Page 9 of Hiding Rose
I breathed in and then out as I swung the door open the rest of the way. “Hi, Gideon. Do you have a minute to talk?”
He stood and came around his desk. “For you, I have all the minutes.”
I smiled as he hugged me and then sat in the chair opposite his desk. Instead of going around to the other side of his desk, he sat in the chair next to me.
“How’s the leg?” he asked first off.
I rubbed it unconsciously. “It’s better today since I had help with the babies. Thanks for loaning me Kate for the day. Winifred will be back tomorrow and Kate is insisting on keeping Katie-Bug and Hope at home to give us a few less kids.”
He rubbed his temple and nodded. “Good. Kate and I have been talking the last month. It’s been more than six months since your injury, and you aren’t going to be able to handle this job anymore, it’s too physical. It’s not a position you’ll be able to sustain long-term, so I instructed Ellie to put an ad together to hire new providers for the center.”
I gasped before I could stop it and tears rolled down my cheeks. My heart pounded in my chest as I shook with fear and anger. I fought with my brain in an attempt to form a coherent sentence. “No, Gideon, I’m okay. Please don’t fire me. I love this job and I love Kupid’s Arrow. I can’t do most other jobs.” I brought my hand to my mouth and struggled to put my thoughts into words, but a sob escaped around my hand.
I felt a warm hand on my lap and glanced down into the face of Hope. “It’s okay, Auntie Rosie, don’t cry.” She turned her head toward Gideon and frowned. “You shouldn’t make Auntie Rosie cry, Daddy. It’s not kind. You shouldn’t be mean,” she said emphatically.
Kate chuckled behind me and Gideon reached out for his daughter and picked her up, sitting her on his lap. It gave me a much needed few moments to get myself together. Kate handed me a tissue and then squeezed my shoulder, leaving her hand there.
“I didn’t mean to make Auntie Rosie cry, baby. We had a misunderstanding, but we can clear it up since you and Mommy are here. How about you give Rosie a hug and then play in the corner with your dolls?”
She climbed off his lap. “Okay, Daddy,” she agreed. She hugged me and then skipped off to the corner where her toys were kept in Gideon’s office. Kate pulled up a chair and sat next to me, patting my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Rosie, I’m not planning to fire you,” Gideon explained.
“Just the opposite,” Kate said excitedly, then clapped a hand over her mouth. She glanced at her husband. “Sorry, I’m dying to tell her.”
Gideon laughed. “I figured you would have done it having spent all day with her.”
Kate bit her lip. “I almost did.”
I glanced back and forth between them. “What’s going on?” I asked, sniffing once. “Kate told me today the two of you thought the daycare was too much for me, but we never got any further.”
Gideon leaned forward and rested his arms on his thighs. “We do think it’s too much for you physically, but we need you in the center. We want to offer you the director position and hire three new full-time care providers.”
Kate jumped in before I could. “Winnie wants to stay home with the kids, too. She feels too tied down having to be at the center every day, and little Flynn seems to pick up every cold he’s exposed to.”
I nodded. “I understand how she feels. I’m sure if I had kids I would feel the same way,” I said, my voice cracking on the last word. I cleared my throat. “Are you sure you want me to be the director? I would guess there are others out there far more qualified.”
Gideon shook his head. “Not as far as I’m concerned. You have all the requirements the state wants including a four-year degree, and I got this,” he said, standing and lifting an envelope off his desk, “last Friday.”
He handed it to me and I raised an eyebrow as I lifted the flap. Inside were two pieces of paper. The first was an official transcript from the technical college I’d been attending at night to complete early childhood classes. The second was a wall diploma indicating I was now a licensed childcare teacher by the State of Hawaii.
I stared at Kate and then Gideon. “How did you get this? I just finished the courses.”
“I called and asked them to move it along a little bit. Since I paid for the tuition, they graded the tests and sent the information. I didn’t look at the transcript, by the way, they already told me you passed and that was enough for me. I called health and human services and gave her your qualifications. She said you’re more than qualified to be the director. Besides, before you arrived we did a trial run. We had a provider watching a few of the employee kids upstairs in one of the empty employee apartments. It was an experiment of sorts for a month. It went okay, but what you’ve done the last six months is nothing short of a miracle. So, the job is yours, if you want it.”
I dropped the certificate on his desk and threw my arms around him and then Kate. “Yes, I want the job! Like you have to ask twice. I still want to spend time with the kids though. I don’t want to be the kind of director who hides in an office.”
Kate laughed and patted my back a few times. “You can be as hands on as you want to be, Rosie. We think it’s safer for you and the kids if you aren’t responsible for them all day. If you were to fall and get hurt, it would scare the kids, not to mention it could have lasting effects on your recovery. We want you to be integral in the program, but able to rest if you’re having a bad day because you know others are there to help with the babies.”
I nodded and rubbed my leg again. “I’ve tried my best to keep up with the pace, but it’s wearing me down. I don’t know if my leg and hip will ever recover more than it has.”
Kate laid her hand on my arm. “It’s gone downhill again, hasn’t it?”
I nodded robotically, trying not to cry. “I don’t know if it’s because the nerves are regenerating or degenerating, but the pain can be overwhelming. All I want to do is cry, and it’s not depression. The pain is bad enough it’s hard to swallow by the end of the day.”
Gideon handed me a tissue and squeezed my shoulder. “It hasn’t been a year, Rosie. You don’t have to hide when you’re in pain.”
Kate agreed. “If there are two people who understand a chronic illness, it’s us. Please, let us make an appointment at the university with Gideon’s friend. Maybe he can help you.”
