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Derek looked from his pot to her, grinning.
“Silly Kylie.” Charlie tugged at her arm. “It’s not really Captain Underpants. It’s Uncle Derek!”
“I feel somewhat under dressed without my Catwoman boots.”
“When we got home, I needed to change, and Charlie insisted we get dressed up for a special dinner.” He shrugged.
“I am truly honoured to be dining with Spiderman and…?”
“Captain Underpants!” Charlie squealed and ran around the kitchen table.
“That’s right. Captain Underpants.” She stifled a giggle, realizing she was seeing Derek, technically, in his underwear.
“I brought cookies.” She dangled the paper bag.
“Have a seat,” he said, as he took two wine glasses and a plastic cup out of the cupboard. From the fridge, he filled the two glasses with white wine and the cup with milk.
Placing a glass in front of her, he said, “Thanks again for watching Charlie today. Cate rarely gets last minute calls like that, but whenever there’s an emergency, she’s the one Barney calls first.”
“Has she been there long?”
Derek shook his head. “Once Charlie was old enough for daycare, she asked Barney for her high school job back.”
“Does she ever regret not finishing college?” Kylie asked.
“She would move heaven and earth for Charlie, but yeah, I think she wishes she could have more of a career. Maybe when he starts kindergarten, she’ll be able to find something else.”
“I’m her special little man!” Charlie yelled as he continued his laps around the kitchen.
“You are a pretty cool dude,” she said to him.
“Of course, he is! He’s got me for an uncle, doesn’t he?” Derek drained the pot of spaghetti, tossing the noodles into a skillet with simmering vegetables.
~ * ~
Dinner was nice. Derek couldn’t help but melt watching Kylie interact with Charlie. The boy told her countless stories, and she was engaged. He kept asking her questions about the city, like what was the tallest building she’d been in and what was it like riding a bus. She made everything sound magical to him, describing the big cranes that dotted the city, the airport, and the subway. By the time dinner was over, he had made Derek promise to take him to Toronto for a visit soon.
Charlie asked if Kylie could help put him to bed, so after supper was all cleaned up, the three of them went upstairs and got him ready for bed. He requested she read him his bedtime story, and she didn’t hesitate to curl up on his bed with him and read Robert Munsch.
As she read, Derek remembered Charlie’s teddy bear was on the couch. When he came back upstairs, he crept down the hall and stood outside of Charlie’s door, listening to Kylie’s voice lilting over the rhymes. Derek closed his eyes and pictured what it would be like to have her there every night.
“Kylie?” Charlie yawned.
“Yeah?”
“Why should Uncle Derek be careful?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” she said after a moment.
Derek froze in the hallway. Trust Charlie to bring up the conversation from dinner yesterday.
“Mommy said Uncle Derek should be careful, so his heart doesn’t get broken because of you,” Charlie said matter of fact.
Derek cringed. He could go in there and save her the awkward moment, but he was far too curious about her response himself.
She took an audible breath. “Well, your Uncle Derek and I are spending time together, but I might have to leave, and I think we’d both be sad.”
“Are you leaving?” Charlie suddenly sounded more alert.
