I awoke to the sounds of screaming. Without a second thought I threw the blankets off of me and jumped out of Anna’s bed, running out of the room. At bottom step I saw the source of the screaming. Carla was sitting over Anna, tickling the little girl. The sight brought a smile to my lips as Carla roared like a dinosaur and Anna screamed again. “Good morning,” I blurted out. Carla looked over to me and Anna popped her head up from the couch seat, only her eyes and the top of her head were noticeable.
“Good morning, Iris,” Carla smiled as Anna slid off the couch and ran to give me a hug. “Breakfast is in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”
“Good morning Iris!” Anna’s squeaky voice called as she looked up at me. Looking down at her I stroked her hair and smiled. “Good morning, sweetie. You want to come eat breakfast with me? You can show me where the plates and cups are.”
With a smile and a nod Anna unwrapped her arms from around my thighs and took my hand, leading me towards the kitchen. I took a quick glance back at Carla who only smiled and nodded at me. Once in the kitchen Anna ordered me to sit in the same stool I had sat in last night and told me not to get up, that she could do everything herself ‘because she was a big girl’. With a smile I happily obeyed and sat at the mini-bar, my head on my hand and watched as Anna struggled to pull a stepping stool over to the counter, climbed onto the counter, opened the cabinets, and pulled down one glass and a green glass plate. With little six year old hands she put a small helping of a little of everything that sat on the stove onto my plate. When she was done with that she stepped down from the stool, walked over to a drawer, pulled out a fork, and brought the plate over to me.
“My oh my! This is a lot of food! Why don’t you help me finish it?” I smiled and held my arms out to pick Anna up and set her in my lap. With a smile she settled in my lap and picked up the fork and stabbed a pancake.
“Eat this first!” She cried.
“Alright!” I laughed. “We have to cut it up first and remember you have to help me eat it! This is a lot of food!”
“Okay!” She smiled and dropped the fork and used her hands to rip apart the dry pancake. “Small enough?” She asked.
“Plenty! Now lets add some syrup?” Without a word she slipped from my lap and pounced over to the pantry.
“Don’t keep it in the fridge like most people we know,” Carla walked into the kitchen and turned on the sink water. Pouring a small dot of dish soap into the palm of her hand she quickly wet her hand just a little and began scrubbing her hands.
“I’ve never seen her smile so much before.” She said as Anna walked by her, holding the syrup with both hands. “I think she really likes you.” I noticed the way Carla scrubbed her hands, scratching the flesh instead of just massaging it. It was as if she wanted to rip her flesh off, but when I looked into her eyes I saw nothing but happiness.
After Anna ate the last bit of breakfast she slipped off my lap and went back into the parlor. “Listen, Iris.” Carla said quietly. “I have something I think you might like to hear.” Standing up I took the plate over to the kitchen sink and dropped them in carefully so they didn‘t break. “I’m listening.”
“Drake and I haven’t been out on a nice romantic evening in a long while. Is there a possible chance you would be interested in baby-sitting Anna for us? I don’t mean to ask too much of you. We could always just higher a babysitter but you’re so convenient and Anna seems to really like you and I just,” He sentence trailed off.
“I’d love to!” I said with a smile. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… is there possibly something I could do to maybe… earn a place here?”
