I thought about how not flexible I was when I did yoga and Pilates.
“I’m good with watching,” I said. “I might break something if I tried to do that.”
I watched Theo work with Mia a little more and saw how much patience she had for Mia even when she got distracted or didn’t listen.
“Okay, let’s go inside and get some water,” Theo said after Mia had made some progress on her jumps.
Theo filled up a glass and handed it to Mia who gulped it down.
“Whoa, Mia, you need to let me know if you get thirsty next time,” Theo said. “Do you want anything?”
“Whatever you have,” I said, and she poured a glass of lemonade for me and one for herself.
Once Mia had finished her water, she peppered me with questions about myself.
“Okay, Mia, that’s enough, let her breathe,” Theo said, picking her up and carrying her to the couch. She tossed Mia down, which made her giggle.
“She’s well on her way to a career as a reporter,” I said, sitting down next to Theo.
“Or prosecutor,” Theo said. Mia crawled into Theo’s lap and leaned back against her.
“Teetee, can we watch a movie?” Mia asked.
“How about we ask Kendra what she might want to watch?” Theo said.
“Oh, I’m fine with whatever,” I said. I honestly didn’t watch a ton of movies and I had no idea what was kid friendly these days.
“Can we watch my princess movie?” Mia asked, pushing her lips into a pout. This kid probably got away with everything.
“I love princess movies,” I said.
“I bet you do,” Theo said to me, and our eyes met. The room became a few degrees hotter and I was completely flustered as Mia jumped up and grabbed the remote to put on her movie.
Even though it was somewhat warm, Mia grabbed a blanket and curled up on Theo’s lap again.
“Mia, you are a furnace,” Theo said, but she didn’t make Mia move.
“Teetee, I need popcorn,” Mia said as the movie started.
Theo looked at the ceiling and I saw her nostrils flare.
“Okay, let’s go make popcorn.”
Mia bounced up and ran to the kitchen.
I laughed at the look on Theo’s face.
“She’s a good kid, she really is. She’s just six, and they’re all like that,” Theo said in a low voice.
Theo brought out her popcorn popper, which looked like a miniature version of the kind of machine they had at a movie theater. I think Mia was as excited to watch it pop the popcorn as she was to eat it.
Theo melted the butter in the microwave and brought out some seasonings. Instead of putting the popcorn in one big bowl, we each got our own to season and butter as we liked.
“That’s a really smart idea,” I said, covering mine with butter and salt.
“It’s what my parents always did with my brother,” Theo said. “He likes his popcorn plain. Plain, plain, with nothing on it. Freak.”
Mia asked for butter and taco seasoning on her popcorn, which Theo helped her with.
“Are you good?” Theo asked Mia before we went back to the couch. “Do you need another drink? Anything else?”
Mia shook her head and we started again.
The movie was an old one I’d seen before, so I took my chance to watch Theo instead. She cuddled under the blanket with Mia, and I caught her running her hands through Mia’s hair as Mia lounged in her lap.
It was such a sweet picture that I could barely stand it.
Theo paused the movie when Mia said she needed a pee break.
“Look at you, Teetee,” I said.
Theo glared at me. “You’ve got to stop calling me that.”
“As soon as you stop calling me princess,” I countered.
“So, never,” she said, and Mia ran back. “Did you wash your hands?”
Mia nodded her head.
“If I go in the bathroom is the hand towel in there going to be wet?”
Mia sighed and ran back to the bathroom.
“You’ve got to be on them every minute,” she said. “I don’t know how my brother does it all the time. I need a nap to recover every time she leaves.” She rubbed the space between her eyes.
“She has a lot of energy,” I said. “Too bad you can’t hook her up to a power source.”
“I know. She seems to have an endless well of it. I’m jealous. The only way I get anything done is with gallons of iced coffee.”
Mia came back and her hands were clean enough by Theo’s standards, so we resumed the movie.
“Sorry if you had more exciting plans today,” Theo whispered to me as the credits rolled a while later.
“I didn’t have any plans today,” I said. “So you saved me from being bored at home.”
“Teetee, can I play with Scout?” Mia asked.
“Oh my god, yes. Tire both of you out,” Theo said, getting up to grab the ball and the device Mia could use to throw it across the lawn for Scout to chase.