An Unlikely Duo

Chapter 7: Charlotte Moments

Jake's P.O.V.

"Jake! Jake! Jake!" I looked out my car window Wednesday morning to see Charlotte sprinting toward my car. Her oversized backpack, which was practically empty, but she insisted on carrying, was falling off her shoulders. I hopped out of my car and walked around to crouch down in front of her. She tackled me in a bear hug and I almost fell over.

"Morning Charlotte. How is my favorite girl this morning?" I couldn't help but smile like an idiot. Charlotte was always so happy and her energy was contagious.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what?" She was jumping up and down. I looked up and saw Kayla come out of the house and lock her front door. She was talking to someone on the phone and she did not look happy. She was waving her hands around and her scowl was so deep I was worried it would become permanently etched into her forehead.

"Jaakkkeeee. Are you listening?" Charlotte grabbed both sides of my face with her tiny little hands and turned my head to face her.

"What what what?" I turned my attention back to Charlotte.

"I get to go to work with Kayla tonight because mommy's not home! I get to be her assistant waitress" Charlotte tried her best "professional voice" and struck a pose to make it look like she was holding a notepad and writing something down. I laughed, but started to wonder why Kayla was taking her to work, that had never happened before.

"I don't have a choice. I'm doing the best I can here, but if you can't switch my shift she's going to have to come with. Of course she won't get in the way. I've been working with you for years, you know I'll figure something out. Fine I'll see you tonight" Kayla hung up the phone and scowled.

"Everything okay?" I asked cautiously as we climbed in my truck and headed to the Y to drop Charlotte off.

"Yes everything's fine. Someone quit last night and now my boss is scrambling to fill his shifts and he's making me work tonight when I've always said I can't do Wednesday nights because my mom always works late on Wednesdays. She can't take off tonight because she's at a meeting downtown. Luckily she's going to drop her car back here later and drive with a colleague so at least I won't have to worry about having Charlotte on the bus late at night."  She was fidgeting with Charlotte's seatbelt and backpack as she ranted, as if fixing that could fix everything else going on.

"I can watch Charlotte for you tonight. We'll have fun won't we Charlotte" I offered. Charlotte's face lit up and she started bouncing up and down in excitement. She made puppy dog eyes at Kayla. Good thing Charlotte wasn't my sister because there was no way I could ever say no to that face.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm sure the last thing you want to do is watch a little kid all night. I can handle it. Charlotte I promise it'll be fun. You can bring your American Girl Dolls and play in the super-secret back room" Kayla insisted.

Just because she can handle it doesn't mean she should have to. I didn't say that out loud because it would only make the situation worse. I swear sometimes it seemed like she didn't trust me. Her whole control thing was getting a little out of hand. I could handle babysitting Charlotte for one night. Kids love me, I'm basically a big kid myself. I just had to figure out how to get Kayla to realize losing control and relying on someone for once isn't the end of the world.

***

Kayla's P.O.V.

It was almost seven and I still had two hours to go in my shift. After practice, while Charlotte was still at Day Camp, I worked the lunch shift, picked her up, then came back for the dinner shift. Charlotte was playing in the back room, but every time I walked past the window or went to check on her she gave me her sweet and innocent face with a side of puppy dog eyes and I couldn't help but feel guilty. I should have let Jake take care of her, but part of me couldn't let go. I had a hard time letting other people watch her. What if she started to rely on them too much and then they left and let her down? I wanted to protect her from that for as long as possible.