'Teetot' Here We Come!

A few minutes had passed; Lindsay was by the front door, shoving a pair of jeans and her wallet into my overnight bag when Cassie came downstairs with her friends. “Where do you think you are going?”

“I’m going into town,” Lindsay told her but didn’t tell her that she was hanging out with me.

“No you aren’t!” Cassie snapped. “I told you that you couldn’t come with me! I don’t want my baby sister hanging off me! Mom!” Cassie ran into the living room where Mary was back into her pictures. “Lindsay thinks she’s going with me, I told her she wasn’t!”

“Cassie calm down, your sister doesn’t think she’s going with you –”

“No?” Cassie planted one hand on her hip and pointed towards Lindsay. “Then why is she getting ready to leave?”

“Oh good lord!” I rolled my eyes. “Cassie there are more places in town than where you are going! Now everyone out into my car in the next 60 seconds or I’ll leave you all here!” I picked up my bag and opened the door. “Josh has been waiting patiently for me but if I don’t leave now, he’s going to think I’m standing him up!”

Cassie and Lindsay pretty much fought the whole drive into town; Cassie wanted to know where Lindsay thought she was going, “You aren’t coming with me.”

“I don’t want to go with you,” Lindsay stuck out her tongue at Cass. “I have better things to do than listen you three go on about boys!”

I was very grateful when I pulled up along the curb outside Gwen’s house. “Your dad will pick you up after he gets off work,” I reminded Cassie. “Have a good time and stay out of trouble!”

“You too!” Cassie gave me a ‘Zack’ look. “Just remember that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want too.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed and told her to get out of my car.

I glanced at Lindsay and she smiled at me, I was happy that she actually wanted to hang out with Josh, Jess and me. “We are going to have so much fun!” I squealed as I slipped the car in drive.

Lindsay didn’t really say much as I drove to Josh’s but she was smiling. It wasn’t until we were climbing the twenty million stairs to his apartment that she finally said something to me. “You really like Coach Baker don’t you Aunt Anna?”

Pausing in mid step, I turned to give her a puzzled look. “Why would you ask that all of a sudden?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” she walked up a couple steps from me before turning around. “Maybe because you are actually bouncing up the stairs?”

“It’s that obvious, is it?” I’m very certain that I had a dreamy smile on my face as I stared at her.

“Yes,” she laughed. “It’s nice to see Aunt Anna, really nice.” I went to say something to her but she stopped me. “Isn’t there a guy somewhere waiting for you?”

My eyes went wide, “YES!” I exclaimed. We both took off up the stairs, still running when we came to a stop outside Josh’s door. “This is it!” I told her excitedly. “He lives here!” I totally gave a girly squeal.

“Are you going to knock?” She motioned towards the door while shaking her head at me.

“I will,” I told her and then asked her how I looked.

Lindsay told me I looked great at the same moment the door swung open. “I personally think she looks beautiful,” Josh stated before he leaned down to kiss me. “It’s about time you got here!”

“I know!” I told him that I told the girls he would think I was standing him up; he told me that he was starting to think that. “But we are here now,” I looked pass him into his apartment. “Where is Jesse?”

Josh glanced behind him and frowned, “Jesse?” He called out to him. “He was washing his hands,” Josh told me.

“Jesse?” I called out to him.

While I did that, Josh turned to Lindsay. “It’s good to see you,” he told her with a smile. “I know Anna really wanted you to join us and Jess is excited.”

“Thank you for inviting me Coach,” Lindsay seemed a little shy when she spoke to Josh.

“Jesse?” I called again as I heard Josh tell Lindsay that he would like it if she called him ‘Josh’ not “Coach’ today. “Only if you are comfortable doing so,” he added quickly.

Lindsay told him she would try and Jesse finally poked his head around the corner. “I wash my hands Ama! See?” He came running at me with his hand held out in front of him. While I looked at his clean hands he stared up at Lindsay. “My name is Jesse!” We all laughed when he threw his hands in the air when he said ‘Jessie’.

I introduced Lindsay to him. “Are you ready to go to the playground?”

“Yes Ama!” He said excitedly. “We go on teetot! And down slide! And daddy says we can swing and play in the sand!”

We took Josh’s car to the playground. Lindsay was in the back with Jesse, who didn’t stop talking the entire drive to the playground. “Jesse a big brother like daddy,” he told Lindsay. “Mommy had a baby! He’s this big!” He spread his arms wide and went on to tell her that he gets to hold the baby. “Only when I sit! Baby name is Niles. Baby daddy is bad,” Jesse tried to turn in his car seat to face Lindsay. “Mommy says my daddy is good!” He paused and then told Lindsay. “I love my daddy, baby no have my daddy!”

I was turned in my seat watching Jesse as he spoke to Lindsay, when he told her that Carol said Josh was good, I glanced up at Josh and wondered what he thought about that. He must have sensed me looking at him because he turned to me and smiled.