Page 68 of Bastard-in-Chief
Heat creeps up the back of my neck as I survey the mess left in my office. Papers are scattered across the floor, along with some pens and my rubber duck from MIT. “Uh, yeah. Thank you, Mercedes.”
She laughs as she settles herself at her desk. “My lips are sealed. I just hope she makes you happy.”
“She does, Mercedes. She does.”
Emma and Sophie’s voices carry down the stairs as I take them two at a time. I don’t think they’re arguing, but I can’t tell from this distance.
“—I didn’t, Mom. I promise.”
“Emma, you know we can’t afford it. Give me the login so I can cancel it.”
“Mom, I swear, there’s nothing to cancel.”
There’s a large box on the doorstep. Swallowing hard, I speak up before Emma takes the blame. “Knock, knock.” I peek my head inside the door to find Sophie and Emma standing nose to nose in front of the couch.
“Theo!” Sophie jumps back, looking around. “I didn’t expect you so soon. I, uh, haven’t, umm…”
I have to work to keep my face under control. She’s so adorable when she’s flustered.
“Teddy, tell my mom I didn’t order that.” Emma points to the box at my feet without acknowledging her mom’s discomfort.
I pick up the box, the branding on it proudly proclaiming its origin from a high-end ready-made meal kit company. “This one? Why? What’s wrong with it?”
Sophie huffs. “I didn’t order it. We talked about trying one once school started, but we also talked about waiting until the paychecks from my new job started coming in.”
“Mom, I didn’t order it.”
Sophie opens her mouth to say something but I cut her off. “I did.”
Sophie swivels to face me, mouth hanging open. “You? But…”
I carry the box into the apartment, setting it on their tiny table. “I did.”
“But…why?” Sophie hands me a pair of scissors and I slice the top open.
I take a second to survey the contents before I answer. “Because Sunshine, I wanted to make your life easier. I know you can buy groceries yourself, and I know you can cook, but this saves you a trip to the store. And I know you’ll be getting high quality ingredients, because I know you, you’ll buy all the no-name brands and cheapest things.”
“But, Theo. You had to have ordered this days ago.” Sophie is still standing in her kitchen, scissors in hand, looking for all the world like I just told her that pickles taste like candy. “We only just…”
“I helped.” Emma pipes up, coming to help put away the contents of the box. “Teddy was cooking when I brought Max home the other day and—”
“Wait, what do you mean when you brought Max home? What is going on?”
I glance at Emma and she shoos me out of the kitchen space. “I got this, you better go sort it out.”
Taking Sophie by the hand, I pull her away from the kitchen to sit on the couch. She sinks down next to me, arms crossed, and waits. “Well, see.” Now that I’m having to explain the situation it sounds so much worse than it seemed at the time. “I came home from work one day and Emma was at my house, waiting for me.”
“You went to his house!” Sophie starts to get up but I put a hand on her leg, stopping her.
“She wanted me to hire her to walk Max a couple of days a week. So she could earn some money without having to ask you for it.” The look of mistrust hasn’t left Sophie’s face yet, but she doesn’t interrupt, nor does she look like she’s about to throttle Emma, so I continue. “I didn’t want to hire her. In fact, I was pretty awful about it.”
“Yeah, you were a real asshole at first.” Emma calls from the kitchen.
“Emma! Language!” Sophie’s cheeks turn bright pink at Emma’s swearing. “I’m sorry—”
“It’s fine. Emma’s a good kid. And I should be the one apologizing. I was an asshole to your daughter, but she caught me on a bad day.”
“What day was it?”