Page 60 of The Boss and the Adoption Mess
With a broad smile, I lie there remembering that night in the limo, when she sat on my lap, so eager for me.
How did it end with her asleep in my bed? A missed opportunity I regret bitterly to this day.
The next morning, my phone wakes me up. I’d planned to get up an hour earlier to take care of Rosie since I have no idea how Kim and Rosie will get along spending the morning together. Rosie hates waking up early—and who can blame her?
But when I come back from the bathroom and head for Rosie’s room, I already hear laughter from downstairs. So, Kim and Rosie have been up for a while, presumably in the kitchen. The smell of coffee and toast reaches me, and I head straight down to check things out.
"Good morning, ladies," I greet them. Kim is at the stove, and Rosie is perched on her kitchen stool so she can reach the counter. They both look up.
"Uncle Gabriel!" Rosie beams at me, hops off the stool, and runs into my arms. I lift her up as she squeals, "Good morning! Guess what we’re making!" she asks excitedly.
"Good morning, sir," Kim says with a smile. Well, I’m curious to see what these two have whipped up that smells so good.
Along with sweet pancakes, I see toast spread with a colored cream. I stare at the colorful display, pretty impressed.
"What’s all this?" I ask, astonished, setting Rosie back on her stool.
"We have, uh..." Rosie thinks.
"Cream cheese," Kim prompts her, smiling.
"Right.Reamcheese!"
"Cream cheese," Kim corrects her, giggling.
"Cream cheese, yes. We made it colorful with food coloring. Doesn’t it look pretty?"
"And then we decorated with fruit to make faces and designs."
Yes, I can see that.
Kim proudly presents me slices of toast turned into funny faces, hearts, and animals.
"That looks fantastic. Almost too good to eat, huh?" Even the pancakes and waffles are colorful. They really went all out this morning.
"You have to try it!" Rosie insists, scandalized. "We spent forever in the kitchen!" Kim and I laugh softly as Rosie plants her fists on her hips, clearly outraged at the thought I might not eat it.
"I’ll eat every bit. Down to the last crumb. Promise."
Satisfied, she nods. "Good then."
Great. The child’s reassured, and Kim looks pleased too.
This morning, I’m getting the sweetest breakfast I’ve had in a long time. Not taste-wise—cuteness-wise.
We drive to daycare, where I introduce Kim to the staff to make sure they know who she is already. Then we head to the office, where—thanks to Kim—I can focus perfectly on my work. In the afternoon, I step out of there briefly and see her with Rosie in the adjoining room, which she quickly set up as her own office. Rosie is busy sticking stickers in a book, while Kim sits next to her on the couch with her laptop. I don’t disturb them, just watch quietly through the door that’s ajar.
Yes, this works. This works really well.
That evening we head back to the house—much earlier than usual. With Kim taking work off my shoulders all day, I got way more done than I normally do.
"Pink fries?" I ask in disbelief as we’re almost home.
"Yeah. Everything pink. You can do that, right?" Rosie’s eyes shine as she shares her dinner wish.
"Potatoes aren’t so easy to dye. Maybe with beet juice," I explain. Rosie stares at me, horrified. "But we could make the mayo pink. How about that?"
"Also with beets?" she asks, wary.
