Page 29 of One More Baby for the Boss

“Well, if Dylan says so, I guess we’d better give it a try.” She put a hand on his shoulder and steered him back over to Elijah. “And I want to hear about the rest of your day at school, too! What else happened? Anything exciting?”

“We’re going to do a project,” Jack said as he climbed up onto his stool.

“That’s cool,” Alex said. “Is this part of studying families?”

“Uh-huh. Everyone has to make a family tree. Do you know what that is?”

“I think I do,” Alex said. “But why don’t you tell me what your teacher told you about it so I can make sure I’m thinking of the right thing?”

“Hold on, you two,” Elijah said. “Before you start talking about family trees, tell me what kind of ice cream you each want so I can place our order.”

“We both want pistachio,” Alex said, and Jack giggled.

Elijah raised his eyebrows. “Pistachio, huh? No chocolate?”

“We’re trying something new today. Right, Jack?”

“Yes!” Jack enthused.

Elijah shrugged and turned to the woman behind the counter. “I guess we want three cups of pistachio,” he said.

The woman served up their ice cream. As they began to eat, Alex turned back to Jack. “So tell me about this family tree,” she said. “What do you have to do?”

“We’re supposed to make a big poster of a tree,” Jack said. “And every branch stands for someone in our family. So the top branches should be the grandparents, or even thegreat-grandparents.” He frowned. “Do I have great-grandparents? I don’t know what that means.”

“It means the parents of your grandparents,” Elijah said. “Grandma and Grandpa’s mom and dad.”

“They have a mom and dad?”

“Of course, they both did. They’re up in heaven now, with your mom. But we can still put them on the family tree, because they’re still a part of the family. Just like Mom will always be a part of our family.”

Jack nodded. “I definitely want to put Mom on my family tree,” he said. “Everybody has a mom, even if she’s not around anymore.”

Elijah took a big bite of his ice cream and said nothing.

“I think that’s right,” Alex told Jack. “Your mom is an important part of your family, so we’ll make sure she has an important place on your family tree.”

“And what about you?” Jack asked Alex.

“Me?” Alex wasn’t sure what he meant. “I don’t think I need to make a family tree.”

“No,” Jack said, laughing. “I mean, where will we putyouon my family tree?”

“Oh!” Alex was taken aback. “I don’t know if I belong on it, Jack. You and I are good friends, but we’re not family.”

“Oh,” Jack said with a frown. “Are you sure? Because my teacher said that all families look different, and she said your family can be whoever lives in your house with you.”

“That’s probably true for a lot of people,” Alex agreed. She was afraid to make eye contact with Elijah, unsure how he would respond to the realization that his son wanted to include the nanny in a project about his family. She wondered if it might make him angry or resentful. She wondered howshewould feel if Jack was her biological child and was trying to include an outsider in a project of such a personal nature.

If Elijah was bothered, he didn’t show it. He didn’t respond at all. He went on eating his ice cream, listening calmly to their conversation.

Alex cleared her throat. “In a family tree, your family should be the people who are related to you,” she explained. “Your mom and dad, your grandparents. Aunts and uncles and cousins, if you have them.”

Jack frowned. “Dylan has a stepdad,” he says. “They aren’t related. That’s what Dylan said. But shouldn’t he still put him on his family tree? Because a stepdad is a kind of dad. That’s what my teacher told me.”

“Well… yes,” Alex said. She was heartily wishing now that she hadn’t gotten into this conversation. “I think what you should do is work on this project with your dad, Jack. Let him help you figure out who should be included on your family tree and where they should go. He knows the most about it. And I know he’d like to help you — wouldn’t you, Elijah?”

She wondered for a moment if Elijah would be angry that she’d cornered him into it, but he just smiled and nodded. “Sounds like fun to me,” he said. “You and I will go out tomorrow and get some supplies, okay, Jack? And then we’ll make a plan for this family tree. Does that sound good?”

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