Chapter 17
Everyone needs a superhero in their life.
This is just one of mine.
If you look around, you'll discover yours...
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 17
Nick put Katie to bed and finally shut the house down,
turning off lights and checking door locks. In the dark he could imagine it
matched Jenn's definition of putting the house to bed for the night. He wasn't
doing too bad in his estimation. The floor needed sweeping and mopping, but he
still had more than forty hours before he had to leave for the airport to pick
Jenn up. But that also meant Katie still had forty hours to spill the entire
box of Rice Krispies all over the place and drizzle honey off the edge of her
sandwich and toss all of her toys out of the toy box and scatter them over,
under and around everything. Again.
Nick headed for the bedroom and promptly stepped
bare-footed on a hard rubber toy with lots of edges. He lost his balance and
slammed his elbow into the wall in the dark. He cussed under his breath. Jenn
made life look easy. Feel easy, he revised as he rubbed his aching elbow. He
made it look like a mess. Because it was. And it felt worse.
He shook his head in wonder. How Jenn kept up with the
full time job of taking care of Katie—a two-handed, two-foot tall tornado with
a two-year old attitude, and a thirty to forty hour a week job, he had no clue.
Plus she seemed to accomplish other stuff like working on lessons for her classes
and making family photo albums.
With the house finally quiet, Nick pulled out his
computer and leaned back against propped up pillows and turned it on. He
wistfully looked sideways at the bare space his wife usually occupied. He
missed her like crazy. He wearily ran his hand through his rough hair. He
couldn't remember combing it that morning. Or shaving. That was what Katie was
doing to him!
Welcome, the computer screen greeted in changing
shades of color against black. The letters swirled and danced, sometimes looking
like menacing faces before they returned to recognition and warped out again. Nick
clicked past the stupid screen Matt had shown him how to create. A moment later
Jenn was smiling at him, with Katie in her arms at age four-months old with
lots of fuzzy black hair sticking up all over like a human porcupine.
As always, Nick reverently paused, touching both faces
and then his pursed lips. His whole world was summed up in that single photo.
The auburn hair rich in red tones and underling deep chestnut highlights. The
big hazel eyes sparkling with energy and delight. The slender fingers that he
loved to feel creeping around his bicep as she leaned over to kiss him
goodnight when he was in town—or caress his cheek, or pull his fingers to her
mouth to kiss. He could almost hear her laugh. Sing to Katie. Complain about
the neighbor's dog barking half the night. Or giggle when she said or did
something stupid in her estimation that he thought was funny, loveable and
purely Jenn.
Nick smiled and clicked past his favorite daydream and
logged into his email. Instantly his world changed. Suddenly it was dark. Matt
and Monica were in Panama and expected home early due to complications near
Mexico City.
"And here's something new," Nick mumbled to
himself as he read that Matt and Monica had run into a person of interest in
Panama City. He devoured what was posted about their encounter. The unknown drug
was especially intriguing.
Another email led him directly into Matt's thoughts.
"Hey, how fluent are you in Mexican Spanish, buddy? If I can't get the
pronunciations right you'll soon be here with Monica and I'll be in Texas with
your wife. I'm working on my accent right now with a great language teacher.
I'll let you know how I score later."
Nick replied: I haven't been to Ciudad Mexico for a
few years. Sounds interesting. Jenn mentioned we need to spray for fire ants
next week, but I think I'll be out of town. Check with her to see which brand
of insect killer she wants you to use.
Nick laughed as he sent the email.
It was nearly four in the morning when He realized he
ought to shut the computer down and get some sleep. He closed all the open
programs and set his laptop on Jenn's pillow and was out like a light ten
seconds later.
At six Nick's phone began vibrating. "Yeah,"
he said, knowing already it was Debbie—which wasn't a good sign during a
vacation.
"Good morning, Mr. Mom," Debbie greeted
cheerfully.
"Yeah," Nick mumbled, thinking the secretary
was crazy.
"Mitchell wants you in his office at seven."
"Why?" Nick asked as he double checked the
time.
"Do you honestly think he'd tell me?" Debbie
said.
"Yeah. Ask him and call me back after you know.
You meant seven tonight, didn't you?"
Debbie laughed. "See you soon."
Nick rolled over and looked at the clock again. It
dawned on him that Jenn probably got more than two hours of sleep each night
before she…. Katie called out, "Daddy? Daddy?"
Nick pushed her door open as he ran his hand through
the stubble on his chin. "Hey, you awake already?" Hhe crossed the
room to lift his daughter from her crib. She was heavy with a wet diaper.
"Pay? Pay?" Katie excitedly said.
"Not until you're sixteen. Maybe not until
college. Until then you get no money, no allowance, no pony, no treats, no
nothing I have to pay for," Nick said, nuzzling her chin with his.
"Pay!" Katie insisted, her little eyes
scowling.
Nick gave her a confused look, wondering what Jenn had
taught her about money, then he realized she was begging to play. "Yeah,
we'll play today," he promised. He put her on his shoulders and galloped
to the kitchen. "We'll play daddy and kiddo. You get to be the kiddo who
takes a nap and I'll be the daddy who takes one too."
Katie giggled. "Pay! Pay!"
Nick galloped back to Katie's bedroom and changed her
diaper before he pulled her under his arm like a football and returned to the
kitchen. "Wanna play at school today, Katie bear?" he asked.
"Cool! Cool!" Katie excitedly squealed.
Nick thought he was being a super dad and her hero until
he realized she was saying school. "Yeah, I'm cool," he repeated nearly a hundred times, urging her to mimic him. He cheered when he finally succeeded and saying it as though she'd come up with the phrase on her own. An
hour later he dropped Katie off at Daisy's Day Care on his way to the office.
Three hours later he returned for her.
"As usual, she was as good as gold,"
Linda Jo said as he put Katie's arms in her tiny sweater while she pouted and begged to
stay longer.
"I might have to work a few hours later this
afternoon or tomorrow. Would you mind watching her again?" he asked,
looking up from where he was squatting.
Linda Jo nodded her head. "This is her second
home. It's no problem."
Nick stood up. "I could end up working later than
seven."
"If you do I'll take her home with me."
"Is it against the rules?"
"Yes, for everyone else, but not for employees.
Let me know."
"Thanks," Nick said with a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, that afternoon Katie took an extra long
nap and he was able to work in peace without having to take her back to the day
care center. After she was in bed for the night, Nick grabbed his computer and
continued working. If he got enough done it looked like he might not have to
work over the weekend either. He'd have plenty of time to spend with Jenn.
End Chapter 17
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