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“Mimi!” Katie bellowed from the floor, reaching out for another cookie, which her doting ‘aunt’ happily obliged.
“You’re going to give the kid diabetes,” Skylar said.
“It’s a cookie; I’m not injecting sugar into her veins,” Meg protested but looked to me to make sure it was okay.
I put some carrot sticks in a bowl and set them down beside Katie. “You have to eat your veggies too, Katie Bug,” I told her gently, taking a bite of one. “Mmm, yummy.” I handed it to her. She took it and looked at it with suspicion before promptly throwing it on the floor. I sighed, picking it up. “We’re having an aversion to vegetables at the moment,” I explained to my friends.
“How about some stars, Katie?” Whitney said, appearing by my side, sitting down on the floor next to my daughter with a plate of cucumbers cut into star shapes. “I got them from the sky and put them on this plate just for you.” She tentatively put it down in front of Katie, getting back to her feet, making sure not to hover.
Katie picked up one of the cucumbers, looking at it closely, then her mouth stretched into a gummy grin. “Star!” she exclaimed before putting it in her mouth. “Mmm,” she murmured, rubbing her stomach enthusiastically.
“Nicely done, Whit. You’re a natural,” Skylar said respectfully.
Whitney shrugged. “One of the producers on the last movie set I worked on had twins she would bring with her every day. They were about Katie’s age and also going through the whole I-hate-vegetables phase. The on-site nanny would cut them up into shapes, and it worked like magic. I figured it would work with Katie.”
“Pretty smart,” I agreed, though begrudgingly. Not because I had a problem with her helping, but because it was hard for me to hold onto any sort of bitterness when she was being so damn awesome.
Katie happily munched on the cucumbers then miraculously held her hands out to Whitney. “Pease.”
“She’s asking for more,” I interpreted.
“Her vocabulary is amazing, Web,” Lena said, putting Daisy down on the floor next to Katie, who handed the younger girl one of her cucumbers. “Is she in daycare?”
“I have her on the waiting list for one in the fall. She’ll be two by then,” I told her. I watched as Whitney dropped more cucumber stars onto Katie’s plate, and the two girls happily ate them. I was glad to see Katie sharing with Daisy. She was an only child, so she didn’t have much chance to share things with other kids yet.
“Which one will she be going to?” Lena asked, taking the glass of orange juice Meg handed her.
“Little Ducklings over on Weaver Drive.” I tried to answer Lena’s questions about preschools and daycares, but I was distracted by Whitney, who was now sitting on the wool blanket Meg had put on the floor, folding napkins into animals for Katie’s amusement.
“We’ve had Stella, our nanny, with us since Daisy was three months old and I had to go back to work. Stella’s great, and Daisy loves her, but I want her around other kids. She needs socialization. Your mom watches Katie, right?” Lena asked.
Whitney laughed as Katie made noises meant to be a bird. My kid’s little face scrunched up as she flew the paper crane around over her head. I had always loved Whitney’s laugh. It was rich and warm, not high pitched or fake. When she laughed, you knew she felt it.
“Web?” Lena said my name, and I had to tear my eyes away from my little girl playing with the woman I had sworn I’d love forever.
“Sorry, yeah, my mom watches her, but she takes her to a couple of playgroups a week. And I’m part of a playgroup that meets at the park every Saturday. Socialization is definitely important.”
“There you are, Web. Since when do you hang out with the women in the kitchen?” Jeremy asked, appearing in the doorway.
Lena playfully punched him in the stomach. “You’re lucky I know you don’t mean a word of the sexist shit you spew,” she said, her voice a good-natured warning.
Jeremy held his hands up in surrender. “My life is completely controlled by females; I wouldn’t dare internalize any sexist shit.” He leaned over and kissed his fiancée on the mouth and then deepened it, pulling her close, not caring about the audience.
“Um, there’s like five of us standing here,” Skylar said loudly, the rest of us laughing. Lena pulled away from Jeremy, swatting him.
“Adam’s getting ready to light the coals. And I’m slightly worried about the house catching on fire. You might want to get out there and help him,” Jeremy told me.
“Crap, yeah. Adam and grilling are a bad combination.” I turned to get Katie, but Meg stopped me.
“Leave her here with us. She and Daisy are playing nicely. There are enough of us here to keep an eye on her,” she assured me.
