"She doesn't like carrots, or oranges, or anything orange really. Her favourite cereal is really soggy cornflakes, just do ham sandwiches with no crusts for lunch and milk makes her gassy so try avoid it except for with her cornflakes. She's toilet trained, but will need help so if you hear her say anything that sounds remotely like toilet take her. Am I forgetting anything? Bedtime is at seven, and--"
"Rian," I chuckled, "I know, I have it all under control. Don't I Effy?" I tickled Effys tummy as she sat happily on my hip and she giggled, nodding her head as she bounced up and down.
"Daddy!" she squealed, reaching out for Rian and waving her arm around. Rian grasped her little hand in his and smiled. He bent down to her level and tapped her on the nose.
"Be good for Aunty Andie," he smiled and she nodded, her eyes wide with glee. "Daddy will see you after kindy on Monday okay?"
"Yep, yep, yep!" she yelled, wriggling around and my grip tightened around her small body.
Rian stood back up and sent me a grateful smile, "thank you so much for doing this. It means the world to me."
"Anything for you Rian. Effy and I are going to have lots of fun this weekend aren't we?" I looked down at Effy and she nodded. "Text me if you need anything at all through the weekend," I stated, "and I'll send a Postmates right to you."
"And you let me know if this munchkin plays up," Rian ruffled Effys hair and she bounced upwards and tried to reach for his. "Thanks again, I don't know what I'd do without you." He checked his watch and let out a solemn sigh, "I ought to go."
He turned towards the door and pulled it open, waving back at Effy before leaving and shutting the door behind him. I looked down at Effy who was clinging onto my hair, her big brown eyes blinking right back at me, "I'm hunny!"
She patted her tummy and I walked with her on my hip into the kitchen. I slid her into the high chair Rian had brought around and she jumped up and down with her arms in the air, "out! Out! Out!"
"Effy, I thought you were hungry, if you want food you'll have to sit patiently in your chair and wait for it."
Effy pouted, "toy?"
I nodded and left her in the seat as I wandered into the lounge and picked up the bag of toys. I grabbed a few in my arms and headed back into the kitchen and dropped them onto the tray of the high chair.
"What do you want for dinner Effy?" I asked, leaning against the bench and contently watch her play with two dolls, one in each hand. She was by far the cutest three year old I'd ever seen, not that I'd seen many. She was identical to Lily, who was supermodel material herself. Like her mother Effy had big brown eyes, long lashes, a cute wee button nose, full lips and a head of wavy taupe hair. She had Rians face shape though, square jaw, but her baby fat made the sharpness barely noticeable.
"Chocerate cake!"
"Silly billy," I placed my hands on my hips and shook my head, "you can't possibly have chocolate cake for dinner! That's a special treat."
Effy dropped one of her dolls and patted the side of her face, "I fink, I fink... Spag booger!"
"Spag booger?" I raised my eyebrows.
"Noodies and sauce!" she squealed, jumping up and down again. How could one child be so energetic? Her constant movement was making me anxious, I was terrified I'd turn my back and she'd have jumped her way onto the floor. But I couldn't let her out because the house wasn't baby proof and I didn't want her waddling around getting up to mischief when I couldn't see her.
"Ah, spaghetti bolognese," I laughed, toddlers really had their own language. I headed to the pantry and pulled the door open and grabbed out the spaghetti noodles. It was only four but by the time I finished cooking and she'd finish eating it would be her bath and bedtime. I chucked the noodles into a pot and added water and turned on the stovetop.
"Kitty! Kitty!"
Albany entered the kitchen and stared up at Effy with confusion. He meowed at her and she meowed back before erupting into giggles, "Andie, can I hug kitty?"
I nodded and walked over to the two, Albany looked over at me and I bent down to stroke him before picking him up in my arms, "Effy this is Albany, be careful with him." I put him down on top of the high chair tray and he swiped at the toys before smooching up against Effy causing her to laugh even more. She put her hands on to his back and waved them through his fur and he purred lightly.
"I like Alanie! My kitty now!"
Albany walked in small circles before laying down and spreading himself across the whole tray, whilst Effy continued to play with is fur, "hello Alanie! I'm Stefnie! You're my kitty now!"
I chuckled to myself before turning my attention back to dinner, occasionally glancing over my shoulder to check on the giggling toddler. I couldn't wait to have a child of my own, one day. Stirring the pot of pasta sauce I stared out the window into our backyard, reliving my childhood memories as I used to run around in the garden in diapers, grass stains covering every inch of me. In the hottest part of summer a paddling pool was erected and I'd spend hours splashing around with the neighbours kids and in the coldest part of winter Dad and I would build snowmen as Mum watched through the window as she stirred a large pot of soup. Our backyard was my favourite place as a child, and even now I still loved looking out at it. With spring at its peak all the flowers were bloomed in a bright rainbow of colours, and the tree at the far left of the yard was lush with forest green leaves. It was a sight I could look at over and over.
"No," Effy wailed, and I snapped my head around to look at her, worried she'd hurt herself. Thankfully, she was only upset due to Albany getting up and hopping off her high chair tray. "Alanie come back!" She looked over at me and noticed my gaze before reaching towards me and wiggling her fingers around, "Andie, Andie, bring Alanie back!"
"Albany probably wants to go for a walk," I smiled, "and that's okay because dinner is nearly ready so he needed to get off your little table anyway."
Effys little mouth formed an 'o' before she nodded enthusiastically. "Noodies and sauce, noodies and sauce, noodies and sauce!" she chanted.
I switched off the elements and grabbed a plate and bowl. I served Effys bowl and let it sit on the bench to cool while I served my own and then grabbed two plastic cups and filled them with orange juice. I placed Effys bowl and cup on her tray and warned her that it would be hot and to be careful, she completely ignored me and picked up her plastic fork and dug it directly into the centre of the food and spun it around. Pasta sauce flew in every direction as she attempted to wrap the spaghetti noodles around her fork and I groaned, knowing that it would be me that had to clean it up later. I nibbled at my own food as I intently watched Effy as she attempted to eat, the majority of her food landing back on her tray or smeared around her face. I laughed at the pasta sauce that was smeared above her eyebrow, curious as to how on Earth it managed to get there. Were toddlers really that unaware of where their mouth was?
It was really quite painful watching the three year old eat over the course of half an hour, I tipped my hat off to all the parents that did this three times daily. The clock in the hallway chimed five as Effy declared she was finished and now wanted chocolate cake for dessert. I ignored her request knowing that we didn't have any chocolate cake lying around the house and picked up her bowl and utensils to put in the dishwasher. I grabbed a paper towel and wiped the sauce from her face with difficultly as she swiped at me because 'it hurt'.
After she was a clean I as could get her I picked her up and she squealed with delight, finally free from the chair she was trapped in for the past hour. I took her into the living room and placed her on the couch, instructing her to stay sitting there and not move. She quite happily obliged when she notice Albany sleeping on the opposite end and took no time to crawl across the cushions and start hugging him. I switched on the television to the kids channel and left her in the care of the Teletubbies as I walked over to the window facing the road. A few cars drove past in the short moments before I closed the curtains and I cringed at the feeling that everyone in those cars were just staring right back at me. I let out a deepbreath and turned back to check on Effy who was still harrassing my cat, luckily Albany was friendly and hadn't tried to scratch at her yet.
As I walked back into the kitchen I heard a thud and I quickly rushed right back into the living room to inspect. Effy was on her feet with her head tilted as she blinked at me. "Andie where you go? I come find you." I remained standing in the doorway as she waddled towards me, arms wide for stability. She clutched onto my leg as she reached me and stared up at me. "Where you go?"
"I went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess," I stated, bending over to ruffle her locks.
"Why's there mess?" she asked, letting go of me and walking around my legs and in the direction of the kitchen as if she wanted to inspect the mess herself.
"Because a little girl called Effy is a very messy eater," I laughed as I followed behind her. She paused in her tracks and turned around with a big grin spread across her face, "hey! That's me! I'm Effy!"
I heard the front door open and shut behind me and Effy ran around me to greet the newcomer. I turned around and smiled at Mum who was too busy kicking off her shoes to notice the approaching toddler.
"Hi I'm Stefnie!" she exclaimed, "nice to meet you!"
Mum bent down to Effys level and held out her hand for a handshake, "hello Stephanie, I'm Margery. I'm Andies mum."
Effy grabbed her hand and shook it, "erryone calls me Effy!" She let go of Mums hand and turned around to face me, "right Andie?"
I nodded and Mum stood back up and smiled at me before peering down at the talkative toddler, "okay Effy." Effy nodded, content, and rushed off into the living room most likely to harrass Albany again.
"How's it going?" Mum asked as we walked towards the kitchen. I glanced into the living room to confirm my suspicions and was in fact right.
"It's been okay," I responded as I headed straight for the sink to grab the dishcloth to start wiping down the splattered surfaces. Mum nodded as she opened the fridge and grabbed out the carton of orange juice.
"Toddlers are a hell of a lot of work," she chuckled, "God I remember when you were that age, it--"
"--felt like only yesterday you were born," I chimed in and we laughed together. Mum sighed as she poured herself a glass of juice and leaned against the counter to watch me as I cleaned.
"Having you was the best part of my life," she smiled, "nothing compares to holding your newborn in your arms. I can't wait for you to experience it Andie, I know you're going to be an amazing mother when the time is right. We've just got to get you out this house and find you a lovely bloke."
I rolled my eyes at my Mum and she chuckled, "things are going to get so much better for you my dear. I can feel it in my heart, the stars are aligning and all that mystical bullshit and things are going to fall into place." She reached over and rested her hand on my shoulder and I paused from my cleaning to focus on her words. "There's nothing more that I want in the world than to see you at your absolute peak of happiness."
"I love you Mum."
"I love my Mum too!"
Mum and I both turned around to see Effy standing in the doorway, struggling as she held Albany tightly in a hug. He was nearly the same size as her and it was quite amusing to look at.
Albany let out an agitated growl and I rushed over to grab him before any damage was done. "And your Mum loves you," I smiled as I peeled my cat from her and she waved by as he darted into the dining room and out the cat door. I watched carefully as Effy screwed up her face in thought and then I noticed the sadness and fear filling her eyes. Her bottom lip jutted out and I snapped my head towards Mum with a look of worry and 'what the heck do I do?'.
"Andie," Effy sobbed, reaching out and putting her palm on my knee. "Where's mummy?"
I grabbed her waist and hoisted her up onto my hip. "Mummy is getting some rest and taking a break at the moment," I sighed, and Effys bottom lip continued to tremble. "Hey, how about we go give you a big bubble bath?"
Effy slowed nodded, before resting her head on my shoulder and falling into silence.
"Your mummy is going to be just fine."