Chapter 2 #4
“Pip,” Belle called out once they were done. “Ready to head to the store?”
Pip darted into the kitchen, holding out her masterpiece. “Look! It’s us! I want to mail it to Mommy.”
Belle took the piece of paper, smiling at Pip’s drawing.
In it, she’d drawn herself perched on top of her uncle’s shoulders, while Belle stood next to them with a bright-red crayon smile.
In the background was a decent representation of Victor’s backyard—Pip’s favorite part of his house—complete with the pool, pool house, and the giant dragon floatie Victor had bought her for this summer.
“Can you help me send it?” Pip asked Victor.
He took the picture from her, studying it. “Your mom will love it. We can put it in the mail tomorrow morning. The mail carrier has already come today.”
“Okay,” Pip said. “We can put it on the frigerator until then.”
“Refrigerator,” Belle corrected, even though Pip always forgot the first syllable.
“Sounds good.” Victor placed the drawing in the middle of his refrigerator door with the photo magnet Pip had given her uncle for Christmas.
It was a picture of her sitting on Santa’s lap.
“There. You’re quite the artist, squirt,” he said, ruffling Pip’s hair affectionately.
“Let’s get your shoes on and we’ll head out. ”
Twenty minutes later, Belle found herself walking through the produce section with Victor and Pip. Again, she was struck by the domesticity of it, wondering how such a mundane, everyday chore could feel so…well…sexually charged.
The grocery cart rattled as Victor pushed it, one wheel squeaking in protest every few feet. Pip sat in the seat section of the cart like a tiny queen on a rolling throne, swinging her legs and narrating the entire shopping trip as if it were a live broadcast.
It was strange how natural it all felt.
Victor navigated the aisles like he’d done this a hundred times, even though Belle knew he rarely shopped for himself, preferring the delivery method. Given the fact he’d already been stopped a handful of times with requests for autographs or pictures, she understood why.
Regardless, he continued reaching automatically for things after consulting their list. He tossed apples into a bag after Pip carefully inspected each one for “shininess.”
“Too spotty,” she declared, rejecting one.
Victor took it from her and put it back. “You’re five years old,” he pointed out. “Why are you so picky about apples?”
“I have standards.”
Belle snorted at Pip’s very grown-up, very Vivian words. The girl heard everything, remembered everything, and regurgitated everything. It was as adorable as it was dangerous.
“You have opinions,” Victor corrected her.
Pip ignored that, then sat up straighter when they left the “boring” vegetable aisle and made their way down the cereal one.
“We need to get the marshmallow cereal,” she declared, pointing toward the shelves at the brightly colored boxes.
Victor didn’t even slow down. “Nope.”
Pip gasped. “You didn’t even look!”
“I don’t need to look,” he said. “The answer is no. It’s not good for you.”
Belle followed a few steps behind, grateful he hadn’t thrown her under the bus as the food police. Although, it occurred to her that sugar cereal was one of the few “junk food” things he hadn’t offered Pip this past week.
Pip twisted around, pointing at the box she clearly wanted. “Uncle Vic. Lucky Charms are breakfast!”
Victor stopped the cart and turned slowly, staring at the box and scowling. “That is candy disguised as cereal. Not breakfast.”
“It has grains,” Pip argued, as Belle covered her mouth, hiding her grin.
God help them all, because Pip was too damn smart.
“It has more marshmallows than grains. Moving on.” Victor started pushing the cart again.
“What about Reese’s Puffs?” Pip asked.
“Also candy.”
“Nuh-uh,” Pip said, shaking her head. “It has peanut butter and I’m ’llowed to eat that for lunch.”
Victor didn’t even bother to stop this time. “Still sugar.”
Pip turned toward Belle, whispering loudly, dramatically holding one hand to the side of her mouth as if to keep him from reading her lips. “Uncle Vic is being mean.”
“I can hear what you’re saying,” he grumbled.
“That’s because I’m talking,” Pip said matter-of-factly.
Belle bit her lip, struggling hard not to laugh, because watching Victor and Pip go toe-to-toe over breakfast cereal might be her favorite thing ever.
Victor grabbed a box of cereal off the shelf and dropped it into the cart with a decisive thunk. “There. Bran flakes.”
Pip looked seriously traumatized. “Those taste like sadness.”
Victor’s lips twitched, and he had to turn his head away from Pip for a moment. “No, they don’t. Have you ever even tried them?”
“I don’t want to. I can tell by the box they’re gross,” Pip said, her arms crossed.
“What if,” Belle said carefully, “we get one fun cereal and one boring cereal?”
Victor narrowed his eyes. “Thought we were eating healthier this week?”
Belle shrugged. “We are. Our dinners are chef’s kiss perfection.” She kissed her fingertips as she spoke the last three words. “So much so, we could probably indulge in one bowl of fun cereal every other morning.”
Belle was proud of her compromise, but she should have known Pip was made of sterner stuff. “Does that mean I have to eat the boring cereal too?”
“Yes,” Victor barked. “What do you say, Pip? It’s Belle’s suggestion, or we skip the cereal completely and I’ll make you oatmeal every morning.”
Pip’s eyes widened in true terror. If there was one thing the little girl hated more than anything else, it was oatmeal. And her uncle knew it. “I’ll eat the boring cereal. But only every other day.”
“Deal,” Victor said, nodding at Belle, who added the Reese’s Puffs to the cart. “But just so you know, you’re going to eat a whole bowl of the bran flakes. None of that game where you eat two bites and declare yourself ‘too full.’”
“I only did that one time,” Pip argued.
“It was yesterday,” Victor reminded her.
“But it was green beans, not cereal.” Pip refused to go down without a fight. And the fact that she’d put up a fuss about the green beans, which she usually loved, told Belle just how close they’d come to destroying her eating habits in one week.
“I’ll eat it. Promise,” Pip said, holding out her pinky the way Vivian had taught her. Pinky swears were solemn in their household.
Belle couldn’t stand how stinking cute it was when the giant of a man looped his pinky with Pip, accepting the promise.
“Congratulations,” he said to Belle. “Our nutritional downfall continues.”
Belle laughed. “Baby steps.”
Pip, satisfied that she’d secured at least one box of fun cereal, was ready for the next aisle.
They moved through the store, Pip continuing her running commentary on basically everything.
Victor mostly listened, while Belle mostly watched, fascinated by the interplay between uncle and niece.
Sure, she’d seen Victor and Pip together a million times in the past five years, but ever since her feelings had become inappropriately engaged, she found herself foolishly envisioning them doing this same trip… with a child of their own.
God. This was why she needed to start dating. Immediately. Her feelings for Victor were probably a result of the fact he was one of the few men she saw on a regular basis. Since taking the nanny gig, she, Vivian, and Pip had lived quite contentedly in a house of only women.
Belle hadn’t intentionally eschewed having a social life since taking the job. It had just sort of turned out that way.
The first year she lived with Vivian had been a blur…for all of them. Between the grief and midnight feedings and never-ending exhaustion and Vivian’s eventual return to work, Belle wasn’t sure how any of them had survived that time.
But, somehow, they had. And one of the main reasons for that was the fact they’d fallen into a comfortable routine.
She and Vivian had developed their own rhythm when it came to caring for Pip.
As more time passed, she’d simply stopped going out on dates or even out with friends.
Not because Vivian expected it but because Belle was genuinely needed, and she preferred staying home with them.
Now, though, things were changing. Her days as Pip’s nanny were numbered, the little girl growing up so fast. Pip was starting school in September, which meant Belle was about to have a lot of time on her hands.
Vivian insisted she wanted Belle to remain on, taking care of the school drop-off and pickups, holidays, snow days, as well as nights and weekends when Vivian was on call at the hospital.
Belle had decided she’d put the newfound time to use securing at least one part of her future. She enjoyed being a nanny, so she would probably try for another position similar to this one when it was time to move on.
But for now, the aspect of her life she wanted to focus on was her personal life.
Dating.
Unfortunately, because she’d let her social circles close, she found it difficult to meet men.
Which was why she’d broken down and joined one of those online dating sites a couple months ago.
So far, she hadn’t done more than message back and forth with a few guys because she’d been too busy helping Vivian prepare for her trip, and while that wasn’t much, at least it felt like a tiny bit of forward progress.
She was distracted from her thoughts when they reached the dairy aisle.
Victor opened a door, grabbing a gallon of milk. Then, without even looking, he picked up a pack of strawberry yogurt. “Your favorite is strawberry, right?”
Pip nodded.
“And no blueberry,” he added.
“It tastes suspicious,” Pip replied.
Victor rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. The “suspicious” comment was a common one in regards to blueberries. God only knew where she’d picked up that word, but it had stuck.
Belle found it incredibly sweet that Victor not only knew Pip’s favorite yogurt, but he also knew which flavor she refused.