. "Mr. Clark." I start.

He interrupts me, "Andrew please."

Okay then, "Andrew, I'll talk with her, and see if she can't lighten up a bit. It's always hard for the younger kids on the first day here."

He nods, "She thinks I'm sending her off like her mother does. She simply can't be with me this time skiing." He sighs.

"I understand. We'll see you at one." I dismiss him, aswe're starting to get a line.