10. Tristan
CHAPTER 10
TRISTAN
T ristan woke the next morning to his alarm. He crept downstairs, moving quietly so as not to wake Ria or the kids, and headed straight to his home gym. There, he spent half an hour on the treadmill. Ria had a point when she’d said that treadmills weren’t as interesting as running outside, but Tristan liked the lack of distractions. He was able to concentrate on his own thoughts instead of the outside world.
Usually, that meant thoughts about his company, but today, it meant thoughts about Ria. The conversation he’d had with her in the kitchen last night had been surprisingly impactful. He remembered the flicker of sympathy in her eyes as he’d told her about his parents and his sister. He never told anyone about his parents, much less his sister. Yet something about Ria had inspired him to open up.
Tristan would have to be careful. Ria was gorgeous, insightful, and clever, all of which were very attractive qualities. Whether she was dressed up nicely or dancing around the kitchen in her pajamas, she was equally lovely.
She was also his children’s nanny. Tristan couldn’t let himself feel anything resembling attraction to her.
For as long as she stayed in his home, he would need to be careful. He couldn’t let himself spend too much time with Ria. He’d need to keep his distance and focus on work.
Agreeing to take the triplets to the park with her this morning probably wasn’t a step in the right direction, but it was too late to back out now.
His gym session over, Tristan stopped by the kitchen for his usual morning beverage. Ria was already there, setting out cereal and milk and slicing strawberries. She smiled at Tristan when he came in.
“Morning.”
“Good morning.” Tristan made a beeline for the cupboard. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, quite.” Ria popped a strawberry into her mouth. “Are you excited for the park today?”
Tristan held in a sigh. He wasn’t excited, not at all. As if spending more time with the beautiful Ria wasn’t bad enough, he’d also be with the unruly kids in a public place. It was hard enough to keep them corralled in the privacy of his own home. It would be nearly impossible to keep track of them all at an open park.
“It should be fun,” Tristan said. Ria chuckled.
“I don’t think you mean that, but you’re probably right. It will be fun. You’ll see.”
“Yes, we’ll see.” Tristan poured water into his glass.
“Would you like to join us for breakfast?” Ria asked. “I’ll get the kids up in a minute.”
“No, I’m still fasting.”
“Hmm. Right. You know, strawberries are very healthy. They’re full of antioxidants and vitamins and stuff.” Ria grinned. “You could at least sit at the table and eat a few strawberries.”
Tristan leaned over, plucked a strawberry off her cutting board, and popped it whole into his mouth.
“Happy now?” he asked. He left the kitchen, drink in hand, to the sound of Ria’s soft laughter behind him. He hadn’t meant to make her laugh. The sound was lovely, though.
Tristan stepped into the shower, where he quickly rinsed off. As usual, he ended with a burst of cold water. Then he dressed and hesitated inside his room. Outside, he could hear the kids chattering and laughing as they galumphed down the stairs. Part of him was tempted to join them, but he decided against it. It was better to get a little work done before the ill-fated park trip.
An hour or so later, Tristan was in his home office, working, when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he called. He turned in his swivel chair as Ria stepped through the doors, Jamie balanced on her hip.
“Hewo,” Jamie said, waving his small hand at Tristan.
“Ready to go?” Ria asked.
“Work is piling up, and?—”
“Okay, see you by the door in five.” Ria grinned and disappeared before Tristan could protest.
He sighed, but he closed his laptop and got up. It seemed there was no getting out of this trip. Once Ria set her mind on something, she was clearly used to getting it.
Tristan emerged into the entryway just as Ria was helping the triplets put their shoes on.
“Bwue shoe,” Jasmine was saying, kicking her left foot. “Bwue shoe.”
“Honey, you have a red shoe on your right foot,” Ria explained. She was sitting on the floor in front of the triplets, who were perched in a line on the hallway bench. The boys already had both shoes on. “So, you should also have a red shoe on your left foot.”
“Pwease.” Jasmine made a puppy-dog face. “Wed shoe, bwue shoe.” Her eyes lit up. “One shoe, two shoe, wed shoe, bwue shoe!”
“All right, if you can quote Dr. Seuss so nicely, you can have two different-colored shoes.” Ria winked at the little girl, who beamed. “After all, I suppose they’re the exact same shoe, just in different colors…” She helped Jasmine slide a blue shoe onto her left foot. Then, one by one, she lifted each of the triplets off the bench and set them on their feet. When she turned to get their jackets, she spotted Tristan by the door, and her green eyes sparkled.
“Tristan, you’re just in time.”
“I suppose I am.” Tristan went to get his own shoes as Ria laid three small jackets on the ground. He watched, impressed, as the triplets put their arms in the jacket sleeves and put them on all by themselves. “How long have they been able to do that?”
“We started working on it when I got here. Being able to get dressed by themselves is a great way for toddlers to learn independence and self-confidence.” Ria turned to the kids. “Great job, guys. Oh, Jamie, let me help you with that sleeve…”
A few minutes later, everyone’s clothes were straightened out and they headed outside. Tristan braced himself for the kids to dash off in different directions, but they all followed along the sidewalk like a brood of ducklings. After a block or so, Jamie wanted to stop and admire a pile of stones beside the sidewalk, so their procession halted.
“Where’s the park?” Tristan asked.
“It’s close; a few blocks that way.” Ria pointed. “But it might take us a while to get there.”
“Skuls at da park?” Jasmine asked. Tristan blinked. Her language skills seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.
“Probably,” Ria said. “We saw a few squirrels last time, remember?”
Jamie’s eyes lit up and he hurried back to the group, the stones forgotten. “Skuls?” He fell into conversation with his brother and sister in their special half-English, half-babble language. The walk continued.
“Isn’t it cool that they can talk to each other like that?” Ria asked.
“It’s cool, but a little disconcerting. Do you think they’ll always have a special language?”
“They’ll probably grow out of it, but I imagine they’ll always have a close bond. It’s clear that they love each other very much.”
“Yeah. I tried to put them all in separate bedrooms when they arrived — or at least have the boys in one and Jasmine in another. But they wouldn’t hear of it. They would just sneak back into each other’s rooms in the night or cry and cry.”
“That’s sweet.” Ria smiled at the kids, who had now squatted down to examine a blade of grass growing through a crack in the sidewalk. “Do multiples run in your family?”
“No, not that I know of. I’d never met triplets, or even twins, before I met them.”
“Me neither.” Ria gently urged the kids to keep walking. “It’s cool to watch them, though, isn’t it?”
“It is.” And Tristan meant it. Even once they arrived at the park, it was nowhere near the chaotic mayhem he’d expected the outing to be. The triplets ran around on a small playground built for kids their age. Jamie soon collected a gaggle of other young kids to play in the sandpit with him. Jasmine joined in, while Jacob played with a series of moving animal pictures on the side of the play structure. Ria and Tristan sat on a bench where they could keep an eye on all the kids.
“Jamie is quite a little leader, isn’t he?” Tristan asked. At the moment, little Jamie appeared to be solving a dispute between two little girls over one of the sand toys.
“He is. You can see Jasmine and Jacob listen to him. And Jacob is definitely the most introspective of the three.”
“It seems strange to call a toddler introspective, but I think you’re right. And Jasmine is very chatty.”
“And caring. You should see her taking care of her princess doll.”
“Honestly, this whole time, I’ve been so caught up in trying to make sure they were all fed and clean that I don’t think I really saw their personalities.” Tristan paused, watching Jacob line up a tiger picture. “This was a good idea.”
“All my ideas are good.” Ria winked.
“I don’t want to mention the vase, but…” Tristan grinned, and Ria whacked him lightly on the arm, her eyes sparkling.
“I think we officially have to retire mentions of the vase. Honestly, it was ugly anyway.”
Tristan was so surprised that he let out a short laugh. “I suppose you’re right. It was a bit ugly.”
“Why did you have it, then?”
“I don’t know. Everyone was talking about how artistic it was, and I suppose I got caught up in the moment.”
“I can’t even imagine what that’s like. I don’t have anything in my house that I don’t love.”
“Really? Nothing?” Tristan couldn’t believe that. “What about your dishwasher or your vacuum?”
“I don’t have a dishwasher. I do have a vacuum, but obviously I love it. It helps me keep my house clean, and its much less work than sweeping. You don’t know the joys of vacuuming until you’ve cleaned a carpet that had glitter on it.”
Tristan wasn’t sure he’d ever used a vacuum in his life, but he decided not to mention that. Ria was clearly judging him enough because of the ugly vase.
Just then, Jacob began to wail. Ria was on her feet in an instant. She hurried to him and knelt down in the sand, patting his back. A few moments later, she handed him a cracker, and his wailing died down. Soon, he was playing with his animal pictures again, his half-eaten cracker clutched in his fist. He looked as happy as a clam.
Ria came back to the bench and sat down beside Tristan.
“How did you do that?” Tristan asked. “If that had happened and I’d been here alone, it would have ruined the afternoon.”
“Surely not. He was just hungry.” Ria leaned back, tilting her face up to catch a ray of sunshine.
“No, really, you have some kind of superpower or magic. It’s like I said before.”
“Yes, I’m Ria, the toddler whisperer.” Her tone was joking, but Tristan wasn’t kidding.
“Really. How did you get to be so good with kids? Was it all trial and error from nannying?”
“There was trial and error, but it wasn’t about the nannying. I told you before that I have four younger siblings, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, my dad passed away just after my youngest sister was born. My mom handled everything the best she could. She worked a bunch of jobs to take care of us, and she always made sure we had everything we needed — good food and warm clothes and school supplies every September. But that meant that she was away. A lot.”
Tristan nodded slowly. He had some idea of where this was going.
“I became like a second mom to my younger siblings. I practically raised my littlest sister, Nora, from babyhood. She still calls me first whenever she needs advice. That’s why I became a nanny, too — my siblings needed help paying for extracurriculars and college and everything, so I stepped up.”
Ria told the story in a bright, cheerful way, but Tristan’s heart ached for her. “That must have been so difficult for you, though. How old were you when your dad died?”
“I was ten.” Ria smiled. “It was hard, losing him, but he’d always been busy working, too. To be honest, my closest connection is with my siblings, not either of my parents.”
Tristan whistled. “So, at ten years old, you were already caring for younger kids.”
“Yeah.” Ria’s lips lifted in a half smile. “It wasn’t always easy, but my littlest sister is in college now. I promised myself that I would help all my siblings through college, if they wanted to go, and that I’d always be there for them. That’s what I’ve done.”
“That’s amazing. Truly.”
Ria shrugged. “In this life, I think we all step up to do the things we need to. I became a caregiver to my little siblings. You became a father to the triplets. You never know what hand you’ll be dealt — you just have to make the best of it.”
Tristan nodded. “I like that.”
“I know.” Ria leaned back again, tilting her face to the sun and flicking her eyelids closed. “Like I said, all my ideas are good.”
Tristan chuckled. “And you’re so humble.”
“I know. That’s my real superpower.”
“What are your siblings like?” Tristan asked. He didn’t want to stop talking to Ria, not yet.
“Let’s see. There’s Ryan. He’s twenty-seven now, and he got married this year to his college sweetheart. He works in an auto-repair shop. Then there’s Thomas, who’s twenty-four. He graduated college a few years ago, and he’s working as an engineer. Then there’s Ellie, who’s twenty-two. She’s just graduated and got her first job as a nurse in an emergency room. And finally, we have Nora, the baby. She’s just nineteen and in her sophomore year of college. She’s studying to become a lawyer.”
“Wow. Everyone’s so accomplished.” Tristan hesitated. “I hope I’m not putting my foot in my mouth, but you said you wanted to help all your siblings through college. Did you never want to go to college yourself? The résumé Oh Pear! sent said you weren’t a graduate.”
Ria smiled, her eyes still closed. “I went to college, actually, for two years. I was studying education. But Thomas broke his leg playing football, and the medical bills were too high for our mom to pay on her own. So, I dropped out and got my first nannying job.”
Tristan’s heart went out to her. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I was studying education because I love kids. Now, I get to be around kids every day.” Her eyes opened as she gestured to the triplets on the playground.
“Let me guess — having to leave college was just part of the hand you were dealt.” Tristan was starting to understand that Ria was the kind of person who didn’t just make lemonade out of lemons — she would happily bite into a lemon and try to appreciate the sourness.
“You got it.” Ria winked.
They chatted for a few more minutes, mostly about Ria’s siblings, before the kids started to get tired. Ria led the way home, where she handed out carrot sticks and juice to each of the kids.
“No wike cawots,” Jasmine said darkly when Ria set the plate in front of her.
“Honey, I saw you eat carrots yesterday.” Ria smiled at the little girl. “How about you try one? If you still don’t like it, I’ll get you something else.”
Jasmine pushed the plate away as tears filled her eyes. “No wike cawots! Want owange.”
“How about we make a deal? I’ll peel you an orange if you also try a bite of carrot.”
Jasmine began to cry. Moments later, Jamie and Jacob joined in. Apparently, all three triplets were on strike from carrots. Ria turned and gave Tristan a wry smile.
“It looks like we need an alternate snack choice. Do you want to help me calm everyone down?”
But Tristan found himself backing away. Ria was the expert when it came to the kids. Why should he try to help, when he’d probably just make everything worse?
“I have a little work to do,” he muttered — and he fled. He knew he should have stayed and tried to help, but he worried he’d just make the kids cry more. Ria could calm them down in a few minutes. He knew that.
Tristan spent the rest of the afternoon working. He half-hoped Ria might knock on the door and invite him to join her and the triplets for something else, but she never came. Instead, hours blurred together as he focused on the thing he was really good at — his work.