“Thanks. Okay, depending on how quickly I can line up care for Wyatt, I’ll be back to work no later than Monday.”
“That’s fine. I’ll make sure Neil keeps an eye on your accounts for the time being. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
“Thanks, Fred.”
Just as he ended the call, his phone rang. It was Jon.
“Hey, sweetie. What’s going on?”
“Hey, Kyle. I checked with my manager, and she said I can work from home one day a week if that would help our situation.”
“Oh, that’s great. I just got off the phone with Fred; I can do two days a week if I need to. That means we only need care for two days a week. Aunt Ellen is here. I’ll ask her if she knows anyone who might be able to do that.”
“Perfect. I’ll call you later. I can pick up something for dinner on my way home.”
“Sounds good. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Kyle went back down to the living room to find Ellen sitting on the sofa and Wyatt asleep on her lap.
“I spoke to your uncle this morning just before you called,” Ellen told him, keeping her voice low. Kyle guessed it was so she wouldn’t wake Wyatt. “He thinks he’ll have everything done by tomorrow, and then he’ll come home.” Her shoulders slumped. “I really need for him to be home.”
“I understand. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. I still can’t believe it,” she sobbed. Kyle sat next to her and put his arm around her. After a few moments, she collected herself and whispered, “The service will be even more difficult, I imagine.”
“Oh,” Kyle said. “Uncle Mike and I didn’t even talk about that. Where is it going to be?”
“Here. As you know, Becky didn’t have any family, so we’ll just have a small service for family and close friends, and their cremains will be buried here.” Ellen’s voice broke. “Mike and I have a family plot here in DC. There will also be a small memorial service in California at some point, once we can work out the details. Your uncle will take care of the arrangements for that.”
“We’ll get through this as a family,” Kyle told her.
“I know, dear. But enough about that. I can’t dwell on it.”
“Well, then, I need your help with something.”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“I spoke with my manager this morning, and he’s agreed that I can work from home two days a week. Jon checked with his boss, and he’ll be able to work remotely one day a week. So we have three days covered, but we’ll still need to arrange for day care two days a week,” Kyle explained. “Do you know of anyone, or can you recommend a service where we could hire someone?”
Kyle watched his aunt. It was almost as if he could see the wheels turning in her mind. After a few moments, she turned to him and said, “Actually, I know the perfect person for the job, and it won’t cost you a penny.”
“Really? Who?”
“Me!” Ellen exclaimed. “I’d love to watch this handsome boy a couple of days a week.”
“Are you sure?” Kyle asked. “It won’t be too much for you?” Several years ago, Ellen had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and after dealing with surgery, chemo, and radiation treatments, her doctors were confident that they had caught it early and things were now under control. Still, she tended to take it easy. Kyle didn’t want to impose on her.
“I’m fine, dear. And it will be good for me to keep busy, especially with all that’s happened.”
“Well, then, it’s settled. You’ll get to watch your grandson two days a week.”
Chapter 11
Jon
Over dinner, which Jon had picked up at a nearby restaurant on his way home from work—burgers for him and Kyle and chicken fingers and broccoli for Wyatt—they talked about their days.
