The soft beeping of her phone woke her from the nightly dormant period.
“Who’s calling at 7:30 in the morning?” she asked the empty apartment. “Phone, who is calling?” she asked.
“Pastor Paul Maxwell,” the phone answered dutifully in its mechanical computer voice.
“Phone, answer call, speaker on,” Gabriella commanded. The phone answered and placed the call in speaker mode. And they call that artificial intelligence, huh? Dumb phone!
“Hi, Paul. Good morning. Nice to hear your voice first thing in the morning. What’s up?”
“Good morning, Gabriella. I’m sorry to ask, but I’m in a spot today and was hoping you could help.”
“Sure thing. Whatever I can do.”
“Thanks. My admin just called in sick, and I’m speaking at a pastor’s conference today in the Bronx. Alexi’s school is out for the day because of district teacher meetings. I hate to ask, but do you have any free time to watch her? My normal backups aren’t available. Besides, I trust you with my daughter.”
“Thank you for saying that. Work lets me take off whatever time I need.” I’m their project, and they want to see how I conduct myself in different situations. “So, you want me to babysit for a while?”
“It would be wonderful if you could do that. Do you think you could stop by the rectory at about 8:30? That would give me time to get across the bridge.”
“No problem. I’ll see you then.”
“You’re an angel, Gabriella,” said Paul, “an absolute angel. Bye.”
“Phone, off,” she commanded. The phone went silent. Someone should program it to say, ‘It was a pleasure to serve you’ with an English accent as it turns off, Gabriella mused.
She caught a cab and entered the syrup-slow stream of traffic to the rectory. Why do they call it ‘rush hour’? It’s impossible to rush anywhere!
Gabriella arrived with five minutes to spare. Paul answered the door just before she rang the bell. He gave her a relieved hug when she stepped in.
“I saw you walking up,” he said with a relieved tone. “I’m a little stressed today. Many of the presenters are almost twice my age and are nationally known. I’m the young, untried local kid. I’ll be under a microscope.”
“Oh, you will do just fine. I know it. Come here.” She held her arms out for him. He stepped into her embrace and rested his head on hers. For a moment, it was as if he were holding his wife again. The pain of her leaving washed over him once more, followed by the comfort and joy of holding Gabriella. Conference panic faded, warmth and comfort taking its place. She held him close until she sensed him relaxing.
“See, you’ll be all okay now,” Gabriella said. “You just needed a hug. If you get nervous again, pretend we are hugging. Will that work for you?”
“Yes,” Paul whispered. “Thanks for having my back.”
“Always,” she said as she held him. “I’m here for you.”
Paul released her reluctantly.
“Is Alexi asleep?” Gabriella asked.
“No, she’s eating breakfast in the kitchen. Grab yourself a bite, too, if you would like.”
“Thanks, but I’m good. What’s the order of the day?” she asked, grinning as she saluted Paul to lighten the mood.
“At ease, soldier,” he mimicked. “The order of the day is to have fun with a bubbly little girl. The schedule is yours. Get outside and have fun.”
“Sounds like a plan. Now, you get off to your conference and don’t worry about a thing. Alexi and I can handle it all.”
“Thanks again. You’re a lifesaver. One more hug for the road?” Gabriella walked into his open arms with a smile. “You bet,” she whispered as she nuzzled in. “You bet,” she repeated with closed eyes
After the embrace, Paul hurried into the kitchen to hug Alexi, told her to listen to Gabriella, and was out the door on his way to the Bronx.
Gabriella put her arm around Alexi’s shoulders as she finished her breakfast. “Alexi, I’ve never babysat. What do you do when you have no school?”
Alexi thought for a moment. “Well, Dad likes me to practice my math in the morning. It’s a lot of fun. He always says that math and science are the fingerprints of God. I don’t understand, but he lets me play on the computer. Come on. I’ll show you.”
They walked into the rectory den. Alexi booted the computer, adjusted her chair, and turned up the speaker volume.
“I see you’ve done this many times before,” said Gabriella.
“I’m an expert at it,” came the reply. Gabriella smiled and nodded.
In a few moments, a first-grade math exercise page appeared on the screen. Animated drawings of talking animals presented math problems in a variety of ways. “Interesting,” thought Gabriella, “they’re using the same problems but presenting them individually for audio, visual, and kinesthetic learners. A well-designed site.” Alexi impressed her as she completed addition, subtraction, and pre-division problems.
Alexi giggled when she solved a tricky problem. Gabriella complimented her perseverance. “I got this,” Alexi said. “No problem.”
After an hour, they turned off the computer. “Dad doesn’t want me on it for more than an hour,” she said with more than a little reluctance.
Gabriella laughed. “That’s okay, honey. He wants you to exercise more of your body than just your fingers.” They both laughed as Alexi frantically wiggled her fingers in the air while crossing her eyes, mocking the statement.
“Alexi, it’s a nice day today. Would you like to go to Central Park?”
“Sure thing. Can we go now?”
“Right after you get out of your PJ’s and put on your play clothes.”
Alexi squealed and ran to her bedroom to change her clothes. They flagged down a passing cab.
“So which playground do you want to go to, Alexi?”
“Heckscher Playground, please,” she responded. “That’s my favorite. It’s next to the pond, plus it has rocks!”
“My grandkids like that one too,” responded the cabby. “And we’re off,” he said, pulling back into the stream of traffic. They arrived in short order, and Gabriella paid the driver.
“So why do you like the rocks, Alexi? Did your mom and dad used to bring you here?”
“I was little when Mom went away, but I think I remember that it was just my Dad that climbed the rocks with me. He still brings me here sometimes. I like to pretend I’m a mountain climber. Sometimes wild animals are after me. That makes it more exciting.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall, honey?’
Alexi looked at Gabriella as if she had two heads. “Why would I want to fall? That would hurt. Besides, I have my sneakers on, so I can’t fall.”
Gabriella shook her head. The logic of a six-year-old! “Okay, Alexi, let’s climb!”
“You want to climb with me? I thought only boys liked to climb. Mom never did.”
“Girls like to do everything boys like to do, and we can often do it better,” Gabriella said as she scurried up the small rock outcropping. “The last one to the top is a rotten egg!” She moved slower than usual to let Alexi beat her to the top by inches.
“I beat you, Gabriella!” Alexi shouted victoriously.
“No, you didn’t. It was a tie.”
“Na-ah. I beat you by this much,” insisted Alexi as she held her index fingers six inches apart. “By this much!” she reinforced.
“Okay, you got me. That was fun. What next.”
“Can we climb around the rocks and explore?”
“Sure thing, Alexi,” said Gabriella, happy that she wore her Ferragamo sneakers. Alexi stretched rock climbing out for two hours.
Finally, Gabriella called a halt to the climbing. “Okay, young lady. It’s about lunchtime. We need to stop and get something to eat, or don’t world-famous mountain climber explorers get hungry?”
“Can I get a plain cheeseburger, please, please?” Alexi laughed, jumping up and down as she talked. “Dad doesn’t let me get soda this early in the day. May I have a root-beer too? Pleeease!”
“Well, young missy, if your dad wouldn’t want you to have a soda, we should follow his rules, don’t you think?”
“I guess so,” Alexi said, hanging her head. “But it sure would taste good!”
“Okay, we can cheat this once, but I have to tell him about it when he gets home. Okay?”
“Sure, but I would just make sad puppy eyes at him, and it would be okay. Dad is like that.”
Gabriella laughed out loud. “My gosh, Alexi, I don’t know what we will do with you. Are you sure you’re only six?”
“Dad says I’m six going on twenty-three. I don’t understand that, but it makes him smile, so it must be okay.” Gabriella bent over and kissed her forehead.
“Yes, it’s perfectly okay. And it’s nice to see I’m not the only one around here that gets tagged as a piece of work.”
The hotdog and sausage vendor stood next to an entryway into the playground. Smoke from the grill filled the air. “One plain cheeseburger, one sausage with onions and peppers, and two root-beers, please,” Gabriella said.
“That’ll be $21,” said the vendor. Gabriella gave him twenty-five and startled him when she said, “Keep the change.” He thanked her, adding, “And God bless you.”
“He has,” she responded with a full smile.
They found an empty bench out of the sun and sat to eat.
“This is a fun day, Gabriella.”
“It sure is. What would you like to do next? Anything you like.”
“Well, I like to get my hair brushed. Could we do that for a while?”
Gabriella’s brows furrowed. “You like to get your hair brushed? Is that a fun thing for you? Besides, I only have a comb in my pocket.”
“A comb will work. Doesn’t it feel good to you when someone else brushes your hair? I love it, even when Dad does it. He always gets something tangled, though, but I still like it.”
“Well, nobody has ever brushed my hair. I do it myself,” said Gabriella. “Why would it feel different?”
“Don’t know,” Alexi said, shrugging her little shoulders. “It just does. Try it. Gimmie your comb.”
Gabriella drew the comb from her pocket and handed it to Alexi with hesitation. She stood up on the bench and asked Gabriella to turn her back to her.
“This won’t hurt, now, will it?” Gabriella asked.
“It shouldn’t,” Alexi replied with a little girl laugh. “I’ll be careful,” she said as she pulled the comb through Gabriella’s hair.
“Wow, that does feel good,” exclaimed Gabriella. Her eyes closed in pleasure as the little fingers continued to run through her hair.
“This IS a good idea, Alexi. I would have never thought so. My turn now. Sit on my lap while I comb you.”
Alexi jumped down and sat on Gabriella’s lap, her shoulders wiggling with expectation. Gabriella combed the curly blonde head without snagging Alexi’s hair. At least not too much.
“You’re better at this than Dad is. I like it a lot,” the little voice said. “Girls do hair better than boys. That’s why boys keep their hair short.”
After the combing, Alexi continued to sit on Gabriella’s lap as sleep from the climbing and lunch began to drift over her. She turned sideways and cuddled into Gabriella’s chest.
As she was drifting off, Alexi mumbled, “I like you a lot. Will you be my friend?”
Gabriella’s voice caught. “Yes. I would like that very much. I would love to be your friend.”
The little body went limp.
As Alexi napped, Gabriella noted the clean smell of her hair and the extra warmth she gave off as she slept. Her still baby cheeks were so soft as to be almost imperceptible to the touch. Gabriella wanted this time with Alexi to continue. Is this what it is like to have a family and fall in love with a child? It’s so tender and sweet. I don’t want to let her go.
“My heart is so full right now it almost hurts,” she whispered.