Page 10 of Their Stolen Kisses
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An adult- a full-grown adult with a job - begging a three-year-old boy to play with him. This wasn’t the way nature had intended humans to be, I was pretty sure.
This evening, after days away from Noah and work today, all I wanted to do was sit on the floor and bang plastic dinosaurs together with my son - but he wouldn’t play with me.
“Where’s Diana?” he asked for the third time, clutching a dinosaur I didn’t recognize tightly in his fists.
“At home, Buddy,” I explained, also for the third time. “She can’t play dinosaurs right now.”
Noah’s eyes focused on the plastic creature until he could process what I said and look up. “Why?”
“Because… well son, because she’s busy. She had to go home.” Noah might have been quiet and shy, but he was still three… and three was a prime age for throwing tantrums. His quivering lip and erratic playing as he moved the dinosaur in his hand in rebellious, short movements were warning signs I’d come to know well. “She has her own dinosaurs to take care of at home,” I mumbled, wracking my brain trying to remember what the parenting books had said about preschooler’s tantrums and mood swings.
“No! I have her dinosaurs. I’m taking care of them!” If the toy in Noah’s hand had been anything but one of Diana’s dinosaurs, Noah would have thrown it by now.
He didn’t really get to say goodbye,I reminded myself. Noah had gone to sleep just before Diana left. And… and I still owed her for the time she babysat yesterday. Since I hadn’t been able to get cash to take to the office today — I had the cash now, and I intended to give it to her at work tomorrow, but...
“Hey, what if I call her?” I wiggled my phone. “I can ask if she wants to come say ‘hi’.” She could come for ten minutes, say a quick hello, grab her money, and Noah would be satisfied.
Hopefully.
“Yes!” Noah bounced up and down like a basketball in the capable hands of the Chicago Bulls.
“Watch her dinosaurs while I call, okay?” Noah scooted to them and began sorting the new ones from the old as I moved to the kitchen.
Crisis averted… maybe. My thumb hovered over the green call symbol next to Diana’s name. We had to exchange personal numbers since she was nannying my son. I’d called her a few times while I was in San Francisco to check on him and of course last night, but... this was a little different. I would be asking Diana for a favor, just because I didn’t want to deal with a few minutes of tears.
I can pay her!That thought finally broke the invisible ice trapping my thumb and I tapped the button - triumphant. I listened to the quiet rings with confidence. This visit would be just like any typical babysitting or nannying hours for which I would pay, except that I wouldn’t be gone.
“Hello?”
“H-hi.” I cleared my throat. “I know this is rather sudden, but I was wondering if you could come over tonight? Just for a few minutes, and you can leave whenever you want because I’ll be here. I just… Noah misses you, and he didn’t really get to say goodbye. And I’ll pay you, just like for a normal $20 hour.”
Three seconds of silence ticked by. “Sure, I’d love to come over. I’m sure if we play for a while he’ll go right to bed. And don’t worry about paying me, really. I wasn’t doing anything else, I promise.”
“At least let me give you the rest of what I owe you for yesterday,” I argued.With a little extra slipped in.
“That would be great. I’ll be there in an hour.”
Keeping Noah entertained for an hour took some creativity on my part, but I managed - and then there came that knock at the door. Noah flew to the foyer and I walked more sedately after him, containing my own excitement. Because I shouldn’t have been excited. Diana was here to visit Noah, not me.
In fact, I should have taken this opportunity to go to my study and catch up on work I’d missed while I was in San Francisco. Instead, I found myself lounging on the couch, watching as Noah played animatedly with a giggling Diana.
Could this really be the same kid I’d left in her care for just a couple days? This little boy who laughed loudly and boisterously and shared even his precious t-rex?
Hours later, after Noah had played until his head drooped sleepily and he insisted Diana read him a story before bed; I shut his door after one last fond glance at the cozy, blanket-covered lump in the bed. “He really is sleeping by himself.”
“He just needed a little convincing.” So calm and sure, like she had never even worried about Noah at all.
“Will you sit down while I get your money?” I gestured toward the couch as I stood unwillingly. Sitting and watching Noah and Diana play had been the most relaxing thing I’d done in a long time. Diana didn’t need to leave just yet...
She agreed, and I came back with my briefcase. I sat myself down on the other end of the couch to quickly search through it, then handed her another envelope. “Thanks again.”
Diana didn’t open it to check the amount, just filed it away into her purse. “I hope everything went well? In San Francisco.”
I had thought I didn’t want to talk about that. Turns out I just needed to talk to the right person.
“It went as well as expected. My ex-wife is making the case that I’m too busy to give Noah the care he needs. And the records from our counseling visits are helping her. The visits were supposed to help us both after… after the divorce, but then Noah started having trouble socializing at preschool, so they kind of became about that.”
