Page 15 of Manny for the Alien
There was no way that he was interested, right?
“I don’t have to work until noon,” he informed me, “so I’ll show you how to put Aster and Iris down for their naps.”
“Great, thanks.”
I glanced at the time, realizing that it was already late enough for them to have their naps. After reading his instructions plus browsing videos on toddler care in my room, I was surprised that they had both done so well yesterday in my inexperienced hands. We had had fun, but no sleep and no snacks should have equaled a meltdown. Apparently I had been lucky.
Hyacinth pushed to his feet with a kid in each arm and led me upstairs to their cozy, wilderness bedroom.
It was simple enough, but he showed me how to soothe Aster in case he was struggling or resisting sleep, and then let me take Iris and try it with her.
She gazed up at me from inside her little hammock, and my heart melted as her eyes drifted sleepily shut and he breathing evened.
A hand landed on my back as I gazed in at her.
Glancing over my shoulder, meeting Hyacinth’s warm gaze, my heart melted even more.
“You’re a natural,” he told me in a whisper. “I know the kids will all be very happy with you here.”
I felt my cheeks heat and shook my head, flattered despite myself.
“Thank you,” I whispered back. “I appreciate it and I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will,” he agreed.
God, these warm fuzzy feelings were a little overwhelming after so long living on my own with minimal love and affection.
In just one day too. I wondered how much I would love this little family as time went on. The thought in itself was intimidating.
“Do you want to have some lunch with me before you go?” I asked as soon as we were in the hallway. It would be nice to get to know each other since we were living under the same roof now, that was all. Nothing sneaky about that, right? Even though the two of us alone eating a homemade lunch, staring into each other’s eyes across the table... well, it instantly made me think of a date.
But Hyacinth’s eyes filled with regret and he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I really should get going.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” I said, brushing off his regret and trying to hide my disappointment. “Next time.”
He nodded.
“Yes, next time.”
His hand landed on my shoulder briefly, a strong, warm grip that seemed to leave an imprint when he pulled it away.
It may have been in my head, but after learning that things were supposed to be more difficult, that there were sleep schedules and snack schedules, everything got harder.
On one hand, Azalea had almost completely dropped the attitude and was easy enough to handle. In fact, she was sweet in a guarded way.
On the other hand, Aster started to fuss as soon as I was a minute behind in giving him something to eat and Iris was such a natural rascal that she would run giggling like mad anytime I tried to catch her for bed.
Naps were a struggle without Hyacinth there. I didn’t blame the kids, his soothing presence was far better than my frazzled nerves.
Twice during the week, he was home for their naps, and once, he was home for their bedtime routines, but aside from that, I was left to figure it out on my own.
It was so exhausting that on the occasions when hewashome to take over, I was too tired to watch on, or even to try to catch a word with him afterwards.
I so badly wanted to get to know him, but was quickly learning I wasn’t cut out for the stay at home parent life.Seriously, I was freaking impressed by those that did this full time.
If I didn’t get my feet under me soon and figure all this out, sadly, this arrangement wasn’t going to work out.
