Chapter Eleven
Reed
I’d felt a little embarrassed to call Kennedy and ask her to come out with us for the day, but Trinity had insisted. I was so grateful when she said yes, mostly because I didn’t want to let Trinity down. But also, well, I was sort of looking forward to getting to know Kennedy a bit more. We had our brief moments when I came home from work, and I was always a little sad to see her go. She was a nice person to have around. It was almost like being around Warren, except that she was less vulgar and far more attractive.
When she arrived, I was sitting with Trinity at the breakfast table, and she was refusing to let me pour her a bowl of cereal.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re tired of this stuff. I have boxes of it because I thought you loved it.”
“I do love it,” she insisted. “But I want Kennedy to make french toast instead.”
“It’s Kennedy’s day off; we can’t ask her to cook for us. Poor girl has been cooking all week. Don’t you think she deserves a day off?”
“Ah, but it’s so delicious, Daddy. I promise you’ll like it.”
“Oh, I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll like. But that’s not the point. The point is that we can’t ask her to do that on her day off.”
“Ask me to do what?”
I jumped up at the sound of Kennedy’s voice.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in,” I said. I’d forgotten that I gave her a key the other day. I was still expecting her to knock.
“Sorry, should I have knocked?”
“No, of course not. We were expecting you, anyway.”
“So, what can’t you ask me to do on my day off?”
I looked at Trinity. “Well go on; you tell her.”
Trinity had the decency to look a bit embarrassed. “Well, I was hoping you could make us french toast, but Daddy says it’s your day off from cooking.”
“Before you say anything, please don’t worry about the french toast. We have some perfectly good food right here,” I said and held up the cereal box. “Isn’t that right, Trin?”
“Yes, cereal is fine,” she said dejectedly.
Kennedy laughed. “Well as it turns out, I overslept and didn’t have time to eat. So, why don’t I make french toast for all of us?”
“Are you sure?” I said. I was almost certain she was only saying that for Trinity’s benefit, no matter how nice it was of her.
“I’m absolutely sure! Actually, I’ve been teaching Trinity how to make it. Trin, why don’t we make it together? We can spoil your dad.”
“Yes, please! Can I crack the eggs?”
“You sure can,” Kennedy said.
“Wow, two beautiful women cooking for me. I’m a lucky man,” I said, and then immediately felt embarrassed for saying it. I felt a flush creeping up my cheeks. Kennedy didn’t say anything back, but when I glanced at her, I saw that she was blushing too. She had beautiful pale skin that blushed easily. I liked it.
“Daddy, I’m breaking the eggs. Kennedy showed me how to do it without making a mess. And I’ve been teaching her how to draw. She’s definitely getting a lot better.”
Kennedy laughed. “It’s true. My stickman is now starting to better resemble an actual human being.”
“It looked a bit like Daddy,” Trinity said and chuckled.
“I gave him glasses,” Kennedy explained.
I laughed. “I’ll have to see this.”
“I burned it,” Kennedy said.
“No, she didn’t. I have them all. She’s just joking.”
I laughed. “You can’t lie when Trinity is around. The truth is always revealed.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Kennedy said, but I saw she was grinning.
The two of them made the breakfast, with running commentary from Trinity the entire way, and I couldn’t help but smile at the pair of them. Trinity hadn’t looked this happy since my brother had been here with Blaire. But, I noticed, she had never been this way with Linda. They’d had more of a professional relationship, whereas Trinity seemed to have more of a personal relationship going with Kennedy. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
When the breakfast was made, we all sat and ate together, and I told Trinity what an amazing job she had done in the kitchen.
“It was mostly Kennedy,” she said. “But I did help.”
“You helped a lot. You helped more than the last time. You see, what did I tell you?” Kennedy said to her.
Trinity beamed. “That I would get better and better.”
“Exactly. And that is already happening.”
“Do you think one day I will be able to make one all by myself?”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. I promise to tell you when I think you are ready.”
“And do you think maybe we can do some drawing today so that you can also practice?”
“Trin, we can’t keep making Kennedy work today. It’s supposed to be her day off, remember?”
Kennedy chuckled. “Oh, I don’t mind at all. Honestly, it’s fun for me. I’d love to draw with you. So, what are we doing today?”
“Well, I thought we could go to the museum. It’s the type of thing I used to love doing when I was a kid. My father wasn’t into it, and neither were my brothers. So I used to go by myself.”
“Daddy has four brothers and one daddy who is my granddaddy.”
“You have four brothers?” Kennedy asked me.
I nodded. “Yep. And I was definitely the odd one out. They were all very sporty and confident. I just liked my books. Which is why I liked going to the museum. I would spend hours there gathering as much information as I could.”
I couldn’t help myself. I felt excited even talking about the museum. Even to this day. But when I looked over at Trinity, I saw that she was making a face. Kennedy had noticed it too. What was wrong with me? Just because I wanted to go to the museum didn’t mean my daughter wanted to. It was like my father making me join his motorcycle club when it was the last thing I wanted to do. I was just about to tell them that we didn’t have to go when Kennedy interrupted.
“I love going to the museum,” she said.
“You do?” Trinity asked her.
“Oh yeah. I have this game I like to play where I try to remember fun facts throughout the day, and then I quiz the person that was with me. Also, I like to get photos taken next to the dinosaurs and pretend to look like them too. Want to see my dinosaur pose?”
“Yes!” Trinity said.
Kennedy got up and posed like a dinosaur and Trinity giggled. “I want to do that too. Can I also get a photo?”
“Of course you can,” Kennedy said and then winked at me.
Somehow, she’d managed to get my child excited for an educational trip. I had never found a woman sexier in my entire life, and I found that I actually had to turn away from her so that she wouldn’t notice. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t start falling for the nanny. That was bad news.
“Okay, should we get going,” I said once we had all finished our french toast.
“Let’s go!” Trinity said while practicing how to be a dinosaur.
“You’re a miracle worker,” I whispered to Kennedy once Trinity was out of earshot.
“Nah, I really do pose like a dinosaur whenever I go,” she said and laughed. “Anyway, I’m sure she’s going to love it there. I think as long as she’s spending the day with you, she’s happy.”
“I think it’s more a case of spending the day with you, to be honest. She loves you.”
“And I love her. She’s such an easy kid. I keep wondering if I’m good with children or if she’s just particularly awesome.”
“I’d say it’s a bit of both,” I said.
We made our way over to the museum and slowly made our way through the rooms. It was a big place, and there was plenty to see. We took a few photos, each of us posing like dinosaurs, and we tried to learn as many facts as possible. Trinity assured us that she was going to test us at the end, but I was very doubtful that she was even going to remember anything.
I hadn’t been to the museum in a long time, and I was enjoying relearning everything all over again. I pointed some things out to Trinity and tried to explain to her how things used to be compared to how they were now. She seemed amazed at how much life had changed. I remember that same look on my face when I was just a kid too.
I walked over to one of my favorite sections and started explaining a few things to her about the kinds of tools that they used to use in that era. I looked up and saw Kennedy frowning at me.
“What’s up?” I said.
“Uh, actually, I don’t think that’s exactly what they’re using. Look at the picture here,” she said and pointed to a picture in front of us. She then went on to explain all that she knew about that era and added in bits of information that were not part of the museum at all. She certainly knew more than I did.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt like that,” she said.
I laughed. “I haven’t been here in a long time. I’m impressed. I didn’t realize you were such a history buff.”
“Oh yeah, I’m a bit of a nerd.”
I smiled at her. “My favorite type of person, to be honest.”
“Where were you when I was in school?”
“Probably with my nose in a book,” I admitted.
“Ah, no wonder I didn’t know you. I had my nose in one too,” she said and laughed.
I thought back to Francine, and how different it was to be around Kennedy. Kennedy was everything that I liked in a woman. She was beautiful, interesting, kind, and smart. How on earth was she still single? I was dying to ask her. But in the middle of a museum with my daughter was probably not the right time.
After the museum, we had a late lunch together at a nearby café. After that, we took Trinity to the park where we went for a long walk and fed the ducks. Then after that, we went back home so that Trinity and Kennedy could do some drawing. They coerced me into doing one too, and then chuckled at how much practice I also needed. I managed to get Trinity to show me the drawing that Kennedy had done, and they were right: it did look a bit like me.
After the drawing, we watched a cartoon together, and then Kennedy decided she was going to make us dinner. I told her she didn’t have to; after all, she’d already made us breakfast and spent an entire day with us when she didn’t have to. But she said she wanted to. She said cooking was her way to relax. I sat with Trinity and watched more cartoons while she cooked, and afterwards we all ate together.
After dinner, I saw Trinity start to yawn.
“You’re tired,” I said to her. “Busy day together, wasn’t it? It was probably all that walking the park that we did.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’m trying to stay awake but my eyes keep closing. They feel heavy. But I’m trying so hard.”
I laughed. “You don’t need to try so hard. Remember, tomorrow is Monday and Kennedy will be back. Why don’t I put you to sleep now? Would you like that?”
She nodded.
“Okay, then. Go and give Kennedy a big hug and say thank you for being so cool today.”
Trinity ran up to Kennedy and hugged her and then I took her hand and walked her to her room.
“Thank you for the coolest day ever, Dad,” she said once she’d brushed her teeth, changed, and climbed into bed. I was always amazed at how little she seemed in bed, when sometimes she looked larger than life to me. Just her head was sticking out, and she took up such a small space in the big bed. And yet, she was growing up daily, slowly turning into a young lady. It was something that always made me both happy and sad at the same time. How could her mother have walked away from this? I pushed the thought away.
“It’s my pleasure, Trin. I’m glad you had a good day. It was the coolest day for me too.”
“It was? Better than work?”
I laughed. “Of course it was better than work. You know I like to be with you way more than I like to work. I just have to work because we need to make money in order to survive.”
“And you save people,” she added with such a serious look on her face it was hard not to laugh.
I smiled. “And I save people,” I agreed.
“You promise Kennedy is coming back tomorrow?”
“Of course she is. Why would you say that?”
She looked down. “Because Linda didn’t come back. She didn’t even say goodbye.”
“Oh, my darling, you know that has nothing to do with you though, right? That has everything to do with her own family. And she only didn’t say goodbye because she thought it was going to be too hard to say goodbye to you. That’s how much she liked you.”
“She should’ve said goodbye.”
I nodded. “You’re absolutely right. She should’ve. But that’s not something you need to worry about anymore. Okay? Anyway, it all worked out well. Now you got to meet Kennedy, and she’s really cool, isn’t she?”
Trinity smiled. “She is.”
“Come on now; it’s getting late. I’ll stay here until you fall asleep.”
She nodded, wished me good night, and closed her eyes. Within minutes, she was fast asleep. I waited a while just to make sure and then I went back to the living room.
“Sorry for taking so long,” I said. “We were having a little heart-to-heart. But when it was time for her to sleep, she closed her eyes and fell right into dreamland. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly she falls sleep.”
“That’s nice. I wish I was like that. I’m too much of a thinker,” Kennedy said.
“You and me both. Listen, Kennedy, thank you so much for everything you did for us today. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it meant to me. I mean Trinity. I mean us. Oh dear, I’m sorry.”
She chuckled. “That’s okay. It was a lot of fun. Actually, that was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.”
“Really?”
“Really. Trinity is amazing. And you . . . well . . . you’re pretty awesome yourself, Reed. Sorry, I hope that wasn’t too forward. But you really are a great dad.”
And suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as this woman without kissing her. I hadn’t felt like that about someone in a long time. And in that instant, she was all that I wanted. I walked up to her, took her face in my hands, and pulled her toward me.