Chapter 6 #2
“Do you remember anything about how it was worded?”
“It was a little off,” she began, with a nod, “but communication with them is often stilted. It’s more than just stilted,” she corrected herself, frowning.
“It’s … Think about a stranger you’re dealing with in an office a long distance away—someone who you really don’t give a shit about, and you hope that they’ve already been fired.
You send off a couple emails, you never hear back, and you’re just like, Good, that’s done.
That’s kind of the way Ricky’s parents have interacted with us. ”
Trent didn’t say anything for a long moment.
She was still pondering this whole conversation when a head popped around the corner.
Ricky, still sleepy, his hair tousled, stepped into the kitchen. He saw Trent, and his smile beamed. “You’re still here.”
Trent walked over and gave Ricky a hug. Then the little boy slid into Naomi’s lap and cuddled close to her. She held him naturally, realizing that, from the look on Trent’s face, he wasn’t expecting the physical closeness between the two of them.
Thankfully he didn’t say anything, but she knew he would mention it later. The trouble was, what were you supposed to do when a child was looking for comfort and hugs? You gave it to them. Of course you did because to do anything other than that would make you an absolutely horrible person.
It wasn’t Ricky’s fault that this case had taken the turn it had. If Ricky needed a little more comforting hugs, he was more than welcome to them. Hell, he wasn’t the only one who could use a little comfort. It was not an easy scenario that they would forget anytime soon.
When Ricky was settled, he twisted to look back up at her, and she smiled at him. “I know. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
He nodded. “Can we stay here today?” he asked, his tone anxious.
“I have to get a phone, and you need a new phone too, remember?”
“Right,” he muttered, still sounding a bit sleepy.
“We were supposed to do that yesterday, but we couldn’t because we had to wait for the transfer,” she explained. “So, hopefully we’ll run out first thing this morning, and then we’ll come right back to get to the rest of the things that we need to sort out.”
“But we should be able to do that from here.” He looked over for confirmation from Trent, who immediately nodded.
Trent confirmed, “The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back.”
“Then the sooner I eat, the sooner we can leave,” Ricky clarified, his logic having absolutely no limitations and always included provisions to ensure a meal was tucked into the equation.
She laughed. “Then get up and let me get you something to eat.”
He jumped down and announced, “I want eggs.”
“Eggs it is.” She looked over at Trent.
He nodded. “If you’re making eggs, I would love to have some, thank you.”
Smiling at his formal response, she left the two to talk, as she fried some eggs and made toast for everybody. When they finished their breakfast, Ricky turned to her and stated, “You need clothes too.”
“I do,” she declared, “and maybe another teddy bear for you.” Ricky smiled at her in delight, and she nodded. “I know that you lost one.”
He frowned. “It’s a good thing I didn’t take Rambo with me.”
“Rambo?” Trent asked. “Who’s that?”
Naomi laughed. “That’s his favorite teddy bear, but he left it here because it’s his favorite, just on the off chance that something would happen to it, and he didn’t want that. So, he took his second favorite, and we ended up losing him.”
Trent nodded. “Ah, well, in that case, we absolutely need to take care of that,” he murmured.
“Now, what else do we need to do?” With a pen and pad, they quickly made a list of the things that she needed to replace—some clothing for both of them, their phones, Ricky’s iPad—plus a couple new books that he wanted.
Trent was surprised when he realized that the books were on algebra. He lifted his gaze, staring at her in surprise.
She gave him a broad smile. “We are doing fifth-year algebra,” she proudly explained, smiling at Ricky while they worked on a few other things that he wanted, not replacements but part of his wish list. She didn’t have a problem with him getting any of it.
How could you argue with a child who wanted another textbook?
When she finished the list, she added, “Now, go get dressed, and then we’ll head out. ”
Ricky laughed. “You have to get dressed too.”
She smiled. “I bet I can beat you.”
“Bet you can’t,” he squealed, and he took off racing.
As she walked past Trent, he grabbed her hand and asked, “Is he serious about a book on trigonometry instead of fiction?”
She had to laugh at Trent’s confusion. “Ricky’s genius material, which is one of the reasons why I have been hired to look after him.
You know, a two-for-one deal. Hire a nanny and get a tutor as well.
The trouble is, I don’t think they have a clue that he’s got the IQ that he does, and I don’t think that they necessarily care. ”
“Good God,” Trent muttered. “At that age, I was probably still playing with building blocks and cars.”
She chuckled. “Most kids are, and Ricky does too sometimes, but he’s definitely special, definitely gifted,” she declared, “and I’m trying to foster his interests as much as I can.”
“Of course,” Trent murmured. “It’s pretty fascinating to see the way his mind works. He’s such a young child, and yet he’s so very mature.”
“Welcome to the age of kids. Ten steps forward one day, and twenty-seven steps back the next,” she teased, chuckling as she walked to the doorway of her bedroom.
“And, yes, I know,” she added, turning to him.
“It’s one of the reasons a lot of people tell me that, instead of being a nanny, I should just be having my own kids.
But then look what I would miss out on.”
And, with that, she headed to her room to get dressed.
*
Trent kept an eye on Ricky throughout the morning of shopping.
He showed typical young-child behavior when it came to buying clothes and having lunch because he didn’t like the food choices in the mall, and he wanted to go elsewhere.
But Naomi was firm with him, explaining that they didn’t have time because they still had other places to go.
She stuck to her guns, pointing out that he could eat some things here, even if not his favorite.
By the time they finished this tussle, Trent could see that Ricky was a completely normal child.
Then they walked into the bookstore, and the boy headed straight for the textbooks.
When Trent held up one on planes, Ricky looked at it and scrunched up his nose. “I read that, like, ages ago. Now that aviation research one would be cool.”
Not even knowing what he was talking about, Trent looked for the one in question. Ricky pointed it out, grabbing it, and got so excited about it.