Vibrations

Chapter 23

Roo and I were sitting at the breakfast table, watching Casey rush to get ready for work. She looked at me, and for the fourth time that morning asked, "You're sure you got her today?"

I looked at Roo who was working on what I now realized, once again, was a too big bowl of cereal...

Winking at her I told Casey, "Sure, no problem. I was considering taking her down to the troll market and seeing what kind of deal I could get on her..."

Casey looked at me deadpan, "Ha, ha, asshole..."

Roo shouted, "Trolls! I wanna see a troll!"

I smiled at her and rubbed her head, "We'll see Button, mommy is notoriously anti-troll."

Roo looked at Casey, "Momma! I want to see a troll!"

Casey rolled her eyes, and then came over and gave Roo a kiss on the head, and me one on the lips. I wrapped a finger in the belt loops at the front of her jeans and pulled her in, "Stop fretting. I'll try not to let her stick a fork in a light socket, or burn the house down, or do any light street racing..."

She laughed and shook her head, "Call me if you need anything."

I nodded, "We'll be fine. We've hung out before."

Once Casey was out the door I looked at Roo, who was starting to seriously struggle with polishing off the bowl of cereal I had given her...

Smiling at her, I asked, "Pumpkin? Are you done with that?"

She put her spoon down, sighing in relief. "Yes, please."

I went behind her and grabbed her bowl in one hand, and gave her a quick kiss on the head. "Button, you don't have to eat everything that I put in front of you. If you're full, just tell me, okay?"

She smiled and nodded as I ran the rest of the cereal down the disposal. Once I was done, I put the dishes in the sink and turned around to face her, "So. It's just you and me today. What do you want to do?"

"I thought we were going to the troll market?" She informed me, her face serious, "I really want to see a troll... mommy read me a book about one one time... they sound kind of scary but I still want to see one!"

I laughed and shook my head, "Button, I was being a smart alek. There's no such thing as trolls..."

A look of intense concentration came over her face, and I could see her adding up the facts. She nodded, "So we can't go to the troll market?"

Laughing I walked over and scooped her up, carrying her out of the kitchen.

A thought occurred to me then...

"Roo, maybe we could go visit a friend? Would you like that?"

She thought about it for a second, "You mean like Re? Are we going to visit Re?"

I shook my head, "No, pumpkin, Re isn't a friend. Re's family. She's your auntie. She's daddy's sister. This would be a friend of mine..." A thought occurred to me then, "A friend of daddy's."

Her little eyes narrowed, "Are they nice?" Nodding sagely, she added, "I don't like mean people."

I nodded, "Yes, Ben is really nice. You'll like him."

She puckered up her little lips, thinking about it. "I think we could go see Ben or at least we could give it try."

I laughed, giving her a hug. "Glad you approve!"

I got her, and myself ready. Putting her seat in my truck was a little more complicated than I expected, but Roo actually helped me out. She crawled up on the seat and helped me figure out where the straps went, how to get it hooked up. I mean, I wasn't stupid, I didn't let a three-year-old install her own car seat, I checked that everything was set up right, but she still cut some time off of me fumbling around on my own.