Chapter 15
”And here”s a snack for you, Evan,” Delilah said at work on Wednesday, placing a plate of Ritz crackers and celery sticks with almond butter in front of the little boy. ”And here”s one for you, Sara.”
There were seven kids at Tykes Palace today, including McKenzie. McKenzie had remarkable control over her head and neck, and Delilah credited all that tummy time for helping her get so strong. It was great because it meant that McKenzie could sit upright in a chair as long as she was strapped in. At the moment, she was in a chair at the head of the table, where she could look imperiously over the other children while they ate their snacks. She gurgled and shrieked happily, and Delilah”s heart felt full, seeing her there talking with the others. Her baby girl was growing up. It was such a funny thing to think when McKenzie was only three months old, but it seemed that every day she reached another milestone. Truly incredible.
As the older kids finished their snacks, McKenzie started fussing, so Delilah got her out of the highchair and put her in the baby carrier strapped to Delilah”s chest. It was surprisingly comfortable, and McKenzie still loved it.
Evan raised his hand. ”I”m all done, Teacher Delilah!”
Delilah grinned. She had tried to tell him not to call her Teacher Delilah, but he wasn”t having it. His older sister was in kindergarten where she called her teachers by Teacher and their first name, and Evan seemed to think this was the way things should be.
”Okay, sir, go ahead and take your plate over to the sink,” she said. ”Hold up, let me help you with your nose.”
She grabbed a tissue from the low shelf next to the table where they ate. She bent down and held the tissue out, getting ready to tell Evan to blow, when suddenly he sneezed.
All over Delilah and McKenzie.
Delilah was certain she had snot in her eyes. This was totally disgusting. She wasn”t even sure what to say, or how to handle it.
She gave the tissue to Evan to wipe his own nose and grabbed another one for her face. She washed it off as best she could, and then got a second tissue for McKenzie”s face.
Janine was waiting outside to play with the kids who were finished with their snacks. Evan dropped his tissue on the ground and bolted.
Sighing, Delilah picked up the dirty tissue and threw it into the trash with the others. Puked on last week, sneezed on this week. Well, those were the hazards of working in a daycare. All in all, she thought it was worth it. She got to bring McKenzie with her, and once she was finally able to move back into her house, she would be able to feed the two of them and pay rent and buy diapers. She wouldn”t be struggling so hard. And that was saying something, to be able to make enough to live on without a college degree.
Not only that, but Janine was the best boss ever. Earlier today, she had taken Delilah aside to show her something. Delilah had felt her eyes grow big in amazement as Janine had lifted up her sleeve and shown her a tiny flower tattoo just above her wrist.
”What can I say? You inspired me,” Janine had said with a laugh.
“Are you going to get sleeves now?” Delilah had joked.
”H-E-double-hockey-sticks, no,” Janine had said. ”This little taste was about all the pain I could handle. You are one tough mother.”
Once all the kids were outside, Delilah went into the bathroom to wash her face more thoroughly. McKenzie squinched up her face in irritation as Delilah washed her, too.
”We don”t want to get sick, little bug,” Delilah said. ”Got to stay healthy so we can keep on working, fighting the good fight.”
She was sure it would be fine now. Positive thinking had kept her healthy for this long, even after last week’s vomit incident, so she was more than a match for Evan”s germs.
After work, McKenzie wasn”t fussing too much in her car seat, so Delilah decided to take a little detour past their house. She didn”t know why, maybe just to reassure herself that it was still standing. She had been feeling too comfortable at Ben”s house and she knew that dream couldn”t last. She and Ben hadn”t spoken about her house being “unsafe” since last Friday. Delilah didn”t want to fight, so she didn”t bring it up. If he was happy to cook for her and watch McKenzie while she showered, well, it seemed kind of crazy to complain. But one of these days, he was going to get fed up with them, and she needed to know she had a place to come back to.
She pulled into her driveway and parked. Yep, the house was still here. Maybe she should just go in and grab her dirty laundry, take it to Ben”s house to wash. She opened her door to get out of the car, but movement just at the side of the house made her stop. It was an animal. A wolf.
Her heart thudded frantically in her chest.
No sooner had she seen it, then it bolted away. A wolf? This close to town? She wondered if it had a disease, rabies or something. She closed her car door again and locked it.
Interesting how Ben kept telling her that her house was unsafe, and the first thing she saw when she came back to the place was a predatory animal.
She squeezed the steering wheel to keep her hands from shaking too hard, then pulled back out of the driveway and drove to Ben”s.