Carefully, I pick up the bouncy seat and follow her out into the hallway. She stops at a closed door.
“Thanks.”
I continue on down the hallway until I reach the small lobby. Setting the seat beside the office chair, I sit and peer at the screen. This next appointment is the last of the day. It’s Friday, and unless something comes up, Trouble should have the weekend off. My stomach flutters as I think about spending it with him.
I look up from the screen when the door opens and Benjamin walks in holding a little girl’s hand. He stops, momentarily surprised to see me behind the desk, but continues to close the door. A smile curves his lips as they walk over. I get up from the chair to greet them.
“Hey, Remi.”
“Hi.” I grin back at him.
Besides the first time I met him weeks ago when he sat with me on Susan’s porch, I’ve seen Benjamin a couple times in town at The Hill. He’s always friendly.
My eyes move to the little girl at his side, who has to be about four or five years old. She has on a pair of overall shorts with a pink shirt underneath it, and braided pigtails hanging over her shoulders. She’s adorable. The few times I’ve seen Benjamin, he’s never had his little girl with him.
“This must be Leddy,” I guess, remembering him stating he had a daughter by that name the first time we met. It’s her who has the appointment.
“Yeah.” He brushes her bangs out of her face, but they just fall back in place. “Leddy, this is a friend of mine, Remi.”
“Hi, Leddy. I really like your name.”
The girl grins toothily at me. “Tank you. You have a pwetty name too. And I wike your dress.”
“Well, thank you.” I bend over and rest my elbows on the desk, then crook my finger at her. She takes a couple of steps forward and puts her hands on the edge of the desk, getting to her tippy toes. I lower my voice, as if telling her a secret and cup my hand around her ear.
“Don’t tell anyone, because we’re supposed to wait until after you’ve seen the doctor, but I have a Barbie sticker here if you want it.”
Her eyes light up and get big. “Do you have a Transformer one?”
Benjamin chuckles, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “She’s a bit of a tom boy.”
I prop my hand on my chin. “Nothing wrong with that. When I was a kid, I wanted to play war with all the boys instead of dressing up my dolls.” I lean back and pull open the top drawer where I know Susan keeps stickers. “Hmm… let me see here.”
I hit the jackpot when I come across a roll of Transformer stickers.
“Got it!” I exclaim and hold them up. Getting back up from my chair, I rip one off and hand it over to Leddy.
“Tanks.” She peels off the sticker and presses it on the back of her hand. She looks back at the roll in my hand. “Can I have that one too?” She points to the roll.
“Leddy. One’s enough. Maybe you can have another one after you see Dr. Trayce.”
“But, Dad.” She holds out her other hand. “I gotta haf one on bof hands. And I’m getting fwee shots today and it’s gonna hurt weally bad. Pwease.”
I can’t help but laugh at her attempt at manipulating her dad. Benjamin chuckles and rolls his eyes before lifting them to me.
I rip another two stickers off and lean back over the desk. “How about one sticker for each shot?”
“Yah!” She takes them from me, sticks one to the other hand and puts the other on the front pocket of her overalls. “Tanks.” She beams a smile at me as I take the trash from her.
Benjamin and I watch as she skips off to the kid’s table in the corner and starts working on a puzzle.
“She’s precious,” I remark.
Benjamin looks back and grins. “I think so too.” He drops his eyes to the car seat. “How’s Elijah?”
“He’s good. Growing like a bean stalk.”
As if he senses we’re talking about him, Elijah starts to fuss and wiggle around. I pluck him up from his make-shift bed. He turns quiet as soon as I have him in my arms. I hold him a lot, maybe too much, and I know that may be a mistake I’ll regret later, but I just can’t help it.