Leo

I took Sophie and Wes to their hotel and picked up Charlotte’s suitcase. Actually, two large suitcases.

“A lot of stuff for a little girl,” I commented as Wes put them in the trunk.

“She’ll be here for a month,” said Sophie. “Come here and give me a hug, darling.”

Charlotte gave her mom a drowsy hug and began to cry. “Maman, maman,” she wailed over and over. She was exhausted and overwrought.

Sophie began to cry too. She held Charlotte and stroked her head. “Don’t worry, ma cherie. I’ll be back soon. And you’ll be with Papa.”

Finally Charlotte’s sobs turned to hiccups. I whisked her into the car and drove off. In the rearview mirror I couldn’t tell if she was sleeping or staring, but she didn’t say a word all the way home. But once we walked into my place, she was wide awake and curious. I took her on a tour, and she loved her new room.

“Oh Papa, purple walls! Purple is my favourite colour.”

“I know that. This room was decorated just for you.”

I hesitated to mention that Jackie had painted the walls because I didn’t want to be shoving my new girlfriend down her throat. Charlotte hadn’t liked many of the women I’d dated.

“Good thing you didn’t choose the paint colour,” she said with a cheeky grin. I tickled her side, and she squirmed away. She continued her exploration of her new room.

“Look! Cat paintings!” She started hopping up and down to see them better, so I picked her up and moved her closer. “Oh, so cute. Are these mine? Can I take them home?”

“This is your home too.”

“Yeah. I forgot.” Her shoulders drooped a little. She knew that she wouldn’t be spending that much time here, it was too far away.

“They are yours though. So wherever I go, those darn cats will be there.” I assumed that I could take the paintings; Jackie got them specifically for Charlotte. If not, I’d buy them from the leasing company.

“You should get a real pet.” This was Charlotte’s favourite campaign.

I put her down. “I’m too busy to take care of a pet. Now, let’s get you unpacked.”

“If you got a cat, I could take care of it while I’m here. And I saw this machine that releases cat food on a timer. You wouldn’t have to do anything at all.”

“What about the stuff that comes out the other end?” I opened up her two suitcases. Sophie had packed way too many clothes, even for a month’s stay. I handed the folded piles to Charlotte to put away.

She giggled. “Eww, Papa, that’s gross. Oh, I know! I could teach the cat how to use the toilet. I’ve seen videos of cats who can do that.”

“Jackie has a cat.” I had to change the subject before Charlotte had transformed my place into an automated cat care paradise.

“She does?” Charlotte was carefully separating her tops and bottoms into different drawers. She took after me when it came to organization. “Do I have to meet her kids?”

“Do you want to meet them?”

“I guess.” Her face was solemn. “They’re older. Sometimes older kids are nice and sometimes they’re mean. I wish Dani lived here.”

Dani was her best friend in Montréal. When I grew up, our house was always full of kids, but Charlotte hated too much stimulation.

It didn’t take long to get her unpacked and ready for bed. She could barely keep her eyes open by the time I tucked her in. But sometime in the night, she woke up and slipped into my bed. I debated taking her back, but decided to let her stay. The sweet smell of my little girl was something I’d missed. Even though we talked nearly every night, she was always different and new when I saw her in person. I worried that someday she would outgrow her straightforward adoration of me. And in the darkness, I felt a new sensation—almost like fear. This was the longest I’d ever looked after Charlotte on my own. And I had to work too. Was it all going to be okay?

Noelle was the college student that Jackie had found to look after Charlotte. There were two candidates, both with references, and Noelle was the smarter, more energetic one. Although it was the first time I’d interviewed anyone unrelated to hockey and I had no idea what the right questions were, so I asked her about overcoming adversity.

On Monday morning Noelle was late, and Charlotte’s anxiety was beginning to rise.

“Is she nice, Papa? What if I don’t like her? Can I call you and you can come home again?”

“Sure. You have your phone, right?” Sophie gave Charlotte a cellphone, which was ridiculous at her age, but it came in handy for situations like this. “But you have to give her a chance. There’s been lots of people you didn’t like at first, but you liked later.”

“Like who?”

“Like, uh, Anita.” She was my girlfriend in Albany.

“I never really liked Anita. She was too grabby.” Another of Charlotte’s quirks was that she only liked certain people touching her. “Maman thinks you should settle down.”

“Really?”

Charlotte nodded. “She thinks you’re too old to keep having so many girlfriends. She says it’s bad for me to form attachements to people who are gone in a few months.” That seemed to be a direct quote right down to the mixed French and English that Sophie used when she was stressed.

“And how do you feel?” That was the most important thing.

She swung her legs from the kitchen chair as she considered this. “I feel like I don’t want to like the nice ones because they’re going to be gone soon. But I don’t have to worry about the yucky ones.”

Then Noelle arrived, full of apologies about transit problems. I had already prepared a schedule for her, so I handed it over, hugged Charlotte, and rushed off to work.

In the middle of a strategy meeting with Lucky, Swanny, and the coaching staff of the Millionaires, I noticed that I had three missed calls from Charlotte. I excused myself and went out in the hall to call her back.

“Papa, I want you to come home. Now. Right now,” she whispered into the phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“You said you’d come home if I needed you. Please, please.”

“Where’s Noelle?”

“She’s out in the kitchen. But she wants to go outside all the time. She doesn’t know any inside games. She’s not one of us, Dad.” That was Charlotte’s expression for people who understood her.

I debated getting Noelle on the phone and telling her to stop making Charlotte do physical activities if she clearly didn’t want to do them. Then I looked at my watch. I’d be here another thirty to forty minutes, and I’d go right home, and we could straighten things out.

“Okay. I’m in a meeting now. But I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I could hear sniffling on the other end of the phone.

“Are you crying? What’s wrong, mon p’tit chaton?”

“You always say that, but then you take hours to get here.”

Then she hung up.

Charlotte sounded so desperate that I called Jackie. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m in a meeting right now and Charlotte’s freaking out.”

“Oh no, what’s wrong?”

“She doesn’t like Noelle. I’m not even sure why, but she’s in her room crying. I can’t get home for at least an hour. Do you think you could go there and calm things down?”

About half an hour later, I got a message from Jackie that she had taken Charlotte back to her place and everything was fine. As soon as the meeting was done, I sped over there.

Jackie met me at the door.

“How’s Charlotte?” I demanded.

“Fine.” Jackie looked completely calm. “Hannah showed her Minx, and they played some computer game. When Tristan got back from his friend’s place, they all started playing with Legos.”

She led me to the playroom. Tristan and Charlotte were both building structures on opposite corners of the rug, and Hannah was stretched out on the couch beside them doing something on her phone.

“Hey, honey,” I called out.

“Papa!” She ran over and hugged me. Then she pulled me over. “We’re making new planets. I’m making one with all animals, and Tristan’s has mutant soldiers.”

I crouched down and admired both their planets. She resumed working on it, and I stood up.

“I’m just going to talk to Jackie for a minute,” I said. Charlotte barely nodded.

Jackie and I went to the kitchen, where she was making lunch.

“Thank you so much for taking care of Charlotte. I came as soon as I could.”

“I texted you that she was fine and you could stay at work.”

“I know—but I didn’t believe you. She was almost hysterical on the phone, and now she’s fine. It’s like a miracle.”

Jackie rubbed my arm. “She had a meltdown. That’s only natural. Think about everything she’s been through in the past few days: the wedding, getting a new stepdad, flying across the country, saying goodbye to her mom for a month, and staying in a brand new place.”

“Yeah, I guess. It makes sense when you put it like that, but it’s never happened before.”

“I suspect that when you left her to work before, your mom or one of her aunts looked after her. Never someone completely new. Noelle was horrified to find out that Charlotte was in her room crying. Your daughter told her that she wanted to take a nap because of ‘jet lag.’” Jackie laughed. “She’s a smart one—just like her dad.”

“What happened to Noelle?”

“Well, you’re paying for her day, so I got her to do the things on my to-do list. She’s out getting packing supplies and boxes.” Jackie walked over to the sink and rinsed some carrots. “Look, here’s my suggestion. For this week, Charlotte and Noelle can both come over here. Charlotte can play with my kids and get used to Noelle. I figure by next week, everything should be okay, but if not, that’s fine. We’ll let Charlotte be in charge of the process since she probably feels pretty powerless right now.”

“Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of housebound anyway. I have to pack everything up so we can move out at the end of July.”

She began chopping carrot sticks. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Have I told you that you’re an amazing woman?”

“I am, aren’t I?” I liked her when she was like this. Spirited and flirty. I never knew what mood Jackie would be in, but I liked them all. She turned her face towards me, and I kissed her. She tasted like carrots and happiness.