A Missed Opportunity

11

Elaina giggles at him. "Mamá me dijo que lo hiciera." She murmurs sweetly. Aaliyah's jaw drops at what she says though. She probably tattled.

Alex sends a narrowed eyed look Aaliyah's away. She hums and looks off to the side innocently. "Hey, she's gettin' good." I chuckle as I walk further into the room.

Alex sighs, still forced to lay on the ground. "She's learning beside English." He reasons with a shrug.

"Yeah," I absently acknowledge. "Still a little upsetting that a toddler knows so much more than me—A grown man."

"It's not that hard of a task to know more than you." Aaliyah murmurs. I roll my eyes with a smile as I walk over to drop down on the couch beside her.

Elaina jumps up from the floor as soon as I sit down. Alex takes his chance to sit up before she comes back. "Doctor!" She beams at me as she hurries over with her stick. I guess that means it's a needle.

I recoil a little. "Yeah...I don't know if I need any shots, kiddo." I nervously smile. For sure not as much as her dad needed. Even though I don't want to be poked, I lean down to scoop her up and set her down on my lap. She starts poking at my arm with her stick. "Doctor, your needle looks a lot like a stick from the bush outside." I skeptically point out.

She pokes my chin in response. "Shh," She dismisses.

"Dinner!"

"Ooh! Saved by the bell." I grin and grab her tighter while I stand up. Elaina giggles when I swing her around a little more than I need to. I get dirty looks from both parents though, so I end up having to stop that game pretty quick.

"Take her to wash her hands." Aaliyah orders, leaving me with that job while everyone else gets to go to the table. I sigh as I make that detour down the hall towards the bathroom. Elaina waves her stick around in the meantime.

It's a battle to get her to put it down so we can wash her hands but ultimately, I end up with a little stick in my pocket and a pouting toddler in my arms. She, luckily, holds her palms out though when I tell her she needs to have clean hands to be a doctor. She looks like she might want to cry when we're done drying our hands and I still don't hand her the stick back. She watches me expectantly while I guide her to the dining room.

By the time we get there, her lip is wobbling because she's realizing I'm not giving it back for dinner. I try to get her to her seat beside Aaliyah at the table, but she stops on Alex's side of the table and looks up at him with her wobbling lip. He looks back at her. "What?" He coaxes gently.

She sniffles as she points to me. Alex's eyes narrow as they dart to me to watch me make my way to the chair at the end of the table. Mom likes to sit beside the baby, so lately I get to be the one at the end of the table across from my dad.

"The stick." I shrug.

Alex sighs. "You can have it after dinner. Go sit." He nods over to Aaliyah.

"Come on." Aaliyah beckons on a hum. "Grandpa made you your potatoes." She adds with a smile. Elaina is quick to go over to her spot at the sound of that. For whatever reason, the kid is obsessed with potatoes. I don't get it.

"Well." Mom smiles and looks around the table. "It's been a while since we got together. Isn't this nice?"

I pick my fork up and stab absently at my potatoes. "You say that every time." I inform diligently.

"Noah." She warns me under her breath. I hum in response, eyes trained on my plate. She sighs deeply and starts again. "What's everyone been up to lately?" She moves on. "Anything new?"