“Good thing we have these kids’ meals then, huh?” I push her chicken nuggets toward her, and she bites into it happily. We don’t do fast food much, so this is a real treat.
“Mom?” she asks a few minutes later.
“Yes?”
“People at school were talking about your show.” She looks impressed.
“It’s not my show, sweetie,” I correct her gently.
She frowns. “But you’re the Cookie Queen.”
I laugh. “It’s just a silly name Anders gave me.”
Her brown eyes dotted with specks of green and gold light up. “The Cookie King?”
“That’s him.” I boop her nose with my pointer finger.
She leans forward, her face a study of seriousness. “Can I meet him?”
“Do you want to?” I ask carefully.
She nods her head enthusiastically. “Yes. He’s helping us, right?” She grins, showing her missing front tooth.
“He sure is, baby.”
“Then I should meet him and learn how to make the secret cookie.”
“The secret cookie?” How the hell does she know any of this?
“Yeah. We’re going to make up our own cookie like he does, right? That’s what he said.”
“You’ve been watching the show?” I glare at Jordan, who shakes her head and holds up her hand.
“Wasn’t me.”
“Uh-huh. With Ms. Brittany. She sure does like Mr. Cookie King.”
Jordan cackles like a witch. “Oh, I bet she does.”
“She says he’s cute and ohs and aws. It’s gross.” She wrinkles her nose. “She said it was good for me to know you were learning, so I could help you.”
Sneaky, sneaky.
“Well, I can ask him if you can come to our last lesson. I don’t feel comfortable with you being on film, but if you’re very patient and listen to directions, I think we can fit you in.”
“I’ll be really good, Mommy.”
“I know you will.” Okay, Universe, I get it. There’s no escaping Anders Rivera.
“If you behave for Aunt Jordan, I’ll call and ask him now.”
“Yay.” She takes another savage bite of her nugget.
I laugh as I stand and make my way outside.
“Hey. Everything okay?” Anders asks quickly.
“Yeah. I have a question for you. Would you mind if my daughter joins us for our last lesson?” I rush the words, squishing them all together.