Page 5 of Marshall: The Manny

I pulled out my phone, and sure enough, it was her. This time, she’d only sent a pair of eyes, which made me chuckle. I recorded a quick video of Denver before sending it to her. I noticed she had a few weeds in her front yard, and since it was stone pebbles instead of grass like her other neighbors, it stuck out. Denver was supposed to be helping me pull the weeds, but he was playing with the stones instead.

When we were done, I took him back inside and cleaned him up before putting him down for a nap. Then, I went out to the guest house and cleaned up myself. I decided to cook dinner for Demi tonight. She had individual sized meal prepped items in her refrigerator, but to me, there was nothing better than coming home to a hot meal after work. I’d need to ask her whatfoods she liked and disliked and if she had any allergies, but for now, I shot Jessica a text to get her input.

Me: Hey Jess. I’m cooking dinner for Demi this evening. What does she like?

As I waited for her to respond, I went back into the main house to check on Denver. He was a good kid. Typical mood changes like the average two year old, but that was nothing I couldn’t handle. He looked so peaceful as he slept. Denver looked just like his mom except his cheeks and dark eyes. I wondered if he got those from his father.

Who was his father?

A part of me wondered what kind of man could leave Demi and Denver, but that wasn’t my business. Maybe one day she would share that story with me, but she didn’t have to. I had them now, and they’d both be good.

My phone vibrated, so I pulled it out and saw Jessica had replied.

Jessica: She’s small but she loves food and will eat anything. Her favorite meal is baked steak, sweet potatoes, and cabbage. Any green vegetable for that matter. She doesn’t care for them, so she prefers to have them juiced or in a smoothie. You’ll have to watch her with that, or she’ll throw them all away ??

Her warning made me smile. I checked the kitchen to make sure I would have all the ingredients I needed for dinner before chilling until Denver was up from his nap. The dinner would be easy and quick prep, so I’d get started on it a couple of hours before she was set to get off work.

That Evening

As I litthe candles on the table, the bell chimed. Demi was home. For some reason, that made me smile. Her heels clacked as she made her way through the foyer. I could tell by their rapid pace that she was anxious to get inside. Unfortunately, she’d have to wait to play with Denver because he wasn’t up from his last nap of the day. It was timed perfectly so that she’d have time to eat and unwind before interacting with him after work and he would still go to sleep at his normal time tonight. I hoped she wouldn’t mind the slight adjustment I made.

As she passed the dining room, it took her a second to process what I’d done. “Hmm,” she muttered before taking backwards steps and looking inside.

Pride filled me as I watched her take in what I’d done. Her baked steak, sweet potatoes, and cabbage were hot and ready to be devoured. I also did cucumbers and pickled onions and tomatoes with white sauce. Since I had to order a few things, I got her a bottle of red wine and a bouquet of red roses too. She licked the corner of her mouth and took small steps inside as her eyes watered.

“Hey,” I spoke.

“Hi. You did this for me?”

“Yeah. Hope that’s okay.”

“Mhm.” She wiped a tear that escaped quicker than she expected. “This is really kind and thoughtful, Marshall. Wow. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Denver should be up from his nap in about forty five minutes. That should give you enough time to eat anddo whatever you need to, to decompress. I can stay until he’s up and get him fed if you’d like. And if you want to take over after that, I’ll get out of your way.”

“Um that’s…” She chuckled and ran her hand down her neck. “That would be perfect, Marshall. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Enjoy your dinner.”

“Thank you,” she repeated as I headed out of the dining room and upstairs to Denver’s room. The vocal exhale she released before sniggling made me feel good. It seemed I’d made the right call.

I picked up a few things in Denver’s room to give Demi time to herself. When he started to stir, I got him up. Something strange happened. He looked up at me and smiled as he reached for me. That wasn’t uncommon, but the way it made me feel was. I tried to shake the feeling off as I picked him up, but it magnified when he rested his head on my chest.

We made our way down the hall, and I knocked on Demi’s door. A few seconds passed before she told me to come in. I opened the door, and excitement took over the both of them at the sight of each other. I handed him off then headed to the kitchen to get Denver’s dinner ready. Curiosity had me looking in the garbage to see if Demi had eaten her green vegetables—she had.

She had.

5

Demi

One Week Later

Today was so long and draining. We’d encountered a bug in the demo version of the app that needed to be corrected. What was usually an eight to ten hour workday was fourteen. I went in early and still left late, but I didn’t complain. It was only right that I be the first in and last out for my business. My app. As I drove home, I made plans with Jessica to thank my small team. I only had four people working for me currently, and with the size of the app, it should have been thirty. Before I expanded, I wanted to be able to offer a great salary, insurance benefits, and vacation time.

That was another reason why the launch of Demi Bot 2 was so important to me. It was estimated to do three to five times as well as the initial app at the start of its launch and ten times as well within six months. This app wasn’t going to change just me and my son’s lives, but my employees, and the creatives who used the platform to stream as well. So far thousands of creators had signed up for the demo version of the app and trusted me with streaming their work. I had to make it perfect for them.

It was so late when I finally got home that I didn’t expect Marshall to be in my home. With it being past Denver’s bedtime, I expected Marshall to be in the guest house. Imagine my surprise when I walked into my home and found him in the living room waiting for me. The lights were off and the volume on the TV was at a low level. He stood and stretched as I walked in his direction.

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