Going Nowhere (8 page)

We pulled up to a small beach house off 3
rd.
Street down by the Beaches in Jacksonville. It was modest, with the famous Florida stucco. The front yard was small and the backyard fenced in. There were toys scattered across the lawn evidence of the child that lived here. I squeezed my hands together nervously as we pulled into the sandy driveway and Jason honked. Taking a deep breath, I looked down when Jason’s hand covered mine.

“You’ll be fine. Mikey is awesome.”

As if Mikey heard his uncle say his name he came bounding out of the house to Jason’s side of the car and threw himself at his uncle. I gaped a little at the resemblance. They were identical. Same black hair, although the little boys' was shorter, more closely cropped to his head. The same green eyes as his mother and uncle turned their attention to me and I waved a little.

“Who are y
ou?” He asked. Ah, to be a little kid. No pretense.

“I’m Marisol, but all my friends call me Mari.” I got out of the truck as Jason carried him on his hip around the back towards me.

Mikey got a little shy and was hiding his face in his uncle’s neck. I held my hand out towards him and he tentatively took mine in a little handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Scott.” I said in a grave voice.

Mikey laughed; showing off set of dimples and then began wiggling until Jason put him down. The minute he got his feet on the ground he was running back into the house yelling for his mom.

“So I’m already in love with him.” I said conversationally to Jason.

“That quick, huh? It was the light up sneakers wasn’t it? Women love a good pair of shoes.” He smiled at me as he handed me the pretty cake.

“Actually it was the dimples. They could melt even the coldest of hearts.”

“Well you
got him to laugh. He’ll be all over you by the end of the night.”

We walked into Emily and Mikey’s house and I looked around, curious at how someone my age managed to have all this. Got to admit, I was envious, but mostly I was just glad that she was able to have it. She was so sweet and got handed a raw deal, but she handled it. Jason led me into the small kitchen where Mikey was currently telling Emily about the way I called him Mr. Scott.

“She said Mr. Scott like I was a growned up, Mommy.” He clapped his hands and bounced around the kitchen.

“It’s grown up, Mikey.” She corrected, smiling at her sons excitement.

“She thought I was a grown up! But I’m only four and a half.” He noticed then that I was standing in the doorway and made his way over to me and showed me four fingers. “I’m only this many, Miss Lady.”

I squatted down to his level and grabbed his fingers. “You’re forty fingers old? Wow, that’s really old, but I don’t see any grey hair.” I told him when I started rubbing his baby soft hair. He started giggling.

“You’re silly. I’m four fingers old. How many are you?”

“More than two hands and that’s all you need to know, Little Man.” I poked his belly and stood up.

“You’re funny. What’s your name again?”

“You can call me Mari.” I smiled down at him and he smiled back. Yeah, I was already head over heels for the little squirt. “You’re cute.”

“I’m handsome!” He yelled and then took off into the living room where SpongeBob was playing on the TV. I looked over at Emily and Jason who were both staring at me, smiling.

“What?” I said a little nervously, tugging on the hair.

“You’re hired.” Emily said.

“Seriously? A
wesome!” I walked over and gave her a big hug. “That was quick!”

“Well Mikey takes a while to warm up to strangers, but you both
clicked instantly. I trust my brother and son. You’re good people.”

“I like you guys too!”
 I said, getting strangely misty eyed. I cleared my throat and looked over at Jason. He was doing the whole staring at me intently thing that made me nervous. “What?” I had to clear my throat a little. He just shook his head and gave me a grateful smile. I turned back towards Emily, a little afraid to keep staring at him. I was about to do something stupid, like go snuggle into his arms or something. “Do you need help with anything, Emily?”

“Nope, thanks though
! If you want to go take a seat at the dining room table, we’re about to eat. Just got to mix the sauce with the spaghetti. Michael Scott! Go wash your hands and sit down at the table.”

Mikey took off
running again and I walked through the living room to a small seating area. Her house was awesome. I could take Mikey to the beach in the mornings before it got too hot. The more I thought about all the stuff we could do, the more excited I got. We could explore the whole city together. I sat down and Mikey came running into the dining room, snagging the seat to my right and grinned at me.

“Are you my nanny?” He asked me, folding his arms onto the table.

“I am! Is that cool?”

“Are you going to be on the phone all the time with your boyfriend?” He asked suspiciously.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Good. You’re pretty. You can be my boyfriend.” He said seriously. I burst out laughing as Jason walked in.

“Thick as thieves already?” He asked taking the seat to my left.

“Mikey, tell your uncle what you just told me.” I said still giggling. This kid was going to be trouble when he was older. Just like his uncle.

“I said Mari could be my boyfriend.” He told his uncle and then, as if he realized his uncle could be competition, he pointed a finger at him as threateningly as a four-year could. “She’s my boyfriend, Uncle Jase, not yours.”

Jason cracked up, “Hold up, Romeo, she would be your girlfriend, not a boyfriend.”

“She’s friends with a boy. Boyfriend.” He said as if this made perfect sense and Jason was the one confused.

“He has a point, Jase.” I said, smiling at him.

“She’s a friend that’s a girl, girlfriend.” Jason argued, but Mikey just shrugged, done with the conversation when his mom arrived with the bowl of spaghetti. Food trumps girlfriends again, I thought with a little snicker. Jason’s foot connected with my leg, gaining my attention.

“Told you!” He whispered, jerking his head to Mikey.

“I can’t help it that four year olds find me irresistible.” I smirked and he laughed.

D
inner was really nice. Conversation came easy with Emily and Jason and I ended up telling them all about school and my family. Mikey was so adorable and Jason was right, the kid warmed right up to me no problem.

After we finished eating
we all moved into the living room for coffee and were chatting about Emily’s upcoming trip to Austin. I would start watching Mikey in two days, but I planned on stopping by tomorrow to hang out with them while Emily packed.

I was sitting on the couch with Mikey in my lap. He was chatting my ear off for the last half hour but wore himself out and fell asleep on me. My heart was near to bursting with him curled up in my lap. I could smell his baby shampoo and leaned down to get a better whiff, nuzzling his downy soft hair against my cheek.

My eyes lifted and I found myself caught in Jason’s. He was giving me one of his stares that made me itch. Blood flooded my skin and made me hot. I shifted, uncomfortable, and tried not to wake up Mikey.

“Stop looking at me like that.” I whispered to him. He just smiled.

“Like what?” He asked. No way was I touching that one; he knew what he was doing. I enjoyed harmless flirting with him; otherwise I got in over my head fast and drowned in him. I turned my attention to Emily who watched this whole exchange with a raised brow…another family trait.

“Emily, I was telling Jason the other day how funny that Mikey’s name is the same as one of my favorite characters from the Office.”
I said softly. She laughed and slapped her forehead.

“Would you believe that I
’m a fan of the show and totally didn’t even connect the two until after I named him?”

“Really?” I laughed with her. “Where’d you get the name Michael then?”

“It was our dad’s name.” She smiled softly and passed a sad look with her brother. “Our parents died a few years back. They never got to meet Mikey, but I wanted to make sure he knew them and I figured this was a great way to honor our dad.”

I nodded
not pressing for more. Jason mentioned that their parents died when Emily was still in high school in a car accident. I glanced back at him and wondered how long he’d been taking care of his family. He seemed to be doing the same thing for me now too. I smiled at him and he smiled back a little questioningly, I shook my head and turned back to Emily.

“I told Jason he
’s going to be a super fan by the time I’m done with him.”

“Good luck, I’ve been trying to get him to watch that show for years. He’s not much of a TV person.”

“Well you swear by it and now Mari swears by it, so I guess I don’t have much of an option.” Jason said ruefully.

“You will love it.” I told him firmly. My cell beeped, alerting me I had a text and I checked to see who it was from. My mouth transformed into a surprised smile when I saw it was from Declan.

Hey Padowan, do you want to meet up tomorrow for a lesson?

Sure! What time were you thinking? I have to meet up with someone around 6.

We have practice at 3 until around 4, why don’t you show up around then and

you can catch me in all my sexy rock star glory.

I snorted and typed out a reply that I would be there at four. I checked the time and saw that it was already nearing ten. I knew Emily had to get up early; I looked up from my phone and turned to Jason.

“Are you about ready to go? I know Em has to get up early for work and I’m getting pretty tired.”

He got up from his spot on the loveseat and made his way over to me. “Yeah, we should head out. Want me to take him?”

“I got him, I should get used to it.” I laughed a little and hugged Mikey
closer. Jason reached an arm around my shoulders and helped me up from my seat, Mikey still cradled to my chest. The kid was pretty solid, but I wasn’t ready to let go of him yet. “Where’s his room?”

“Follow me. Be right back, Em.” Jason led me down a small hallway and into Mikey’s room.

It looked like Thomas the Train threw up in here and I smiled, total little boy’s room. Jason waited by the door while I laid down Mikey and took off his jeans to make sure he was comfortable. Little booger passed out before getting into his PJs so I just left him in his shirt and underwear.

I pushed back his hair from his forehead and marveled again at how much he looked like his uncle. I leaned down and gave him a little kiss and pulled the covers up over him before turning back to Jason. He was leaning against the doorframe watching me with a soft look on his face.

I walked towards his and was surprised when he pulled me into a warm hug. I laid my head on his chest and tried not to melt into his hard body. His grip tightened on me when I tried to pull back. I could feel his breath moving the hair by my ear and tried not to shudder.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered. He just shook his head and gave me another squeeze before releasing me enough so I could see his face.

“Nothing, I just-” He shook his head a little and searched my face. “Thank you, Marisol.”

“For what?” Completely stunned by this whole interchange.
The air felt heavily charged and I had to force myself to stand still.

“For helping out. Emily was really freaking out about what to
do; you’re like a godsend to us.”

“You’re the one who set this whole thing up.” I pointed out and he shook his head, some of his hair falling into his eyes.

    Before I could think about what I was doing, my hand lifted and I shifted the hair out of his eyes just like I did with his nephew. He closed them for a second and inhaled. When he opened his eyes again, there was something else in there that I couldn’t identify. Wouldn’t identify because it terrified me. “I set it up, but you made Mikey fall in love with you. Emily likes you, but if Mikey was uncomfortable, you wouldn’t be here tomorrow.”