10. Bryan
10
brYAN
M other swept into the house unannounced, as she tended to do. At least this evening, I was expecting her.
“Where is my granddaughter?” she demanded as I encountered her in the hallway after stepping out of my office.
“Good evening, Mother,” I said. “Amelia is around here somewhere.”
“I expect her to greet me,” Mother said.
“And she will as soon as she knows you’re here. She’s probably in the kitchen.”
“Why would she be there?”
“Can I have a moment of your time?” I asked. “Before we go find Amelia?”
“Yes, Bryan, what is this about?”
“I wanted to discuss the other day when you dropped Amelia off without confirming with me when you did.”
“She got inside and was safe. If your home were properly staffed, that wouldn’t have been a problem.” She sniffed, her signal that this wasn’t something she cared to discuss. Too bad. We were going to talk about it.
“My home is properly staffed,” I said. “However, you are aware that her part-time nanny?—”
“Is a child,” Mother cut me off. “If you would hire a proper nanny and not rely on that bad influence that you’ve hired, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“The point is, Mother, you should have let me know that you had dropped Amelia off.”
Mother scoffed and dismissed my concerns. “Don’t be tiresome, Bryan. Why is my granddaughter hanging out in the kitchen? I won’t have my granddaughter hanging out with the help. You need to hire her a proper nanny.” Mother ignored me and made her way to the kitchen.
I was actually surprised she knew where the kitchen was located. I’m sure she had never stepped foot in hers. She stopped as she stepped in the door, blocking my way in. I could hear Amelia giggling while it sounded like Nova was singing along with the movie I had interrupted them watching earlier.
“Amelia!” Mother barked.
“Grandmother!” my daughter shouted with enthusiasm.
My mother jostled slightly under the impact of my daughter giving her a hug. “Must you greet me like a wild beast?”
“Sorry, Grandmother.” Amelia released her hold on my mother and stepped back. “I am so pleased to see you this evening.” The sharp, precise tone that she always had after visiting my mother was back.
It had only been twenty-four hours, but Amelia seemed to shine around Nova. Then again, Nova seemed to have that effect on me as well. I wanted to show off for her.
“Whatever are you doing in here, Amelia?”
“I’m helping to make dinner.”
“What?” Mother snapped.
“This is my friend, Nova. Nova, this is my?—”
“You do not need to introduce me to the help,” Mother corrected her.
“Nova is not the help. She is my friend,” Amelia started.
“If she is paid to work here, she is the help. She is not your friend.”
Nova’s mouth opened. I could tell she wanted to say something, but I caught her eye and shook my head. Now was not the time for Nova to get on the bad side of my mother. I knew she was only here temporarily, but I did want her to stay through the duration of the time. I needed her to cook for me. I did not need my mother to run her off.
Nova clamped her mouth shut and gave me a stern look. I gave her a sharp nod, letting her know that it was the precise thing I needed her to do.
“I was helping Nova count the eggs,” Amelia said with determination. She stood up straighter and squared off her little shoulders. “She needed to know how many were in the refrigerator. And I told her we had twelve, and she said that was a dozen. And I asked her what a dozen was. And?—”
“I see.” Mother cut her off. But she didn’t.
I did. The dish Nova was preparing didn’t have eggs in it. However, teaching my daughter the concepts of a dozen meant twelve and that half a dozen meant six was not lost on me. I had always heard that cooking was a combination of basic chemistry and math, so teaching Amelia some basic math seemed reasonable.
My mother was more than appalled by the entire situation. She probably expected basic math to be taught with money. After all, that’s how I learned.
“Come now, Amelia,” Mother said as she began to attempt to herd Amelia out of the kitchen.
“But we’re not done,” Amelia said.
“I think you are done enough for today.”
“I should help Nova to clean up.”
I don’t know what my mother was thinking, but the sneer she gave Nova was blatantly obvious. “Nova can clean up on her own. That is, after all, what she is paid to do.”
“But…” Amelia gave up. She knew that arguing with my mother was pointless.
I stayed put while I watched them leave, uncertain whether I should follow or explain my situation to Nova. As I watched my mother essentially bully my child and my temporary cook, I realized I hadn’t been focusing on my family properly. I should have had better control of that entire exchange. Mother was a force to contend with, and I had always thought she had Amelia’s best interests at heart. This had not been easy to watch, and Amelia’s tender feelings had been completely ignored.
My goals had always been business and finance oriented, even before Amelia or her mother had come into my life. But then I had been distracted by her mother. She had been beautiful and kind, and when she left, I didn’t really know what to do other than go back to what I knew, which was running a business and managing finances. I relied on Mother for the emotional aspect of Amelia’s upbringing. Amelia didn’t work like finances or budgets, just as she wasn’t exactly as precise and personally managed as my mother would have liked her to have been. She was six. She needed to be a kid.
I cast a quick gaze over the “mess” in the kitchen. There were eggs and measuring cups, scissors and paper, and in the background, an animated musical ran. It shut off with a click.
The kitchen was full of silence.
“So, that’s your mother?” Nova said. “I understand quite a bit now.”
“Pardon me?”
“Your mother and Amelia.” Nova nodded in the direction of the door they had left through. “I can see why Amelia craves your attention.”
My mother had been in the kitchen for less than five minutes…
Nova raised her eyebrows at me. “It’s not my place to say, Bryan.”
“But you’re going to tell me anyway.”
She smiled and looked up to the side with a little shrug. “I guess I am. Is she always like that? Because telling a six-year-old that someone who is paid to work for them isn’t their friend isn’t exactly a nice thing to do. Amelia told me her after school nanny is the cook’s daughter.”
I nodded. “Yes, she’s the cook’s daughter. She’s in high school.”
“Well, Amelia says that she’s her friend. And if Amelia thinks somebody is her friend, that person is her friend. It’s not your mother’s place to say because somebody’s being paid doesn’t mean they’re not friends. Does Amelia have friends?”
“You mean, like at school?”
“Yes, at school, after school, on weekends? Does she get to play with kids her own age?”
I thought about it and I couldn’t remember a time recently when Amelia had played with someone her age. “Well, she goes to parties for her classmates.”
“The entire classes are invited to that, right?” Nova asked.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Your daughter needs friends and she needs to know that people who are paid to care for her can still be her friends. I would like to be her friend. You’re not paying me for my affection. You’re paying me to be responsible. The affection just happens.”
“Oh, the affection just happens?” I asked.
The pink tinge of a blush colored her cheeks.
“You know what I mean.” But she couldn’t meet my gaze.
“Do I, now?” I couldn’t resist teasing her. I liked that she was being protective of my daughter.
“We’ll need you to serve dinner in the formal dining room this evening.”
“I suspected, as much,” Nova said.
“There aren’t any of these Christmas decorations in there?” I asked, gesturing at the popcorn and cut up paper mess on the other side of the kitchen.
Nova shook her head.
“Have you decorated any other parts of the house?”
“No, just the kitchen. Amelia would like some decorations up in her bedroom, and I was wondering, would it be okay if we put some garlands around the stair railings? It would really make the house more festive.”
“I think that would be a nice idea,” I said.
The smile she gave me went straight to my balls. Yeah, I was going to be a sucker for this woman while she was in my house. “We could use a little holiday cheer around here, but um, definitely, please do not put any in the dining room before dinner tonight.”
“I don’t have time to decorate your dining room. I’m still making dinner, and now I have to make sure all the eggs get properly put away since my counter has left.”
“What were you doing?” I asked.
“When Amelia asked if she could help, the only thing I needed help with was cutting vegetables. I didn’t think handing her a sharp knife was the smartest thing to do. So instead, we worked on some math skills. I noticed while we were putting our popcorn garlands together that she needed some help with some math skills.”
“What do you mean, help with math skills?” Concern made my voice a little too stern.
“All first graders need a little encouragement and reinforcement on basic math skills. That’s all. If you want me to do an educational assessment on your daughter, in addition to being her nanny and your part-time cook, we’re going to have to have another conversation.” She laughed.
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“I’m not being serious,” she said. “I’m joking. I’m joking. If I notice anything, I promise I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll count on that.” I winked before stepping out. As I left, I noticed Nova blushing harder and ducking her head down and focusing on the work in front of her.