© rainthereader 2012 All Rights Reserved
Chapter 2
Lucas
"Uncle Luc, you’re here! Emilia and I are about to have tea! Join us!" Elizabeth eagerly pealed. My six-year-old niece jumped excitedly, pulling the sleeve of my shirt and trying her best to drag me from her bedroom door to a small table set with little plates, cups and bites of cookies. I stood in front of her little party and amusingly watched her as she grabbed a porcelain doll on her fluffy bed and placed it on a small, yellow chair. She patted its dark head and sat beside it soon after.
Kneeling across my older sister's daughter so I wouldn’t break her delicate seats, I asked her innocently, "What do we have here, Lizzie? Do you have my favorite scones ready?"
Observing that she placed the little treat that I brought her yesterday over the pink plates on the table, her face suddenly appeared crestfallen. "Oh... No scones, Uncle Luc. Just chocolate chip cookies...and tea. I'm sorry.”
"But I bet these cookies are good, huh?" I actively asked her so she would cheer up. Her face lifted when I popped a whole cookie in my mouth, "Mmm... it's delicious," I chewed.
Her eyes lit up. "Really? Here, have a sip this time," and she handed me a flowery, plastic teacup.
It was empty. "Uh, I think you gave me Emilia’s. See?" I turned the cup upside-down.
She smiled. "Oh, that's yours alright. You have to pretend that there's tea, though. Mom says I'm not allowed to drink it yet. I'm only six," she showed me five of her fingers and a pinkie on her other hand. I couldn’t help but laugh. She was loaded with cuteness.
I pretended to drink and patted my stomach to appear full. "You host a great tea party. Thanks, sweetie."
"Don't forget to thank Emilia, too."
Shaking the doll’s hands and thanking it, I told them both how their tea party rocked.
After kissing Lizzie’s forehead, I left the room and headed downstairs to go the study when I ran into Shannon across the hall. Her hair was secured by a pencil, and on her arms were a bundle of papers and a laptop. I kissed her cheek and followed her all-business form to the living room.
She placed the items on the coffee table in front of her, wiped her forehead and sat on the couch.
"You seem busy, Shan. What's up?" By flipping the papers, I gathered they were a bunch of applications.
Her laptop flicked to life and she spoke. "Yeah. I'll be interviewing prospective nannies today. Y’know, for my trip to London for the convention. I need someone to look after Lizzie 24/7 for two weeks while I'm gone. It's better than having occasional babysitters at home."
"But I thought you asked me to stay here? I can take care of her. I could just bring her with me to the office whenever I'm needed there. And home is just ten houses down. It won't be hard," I reasoned, trying to convince her.
Shannon sighed while typing on the keyboard. "I know you're the greatest uncle, Lucas. But I figured we wouldn't want to get in your way while you're working. And besides, Lizzie needs to prepare for the start of school, too. There’s bound to be kindergarten homework, or class trips. And—there's the girl stuff like bathing, dressing up, doing pigtails…the braids. Can you see yourself doing that?" She stopped typing and looked at me with her eyebrows raised. I couldn’t answer, and she moved her fingers again. “I thought so.”
She had a point there.
Patting my cheek twice, she continued to enlighten me. "Don't worry about it Luc. That was my original plan before you decided to move here. And besides, with a nanny at home you can have a nice, hot meal every time. I made it a point to include 'Knows How to Cook' in my requisites," she lifted her hands, making air quotations.
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Romance"Cay, will you look at me?" I turned around and lifted my eyes to look into his. His arms were braced on the counter and he was looking at me sideways. The glow of the light coming from the living room and into the kitchen gave his face an otherwo...
