A Room With A View

Chapter Thirty-Six - Elena

October 17, Tuesday

So far, Tiny Tots had been a great decision. Sure Helen still clawed her way up Elena's last nerve, but Elena had to admit that Helen knew her stuff. 

"Did you boys have a good time today?" Elena asked, holding both Jeremiah's and Isaac's hands. 

Jeremiah stuck a finger far up his nose. He drew it out, looked at it, and wiped it on his shirt. 

Yes. Tiny Tots was turning her boys into little twin geniuses.

"Yes," Isaac said softly.

Elena squeezed his hand encouragingly. "And what did you learn?"

She steered them through the open front door of the Watley, nodding at Simon, and ushered them toward the elevator.

"Nose." Isaac pointed to his nose. Jeremiah, meanwhile, pulled his hand free from Elena's and stuck a finger up his other nostril. Isaac laughed.

"Great," said Elena, "just great." She would have to wash that shirt before it touched anything in the house.

Isaac pointed toward the screen in the elevator. "Home?" he asked, looking back at Elena. She smiled.

"Yes, we live on fifteen." Elena traced her finger up from the lobby to the fifteenth floor. Isaac followed the motion.

"Fifteen," he repeated. 

Elena nodded. "Mhmm. And what comes before fifteen?"

"Booger!" Jeremiah screeched. He laughed so hard he fell down.

Elena fought to keep the smile on her face. "Very funny, but 'booger' does not come before fifteen. Isaac, do you know what comes before fifteen?"

Isaac thought, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Four...four..."

"Teen," Elena finished for him, "fourteen. Very good!" She looked from Isaac to Jeremiah, still balled up on the floor. Maybe just one of her children was turning into a little genius.

The elevator stopped on the fifteenth floor, and the twins raced each other down the hall, stopping outside the Margova's front door. Elena twisted the key in the lock and threw open the door. The twins rushed toward their blanket fort in the corner and picked up their favorite stuffed animals. Isaac favored a little golden dog, whereas Jeremiah loved his new stuffed dragon. It had been a gift from Neil and Gordon when they came for dinner. Isaac had a similar one, but it was no doubt lost between the cushions of the couch.

"Who wants a snack?" Elena asked. She slipped out of her coat and hung it on the rack by the front door. It was an antique coat hangar her sister had bought her, one of the few thoughtful things her sister had ever done, and it fit perfectly with the decor of the apartment.

"Nana!" Jeremiah screamed. That was short for "banana", which Elena often cut into pieces and slathered with peanut butter.

"Nana," Isaac echoed, albeit in a quieter voice.

"Did I hear a please?" Elena asked. She wasn't sure if the boys understood politeness at this age, but it never hurt to try.

"Please," Isaac said. Jeremiah said nothing. He was too lost in watching his dragon attack the small Playmobil village he had painstakingly set up the night before.

Elena came around the corner of the hallway and leaned against the wall. She watched her boys play for a minute, before ducking into the kitchen and pulling out the snack fixings. She was midway through swiping peanut butter over a slice of banana when the doorbell rang.