14. Dulcie
DULCIE
D ulcie slipped out of bed before the sun came up on Monday morning, and turned off the alarm on her phone long before it would have gone off.
She had been up since four in the morning, her emotions bouncing her from excited about her day with Elizabeth, to sad about her moment with West, to angry and scared about her dad, and then back again, like a puppy pulling on a leash.
She tried for a while, but hadn’t been able to drift back to sleep, so instead she decided to make the most of the early morning.
Elizabeth wouldn’t be awake for a bit, but Dulcie thought it would be great to be dressed and showered with a few activities ready to go when the little one got up.
The main thing was probably to make sure they started the day off just right.
If she had a happy morning, Elizabeth would give Dulcie the benefit of the doubt later if she didn’t do things exactly the way Mrs. Webster did.
But if Dulcie messed up the first few minutes…
well, she couldn’t help imagining a miserable Elizabeth begging West not to go to work, and West turning to Dulcie with a stormy frown.
That’s not going to happen, Dulcie told herself firmly. West explained everything yesterday and even wrote it all down. Besides, Elizabeth is awesome, and we like a lot of the same things. We’re going to have so much fun together.
With that happy thought in mind, she got a quick shower, and then pulled on a nice pair of jeans and one of Elizabeth’s favorite sweaters from the Second Hand Rose haul. It was a beautiful red color in a soft, fuzzy material that Elizabeth said made Dulcie look like one of Santa’s elves.
But does it make me look pretty?
She shook her head and turned her back on the mirror. It didn’t matter if she looked pretty or not. She had definitely given West the impression that she wasn’t interested by jumping the minute her phone buzzed Saturday night.
And that was for the best, because he probably wasn’t really interested either. The tree lighting had been so beautiful, and Christmas brought up so many emotions. Maybe he’d just been lost in the moment.
Tiptoeing through the house made her feel like a child again, but in a good way—the way Elizabeth might feel slipping down the stairs on Christmas Eve to peek at what was under the tree.
She knew the house well enough now to skip the squeakiest step. As soon as she passed the landing, the sweet pine scent of the tree drifted up to her .
Tempted as she was to plug in the tree and curl up on the sofa to gaze at it for a while, she turned and headed back to the kitchen instead.
Hopefully, she could get everything ready for both Elizabeth and West. If there was coffee and breakfast ready to go when they came down, then their morning would be just a little bit brighter.
She turned the radio on low and smiled when she heard the strains of “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” drifting through the empty kitchen.
She had always liked that one, even though it seemed to always play in Christmas movies when something was about to go wrong.
Hopefully, that wasn’t the case this morning.
She hummed along and even danced a little as she started the coffee and checked the cupboards for ingredients.
As she’d hoped, West had all she needed for blueberry muffins. There had been frozen berries in the freezer since the day she got here, and so far no one had used them. She didn’t think West would mind.
She had his apron on and was mixing the batter and fully singing along with Mariah Carey about all she wanted for Christmas when she heard West clear his throat from the doorway.
She stopped immediately and spun around, flinging a few drops of batter onto the floor as she did.
He watched her, a half-smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. Elizabeth stood beside him, still wearing her pajamas and a big smile.
“Uh, good morning,” Dulcie said, feeling a little embarrassed.
“You were singing,” Elizabeth pointed out. “And dancing.”
“What’s in the bowl?” West asked.
“Blueberry muffins,” she told him, relieved for the change of subject. “I thought maybe Elizabeth would like to help me make them.”
“Yes ,” Elizabeth said. But she had such a serious look on her little face, like Dulcie had asked her to volunteer to go into battle or something.
“They’re nice and easy, Lilibet,” Dulcie told her as she cleaned up the stray drop of batter with a paper towel. “It’s really fun to make them.”
“Okay,” Elizabeth said, scurrying over to join her.
“Coffee,” West murmured appreciatively, heading over to fix a cup. “Thank you.”
She tried to ignore the way his deep voice sent a little shiver through her heart
“You’re very welcome,” she told West. “Let’s get the muffin tin out, okay, Elizabeth?”
As it turned out, they even had cupcake liners in the drawer. Elizabeth set each liner in the pan and then watched carefully as Dulcie poured in the batter.
“This is a big person job,” Dulcie told her. “Because the bowl is heavy and the batter wants to run out all at once.”
“What if it does?” Elizabeth asked, sounding a little worried.
“Then we’ll clean it up,” Dulcie told her. “Everyone makes mistakes, especially in the kitchen.”
She waited for Elizabeth to look up at her. When she did, Dulcie made sure to be smiling encouragingly .
That won her a sunny smile back.
“Should we sprinkle sugar on top?” Dulcie asked. “It makes the muffins look pretty.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “Can I do it?”
“Of course,” Dulcie told her. “Let’s put your apron on.”
Elizabeth ran and got her apron, and Dulcie helped her tie it around her waist. Then she pushed the step stool over to the counter, took down the canister of sugar, and grabbed a spoon.
“Okay, hop on up,” she told Elizabeth.
Elizabeth smiled and climbed up.
“You only want to put a little sugar on them,” Dulcie told her, demonstrating. “And you don’t touch the sugar spoon to the batter, or you won’t be able to put it back in the sugar.”
“What if I do touch it?” Elizabeth asked, her brow furrowed again.
“We’ll just wash the spoon and dry it and try again,” Dulcie told her. “Because everyone makes mistakes, especially in the kitchen. Right, Lilibet?”
Elizabeth’s eyes lit up a little, hearing the words for the second time in a row.
You’re okay, Dulcie told her wordlessly. You don’t have to be perfect. You can just have fun.
She handed her little helper the spoon and watched as she tried her hand at sugaring the muffins.
The first one got a little mountain of sugar instead of a sprinkle, and when Elizabeth tried to fix it she put the spoon right in the batter.
“Oh no,” she whined, looking up worriedly at Dulcie.
“You’re doing a great job,” Dulcie told her. “This is exactly how you learn to do it. You just have to get in there and try a few times.”
She handed Elizabeth a fresh spoon, and took the old one to wash it. By the time she turned back around, Elizabeth was gazing down at the pan in a pleased way. She had perfectly sugared two muffins.
“Those look awesome,” Dulcie told her, moving to stand beside her. “Practice makes perfect.”
As Elizabeth started the next one, Dulcie caught West watching them. He sat at the kitchen table, leaning back in a relaxed way. But his eyes were alive as he took in the scene in front of him.
When he caught her looking, his expression softened.
She felt her cheeks heat, so she turned her attention back to Elizabeth right away.
“You’re almost done,” she told her. “And I’ve already got the oven preheated. That means we can have muffins in about twenty minutes.”
“Can you wait twenty minutes?” Elizabeth asked her dad.
“Sure,” West told her. “That will be just the right amount of time to get you dressed.”
“Good thinking,” Dulcie said. “We can go upstairs and get you dressed while these are in the oven.”
“Okay,” Elizabeth said, looking excited.
Dulcie had Elizabeth go to the table while she put the muffins in the oven. She was pretty sure the four-year-old could learn how to behave around the oven, but she figured it was best not to do too much in one day.
“Now I’m setting a timer,” she told her little charge. “ That’s because I don’t ever want to leave something in the oven too long. It could get burnt or cause a fire.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said, her eyes large with concern.
“Usually, I like to stay in the kitchen while things are cooking,” Dulcie told her. “It’s a good time to clean up or read a book. But your daddy is here, so he can keep an eye on the oven for us, right, West?”
“I’d be glad to,” he told her.
She and Elizabeth headed upstairs together, with Elizabeth immediately letting her know exactly what she would like to wear as they climbed the stairs.
This is going to be just fine, Dulcie told herself, feeling much better about everything now that she was in the moment.
By the time West was heading off for work, Elizabeth was smiling and finishing up her muffin. She already had a whole list of other things she wanted to cook, and Dulcie had promised her that they could look and see what was in the house.
On his way out, West pulled Dulcie aside.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” he told her. “Remember what I said—if you have any questions at all just call me, and then my mom if I don’t pick up right away.”
“Thank you,” she told him.
When she headed back to the kitchen, she found Elizabeth back on her step stool by the sink with her apron on.
“Oh, Elizabeth,” Dulcie said. “Are you cleaning up?”
“Mrs. Webster always cleans up after breakfast,” Elizabeth said.
“And do you help her?” Dulcie asked.
“No,” Elizabeth said, then looked down.
“But you wanted to help me?” Dulcie asked.
Elizabeth looked up at her hopefully and nodded.
“Thank you,” Dulcie told her with a big smile. “That would be great. The sooner we get cleaned up, the sooner we can do something fun.”
“Cook something?” Elizabeth asked excitedly.
“If you want,” Dulcie said, laughing.