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“Because frogs are cute.”
“Frogs have warts.”
“This isn’t a fairytale, Z.”
Touché.
But I sure do plan on changing that for her.
My childhood was filled with hope. I had goals and I systematically accomplished them. That was a privilege Callie wasn’t offered. Extra money and resources went to me and my endeavors, not hers. If she ever had life dreams, they weren’t something she shared with me.
Selfishly, I never asked. I’ve been absent for too much of her life and I’m ashamed I didn’t make her a priority sooner. Until now, nobody ever has. Before I get the chance to ask her anything about her dreams, there is a knock on the door.
“I got this, you get the door,” Callie commands.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say. Willa wears a big smile when I let her in the apartment. She’s excited to be keeping an eye on Callie for me while I’m gone. Says it’s been too long since she had a kid in the house with her. There aren’t a lot of women in the world like Willa Cole, I suspect. I’m eternally grateful she’s in my life and that Damian pushed me into giving this a chance.
“Hi,” she says, brightly. “Something smells delicious.”
“That’s all Callie,” I tell her, pulling her in for a kiss.
“That explains it,” she teases.
“Excuse me?”
“See, even Willa knows you’re basically useless in the kitchen,” Callie calls.
“I peeled the potatoes,” I protest.
“Ah, good job, big guy.” Willa pats me on the chest as she moves into the kitchen to see what Callie is up to.
“Wow,” I say, mocking disbelief. Truth is, I don’t mind being the brunt of the joke if it keeps my kid sister happy. While they finish up the meal preparations, I set the small table for the three of us. Willa was right, it does smell amazing and after I take the first bite, I know it tastes even better. “This is great, Callie. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she says, preening some under the compliment. Another thing I don’t think she’s gotten much of in her short life.
“Zander told me you settled on a school today.”
“The Rodan school. I’ll start on Monday.”
“Rodan has a good number of arts and science courses from what I hear,” Willa says.
“I think so. I won’t get to pick many electives until next year, but Jana said that was their focus.” Jana is the girl Callie shadowed and has been the center of a good amount of our conversation today. Jana this and Jana that. I’m not complaining though, it’s good she liked her.
“Is that a good thing,” I ask. “I hate to admit this, but I don’t even know what your favorite subjects are.”
“That’s okay, you’ve been pretty busy my whole life,” she says. Again, she’s being genuine, but I still feel like an ass. “Math is my favorite, because it’s easy. But I really like to draw, and I had been teaching myself to knit when I could get my hands on yarn. I guess art is my favorite subject. But I’m pretty okay at English, too. I like to read and write poems.”
“She also likes some history,” Willa says, and Callie nods in agreement. “We can hit up an art supply store and there is a yarn store a couple of blocks away.”
“A whole store just for yarn?”
“A whole store,” Willa confirms.
“Oh geez, I think I love Seattle.”
“It’s quite a bit different from Ely, huh?”
“For sure,” Callie says.
