"I don't know," she admitted after a minute. "Normally, I'm so busy working that I don't really get any free time."
I shrugged.
"Think back to when you were a kid," I advised her. "What was the one thing you loved doing as a child when it was the weekend?" She thought for a moment before smiling at me.
"My dad and brother would always have pizza and do a movie marathon with me," she told me, and I nodded.
"A movie marathon it is," I agreed. "I'll talk to Rita about the pizza and see about some snacks. You go ahead and pick out the movies. They are in the cabinet by the TV." She nodded, and I made my way to the kitchen to find Rita.
"Did the little miss decide what she would like for dinner?" she asked, and I nodded.
"She would like pizza to go with her movie marathon night," I told her, and she smiled sweetly at me.
"Sounds like a lot of fun," she agreed as she pulled out the take out menus from one of the many cabinets. "It's only three in the afternoon, but I'll call at about five and order your dinner. In the meantime, no movie marathon is complete without snacks. Do you want the standard bowl of popcorn? Or something else?" I thought for a second.
"How about popcorn and soda?" I recommended. "As well as some cookies, please. Don't worry, I won't let her ruin her dinner…" Rita smiled and nodded.
"Sounds great," she said as she headed towards the pantry. "You go start your movie marathon, and I will be in with the snacks soon enough." I nodded and started towards the living room. When I realized that I had forgotten something, I turned back.
"You can join us if you want," I told her. "You know, so you can have a weekend off. You've been doing so much, and I think you deserve the weekend to have fun." Rita smiled as she looked at me.
"Do you mean it?" she asked, and I nodded. "Well, I know the little mis
s will need me around, so I'll stay and have fun with you guys." I nodded.
"That sounds great," I told her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Skye
I looked around at the collection of movies in the cabinet and couldn't help but shake my head at the collection he had. There was nothing rated over PG in the movie collection, and it seemed a little condescending. Most of the movies were Disney movies, but I smiled when I saw the first two Harry Potter movies. When I didn't see the other six movies, I groaned and knelt down next to the cabinet.
"Is something wrong?" Derek asked from behind me, and I turned to look at him.
"Why is nothing over PG?" I asked as I motioned towards the cabinet. "Do you have the rest of the Harry Potter movies or something?" He raised an eyebrow at me and shook his head.
"In my room upstairs," he told me, "but I don't really care for watching anything rated over PG with you right now." I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is this one of those rules you mentioned early?" I asked, and he nodded.
"Damn it!"
He frowned at me. "That's another thing," he said as he stared at me. "No cussing, either, or I'll send you to bed early." Remembering that I had agreed to this and grateful that he wasn't doing more, I sighed and nodded.
"Okay, I'm sorry," I agreed. "Are there any other rules I should know?" He thought for a moment.
"No movies with cuss words, either," he told me. "Also, unless we're doing something together, your bedtime is nine…" I sighed and nodded.
"Alright," I agreed as I looked back at the cabinet. This was going to be harder than I thought, but I had made a deal. I never back down from a deal. As I examined the movie collection, I sighed and smiled while I pulled out a movie. "How about this one?" He smiled as he looked at the cartoon movie in my hand.
"Nice choice," he said as he approached the TV. "I'll turn that on for you. You should go sit down." I nodded and sat down on the couch while Derek started up the movie. As the commercials started to play, he grabbed the remote and sat down next to me while Rita brought in a tray with a giant bowl of popcorn and cookies. She set the tray down on the coffee table and smiled as the main menu of the movie came up.
"Save room for dinner," she said as he made her way to the recliner. "Pizza will be over in about two hours." I smiled as I looked at Derek.
"We're getting pizza?" I asked, and he nodded.
It was incredible. Anything I asked for was provided immediately, and it made me wonder about everything. About the only thing that he wouldn't allow is anything that a regular adult would do. Even then, it didn't bother me at all. I hated being an adult, but I had no choice. I always had to make sure that Dad and Brad were okay. About halfway through the movie, Derek's phone rang, and he sighed and looked down at the phone.