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“Maisie, I promise you will have your own room again, soon.”
Both kids stared across the table at Amber who did the best to hide the truth. Meals would have to be skipped by her, and that wasn’t a bad thing. She could stand to lose a pound or two anyway. They would walk to school because when winter came, warming up the van would eat too much gas. She’d make sure to find ways to keep the home warm and knew enough tricks to scrimp and save beyond a few coupons.
“Mommy. I know what. We can do a lemonade stand.” Callum jumped off the chair and smiled up at her. His little hand hoping to do so much as he touched her arm.
“You sweet, sweet boy. How did I get so lucky to have you?” Amber pulled her son into a tight hug. “That’s nice, but mommy will figure it out.”
“I wanna help and if I get enough, I can pay a bill.”
Maisie rolled her eyes, the extra two years of life already making her cynical. Something Amber wanted to get rid of and make sure Callum never got. Even if all they earned was enough for a candy bar, the treat would be worth it. She would let him do if for no other reason than he felt like he was helping the family.
“You can have your lemonade stand. I’ll even help you set it up,” Amber said. “And Maisie will help because she’s so good at counting money and making signs.”
Maisie continued eating her cereal with little to no urgency to help the fool proof method to save the home.
“No mommy, I want to do it all by myself.” Callum walked over to the cupboard, stepping up on the stool to pull out two pitchers and a can of lemonade.
“Now, do we have cups?” Amber asked.
Callum’s eyes shifted a bit before taking off up the stairs and returning with a sleeve a Dixie cups.
“Pretty small,” she said and dug around in an upper cabinet, having to use the stool herself. They hadn’t used too many of the disposable cups she had bought when they first moved in and the moving van was late. Almost a full package remained and she called out to Callum, “Incoming.”
Hands wide, he caught the package when it dropped and moved it to the table.
“Let me get my purse, you’re going to need to make change.”
Callum held up his hand. His face a picture of propriety. “I’ve got this.” Again, the sound of thunder or a small herd of elephants came from the stairway.
“I need you to help him,” Amber informed her daughter.
“He wants to do it himself,” she said.
“I can’t have him sitting outside all day by himself,” Amber said. “What else are you doing? Going to sell matchsticks?”
“What are matchsticks?”
Maybe Amber needed to expand her childrens’ world just a bit, so they could understand they weren’t on the verge of being destitute.
“Money,” her son cried out, a mason jar held high in the sky as his hips bounced from side to side.
“What will you use for the stand?” Amber walked over to the porch and hauled in the large cooler she packed for their picnics. “Maybe this? It’s not too warm out, but you might still need ice.”
“That will work. I can sit on it and I’ll also use the table you have over there.” Callum pointed to the folding table she had leaning up against the wall.
“Perfect. Can I help you carry this stuff out to the front yard?” Amber asked since he wanted to do everything himself.
“Yeah, we can set it up then come back and make the lemonade.”
“And I’ll make the sign while you do that,” Maisie said, getting into the spirit enough to pull out a few pieces of construction paper and her markers.
“See, when we work together we can do a lot of good things,” Amber said as she lifted the cooler. “And we stick together right?”
“Right.” Callum grinned from ear to ear.
Amber helped her son carry everything out to the yard, but had him all set up the way he wanted to at the end of their driveway. When they headed back inside he mixed the lemonade, using the experience to work on measurements and Maisie finished their signs.
“Let me brush out your hair crazy Maisie before you two finally get your stuff out there. Then I’ll post a picture or two to show all your hard work”
