She’d given me free rein on the cake, so I was making her favorite carrot cake with pistachios through it, pistachio buttercream, and fresh blueberries between the layers. The outside was going to be decorated by thin shards of white chocolate that I was spraying three different shades of metallic blue to give it a Frozen ice palace theme. I was also making it three large tiers high, so it would be a lot of work, but my baby was worth it.
I’d met a lady on Etsy who was my go-to for wire decorations and bespoke candles for my cakes, and she was making me three number threes out of silver wire, and she’d also made an oversized candle in the number that was colored an ombre blue and white with glitter. Next to each wire number would be a fountain candle.
It was totally over the top, but Nemi would love it. I’m sure in years to come, the photos of it would show a smiling, happy, loved, and carefree little girl, surrounded by all of the people who made her feel that way as she screamed over the extravagant cake her mom had made her. That was my goal, to make the best memories for her.
“You want to go to a baseball game?” Bond said, snapping me out of my cake and parenting musings.
“Yup. I want to see ‘em hit that ball with a stick.” Miming a player doing it, she squealed, “And a smack!”
Hooch was lying on the rug, his eyes glued to her. The dog hardly moved, but wherever Nemi was, he was, and I loved it.
I’d bought a cheap rug for him to lie on two days after we’d been given him because I wasn’t sure if dogs could get a chill from cold floors, plus he was leaving nasty puddles of drool that Nemi could slip on. I’d admit it was nice to come home or wake up knowing he was there, even though he wasn’t a hyper dog who invaded your space unless he wanted to. He was company when you didn’t realize you needed it.
I became aware of the fact I’d zoned out again when I heard Nemi ask, “Do you have a animal, Bond?”
Inappropriate thoughts and responses hit me, and when I glanced over at him, I blushed.
“I do. Do you want to see?”
Spinning around, I stared at him, shocked. “You do?”
“Sure. Why don’t you both come and meet them?”
Them? Who looked after them when he was at work or here?
It wasn’t until we got to his apartment that it all became clear. In a relatively small tank was a gorgeous fish, its big turquoise and dark blue fan-like tail swishing along like a veil behind it.
“That’s Lucifer,” Bond told Nemi. “I named him after the devil because he’s mean.”
With her nose almost touching the glass, Nemi breathed, “He’s so pretty. I never seen a fish that pretty.”
“He’s a Beta fish, so you have to keep him away from other ones because he’ll attack them.”
Not taking her eyes off him, she asked, “You mean he has no friends?”
“That’s right. If I put friends in there with him, he’d attack them and maybe kill them.”
My daughter’s head jerked away from the tank. “Bad fishy.” Then, glancing around, she saw the other tank and screamed. “Nemo!”
Yup, he also had a sea aquarium with pretty fish, including a clownfish.
“Hey,” Bond called, sounding put out. “How’d you know his name? Have y’all met before?”
“You have a real life Nemo,” she squealed, jumping up and down in front of the tank as she watched the poor fish. Then something else caught her eye, and she pointed at the glass and screamed again. “Eeee, and the guy who says, ‘my bubbles, my bubbles, my bubbles.’”
Bond walked over to educate her on what each fish was, but I was stuck on a cage with a plastic bottom sitting in the corner. Leaving them to it, I moved until I was in front of it, then got down on my knees so I could see inside. There was sawdust on the bottom with hay poking out of the plastic house in the corner.
“Hey, Bond, you haven’t got a Gremlin in here, do you?”
He snorted, and I heard his footsteps on the wooden flooring as he joined me in front of the cage. A glance over my shoulder showed him standing there with Nemi on his hip, and I swear I almost melted into a puddle in front of him.
That was until he said, “Nah, that’s Bumper.”
Nemi pulled his face toward her, frowning at him. “You mean Thumper, silly.”
“No, Miss Nemi, I mean Bumper. She’s a Mini Lop rabbit who’s blind. My friend’s sister had a rabbit who gave birth, and something went wrong with Bumper. The vet offered to put her to sleep, but I figured she deserved a good life with someone who’d be her eyes for her, so I brought her home with me.”