Hammered

Chapter 23

   Demi never spoke about her distant family members like her cousins and uncles but she loved to talk about her niece. She talked about how adorable she is when she sleeps, how she enjoys making her laugh. I had the honor of meeting the little cutie one day and we had a long conversation about my relationship with Demi. "Do you kiss?" She would ask with a half dressed Barbie doll in her hand.

"Yeah, we kiss sometimes."

"Do you buy her things?"

"Yeah, I buy her things. A lot of things." I replied. "One time I bought her a cookie dough ice cream bar."

"No! I mean something nice. Like a neck... Necklace." She stuttered. I smiled and looked at Demi, who's face was beaming from her niece's cuteness.

   After a while, little Erica's mother comes inside and asks to speak with Demi. I wait and wait and play with Erica for a while. When Demi entered the room, she found me throwing Erica into the air and catching her. Demi smiled and looked at me. "What is it babe?" I ask.

"We're going to take care of Erica while her mother is gone. She has a business trip to go to." I look at Erica who seems happy and I didn't mind taking care of Erica but I wasn't exactly sure what to do with her. I put get down and ask, "How many days?"

"Two months. Why should it matter? We get to take care of my little niece." I smiled and patted her head. We get all the instructions we need to take care of Erica. The list was formatted in a very precise way. This woman knew what she was doing.

   We get home and send Erica to bed. I see Demi looking over the list again. "Let me take a look at that." She hands me the paper and I read it aloud."

1. Things Erica is Allergic To:

     A. Peanuts

     B. Dust

     C. Cats

     D. Bees

2. Daily Vegetables Should Include:

      A. Broccoli

      B. Carrots

      C. Asparagus

3. School Activities:

       A. Art Class

       B. Volunteering

4. Television:

        A. No More Than 2 Hours

        B. PG 13 Movies & Shows

5. Make Sure All HW Is Completed

     I looked at how long the list was and it kept going; everything from the hours of sleep to what she does after school. "Well, what do you think?" She asks.

"What do I think? I think your sister is crazy and I think she is down right evil for feeding asparagus to her daughter." Demi laughs and kisses my lips. I kiss her back and grip her butt. She pulls away and whispers, "You do know what this means, right?" I look at her confused and shake my head.

"Ryan, we can't have sex with Erica around. It's just not right."

"Okay we need to take her back to her mom. What's the address again?"

"Ryan, I'm being serious. We have to be professional about this okay? Like she was our own child and we wouldn't want her to listen to.... You know." I sigh and nod. I plop my body on the couch and turn the TV on. Erica, Erica, Erica. Look at what you did