Page 23 of The Boss and the Adoption Mess
"That’s right. Although I didn’t know back then that you have diabetes." I pull out my meter and show it to her. Immediately her eyes widen, and she beams. "Look! I have diabetes too. Type 1."
"Whoa. That’s so cool," she marvels, taking my meter in her tiny hands. Then she notices the cord. "Why’s yours tied up?"
"I lost it once and didn’t realize my blood sugar was too high. That was pretty dangerous. This way, I make sure it doesn’t happen again. Where’s your meter right now?"
Grinning proudly, she pulls it out of her pocket. She’s got a strap too, more like a thick glittery cord. "My mom made it. I used to leave it lying around all the time. Now I always have it with me no matter where I am."
Speaking of her mom, I glance around. No sign of her anywhere. "Where’s she now?"
"Hmm… don’t know." Well, that’s just great.
"And you’re playing out here all alone?" She immediately pouts and looks down at the ground, twisting her pink meter in her little fingers.
"Is your Uncle Gabriel around somewhere? He works at that company, right?" She nods silently. "I was just about to go visit him. Do you want to come with me? “I have a feeling why she's been wandering around alone out here.
She immediately shakes her head and stares so far down I can’t see her face. "Was he mean to you? He was really mean to me too. So, I told him off. Man, was he angry." I giggle, and she looks up at me shyly. "Oh yes. I was really mean back. He deserved it."
"Did you swear?"
"Yeah… I’m afraid so."
"Then you have to pay into the swear jar."
"They were really bad words." I fish my wallet out and hand her five pounds, which makes her eyes light up.
"Whoa, that bad?" I nod, and she giggles. "The jar’s gonna fill up really fast this way." Little businesswoman.
"If he keeps being mean, then yeah."
"He’s not always mean. But earlier, he was really nasty to me." She furrows her brow and snorts indignantly.
"And that’s why you ran away?" Caught. She hesitates, then reluctantly nods. "Where were you planning to go?"
"Doesn’t matter. Just away."
"I get it. I know how that feels. Sometimes I just want to run far away too. Somewhere nobody bothers me or is mean."
"Really? Even though you’re already grown up?"
"Oh yes. Unfortunately, there are lots of adults who are mean and annoying. Like, I now have to go see your Uncle Gabriel." I stick my tongue out, sigh, and roll my eyes—making her laugh.
"I stuck my tongue out at him too when I wasn’t allowed hot chocolate. I really wanted some." She sighs softly, looking at her meter. "I don’t want diabetes. It’s so… shitty."
"Here." I hand her a coin. "For the swear jar." At least that makes her smile briefly.
"I love hot chocolate. Especially with whipped cream. When it’s really cold outside, it tastes extra good. I’d drink it every day if I could. But I can’t." I show her my glucose meter. "This instantly puts me in the red zone. But guess what’s great?"
The little girl looks at me curiously.
"I have super-special cocoa at home and a sweetener. When I make it with oat milk, I can drink it. Have you ever tried that?"
She shakes her head but looks intrigued. "So, what do you think about asking your Uncle Gabriel if we can go to the grocery store together? It’s right back there, like five minutes away. We can buy oat milk, cocoa powder, and sweetener… and then drink some together. What do you think?"
Her eyes light up immediately.
"That would be awesome!"
"But we have to ask your Uncle Gabriel first. Otherwise, he’ll complain… and I’ll swear back, and all my money will end up in your jar."
