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“As a matter of fact she is, according to her best friend Landon, but no, I did not ask for her number. You know I’m not looking for a relationship. Even if she was down for a no strings arrangement, she’s too damn tempting and I could see myself craving more and more of her. I did get Landon’s number, though. He was super cool and adored Penny. When she asked for his number so we could see him again, I shot her down. But he gave it to me and said he’d love to hang out and you can never have too many friends.”
“Hmm. I still think you’re crazy about not having a relationship. I understand you don’t want Penny to get attached to someone and have them leave, but I think it would also be good for her to see you in a relationship and to learn how a man should treat a woman.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know how you feel about all of that, but right now just isn’t the right time for me and Penny. Especially with the business gaining more traction. Speaking of which, I gave Landon your business card. He said he had a friend flipping a house that could use our help. Not sure if they will call, but definitely won’t hurt our bottom line if they do.”
“That’s awesome. Why did you give him my card instead of yours?”
“I ran out and need to restock my wallet. Actually, I should do that now before I forget.” I head over to my desk that’s tucked into the nook in our kitchen to grab a few cards for my wallet. It’s not the most ideal place to have anofficebut it lets me be closer to Penny and for her to have easier access to me since my downstairs is an open floor plan.
“Alright, so the princess wants a movie night? Do you think I should take some snacks in with me or just my charming self?”
“You know my daughter loves you, but she may love food more. If you go in there without any treats for her, she may revolt.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Why don’t you make some popcorn while I run out to my truck and get the goody bag I picked up before coming over here.”
Before I can object to the mountain of sweets I’m sure my best friend has for my daughter, he’s out the door. I grab the popcorn and a water bottle for Penny while I wait for it to finish cooking. I try to keep a good balance on her diet, but tonight I can make an exception since our day was complete shit. By the time the popcorn is done, Reid’s on his way in with a grocery bag jammed full of delicious treats. He sees me giving him the evil eye and pulls out a box of hohos with a smirk on his face. Damn, looks like I can’t be mad when he brought my favorite childhood snack as well.
We get everything and head into the living room to get situated with our snacks. Penny is doodling away and doesn’t even realize Reid is there until he boops her nose.
“Uncle Reid! I’m so escited to see you! Did daddy tell you I want to watch movies with you tonight? Oooh, did you bring me treats? You’re the bestest uncle ever!”
“He did tell me it was a movie night so I’m glad I have all of these goodies to share with you. So, what are we going to watch tonight?”
“Hmmm, can we watch Frozen II?”
Reid and I both start laughing at Penny who is giving us her full on puppy eyes and pouting with her hands to her chest in a pleading fashion. She knows we’ll say yes, but damn, I wish I could get her hooked on another movie. We watch this at least 3 times a week, but usually closer to 6 or 7 times.
Reid and I both sigh dramatically and Penny starts wiggling in her happy dance, because of course we are going to say yes.
“Yes, princess. But maybe next time can I pick the movie?”
“But Uncle Reid, you always pick boy movies!”
“Hey, the Incredibles is an awesome movie that anyone can enjoy!”
“I supposes you’re right about the Incredibles, but some of the other movies you pick are so bad like the baseball one. I had to watch the whole movie to see if the dumb boys got the ball back. It wasn’t very funny.”
Reid gasps dramatically as he covers his heart. Penny is most definitely referring to the Sand Lot which is one of Reid’s all-time favorite movies. Reid and I played baseball together all the way from peewees through high school. Reid even played in college until a shoulder injury took him out. Now he plays in an adult league in the summers and Penny and I are frequent supporters. He even got her, her own little jersey to wear. One of my favorite pictures of them is with the matching jerseys and Penny’s crooked pigtails.
“Alright you two, why don’t we get the movie started before you start bickering like little kids.”
“Daddy, what does bickering mean?”
“It’s kind of like arguing, but not as mad. Just a little teasing back and forth. And it’s starting to get late, so your dad is right, it’s time for the featured film.”
I queue up Frozen two while Penny makes herself comfortable between me and Reid. Reid hands out the goodies and we all munch on our snacks while Elsa takes us into the unknown. About halfway through the movie, Penny is passed out leaning on my shoulder with her hand still in the popcorn bowl. I chuckle as I pull her hand out and move the bowl to the table so that I’m not cleaning up a popcorn mess. Reid notices our sleeping beauty and reaches for the remote.
“I’m glad she’s passed out because I don’t think I can hear one more song without singing the entire soundtrack for the next two weeks. So, what did the doctors say about her leg?”
“She’s got to wear the cast for probably 4 weeks, maybe longer or maybe shorter. They gave us a scooter looking thing for her to wheel around instead of crutches. Now I’m just waiting to see how many holes I am going to have to patch up in my walls from her racing the thing around and crashing before this is all said and done.”
“Ha! I’m going to say at least two! I know exactly what you’re talking about with those scooters and they really go!”
Just then Reid’s work phone starts ringing. Part of the reason our business is doing so well is because, even though it’s after 8:00pm, we still take calls from customers. I do feel bad because Reid tends to get stuck with any emergency calls way more than I do, but I know it’s because of Penny and he always tells me not to worry about going out on the calls. I hate stealing his nights, but he always points out that if I were the one to go, he’d end up over here with Penny anyway, not that that’s a bad thing.
So, it just makes more sense for him to go. Not wanting to wake Penny, Reid sneaks out of her snuggles and heads back towards the kitchen to my desk so he can take notes if needed.
Five minutes later he’s back with a smile on his face. I guess it wasn’t an emergency, which is good. We’ve both had a long ass week trying to get this current project wrapped up. Thankfully, he said they got a lot done today and that we should hopefully be able to move onto some other jobs within the next week or two.
