Page 16 of Nanny for the Doctor

Johnny sends back the shocked emoji face, and I send back aRight?!I also mention that his friend could definitely use some parenting lessons.

What does that mean?

I roll my eyes at no one, sending a reply.

Well, no offense, but your buddy is kind of a dick. He didn’t even take five seconds to introduce me to Henry.

I pull up to the line of cars waiting in student pick up and throw the Camry into park.

Geez, Mae. He’s a single dad who’s been through a lot. Cut him some slack.

He’s not wrong. I know Reed used to be married and his wife passed away suddenly about three years ago.

It’s more than possible Reed is having a hard time getting used to being a widower and single dad.

All right, all right. I’ll be nice. Gotta go. Henry is out of school.

With that, Henry opens the back door of my car and hops in.

“Can you get yourself buckled?”

“Yup. It’s not hard.”

“Of course. How silly of me. How was school?”

I proceed forward out of the pickup line and head back to Reed’s house.

Henry chats away about what he did in school and his friends. I try to learn as much as I can about what he likes and which subjects he hates.

It turns out Henry is actually great with science, and there’s a fair coming up that he hopes to participate in.

“That’s great, Henry. You totally should. I bet your dad can help you.”

He hesitates for a moment, then nods. “Yeah, maybe.”

When we get inside, Henry helps me put his stuff away, and we go over his reading homework. He’s a bright kid who loves to do well in school.

Dinnertime comes, and I have Henry help me cook up some spaghetti and meatballs. It’s a quick and easy go-to meal that doesn’t take long.

I make enough for all three of us, expecting Reed to come home around six.

He doesn’t.

A little after six fifteen, Reed calls the house to say he’s leaving the hospital. There was a med student who needed assistance with a procedure.

I assure Reed it’s no problem and that I’ll feed Henry so he doesn’t have to wait. Together, we eat up the spaghetti and chat more about school.

When we’re finished, Henry asks to play a card game with me, and I’m actually surprised. It’s not often you find a kid who likes to play cards.

We get through a couple of rounds of War before switching it up and playing Rummy. It’s one of my favorites, and Henry is a fast learner.

After playing more than a few games of Rummy, I glance over at the clock. Reed still isn’t here, and it shouldn’t take this long to get home from the hospital.

Another twenty minutes go by, and Reed finally walks in, dropping his stuff near the door and hanging up his coat. I expect Henry to run over and give his dad a big hug like most kids do when their folks get home, but he doesn’t even look up from his hand.

“Henry, your dad’s home. Don’t you want to say hi?”

He doesn’t get the chance to answer before Reed pipes in.

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