Nimble fingers spread across the keyboard and typed swiftly. An arm would occasionally retract from the device to fetch a mug of coffee that sat to the left of the laptop and returned to the keyboard once the sip was taken. Brows furrowed as she tried to figure out how to word her sentences for the report she was working on. The dateline was the end of the week and she was almost done. Her arm reached out for the mug again, only to find it empty when she brought it to her lips. Huffing in slight annoyance, she got up and went to refill it from the kitchen.
Upon her return, the rhythmic tempo of the vibration coming from her phone caught her attention. Taking a sip, she picked up the phone and brows furrowed again when she read the name that was flashing from the screen. She took a moment to swallow her drink and set the mug down before answering the call.
“Rose speaking..” she answered after clearing her throat
“Rose..hey..I’m sorry for calling so late..are you free to talk?” the caller apologised. Rose glanced at the clock on the table and noticed that it read 12:30am.
“It’s fine…I assume this isn’t a courtesy call?”
“No..this isn’t..I have a favour to ask…”
“Ah..what is it?”
“Yes..you see, I’m going out of town for a conference and I’ll be flying there Monday morning next week and I was wondering…” the caller trailed off, as if to choose her words properly prior making the request.
“You were wondering…??” Rose implored as she drained her mug. There was a pause before the caller continued
“I was wondering if you could babysit Krystal while I’m there…”
It was a good thing she had swallowed before she heard the request or she would have spitted it out out of shock.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Oh come on..it’s only a few days and I can’t find anybody I trust enough to look after her..”
“What about your usual sitter? Mrs Han was it?”
“She had an accident and broke her wrist..I can’t ask her to look after a child in that state.” The caller sounded absolutely frustrated trying to reason with Rose.
“Rose..can you please do me this favour? It’s only 5 days, I’ll be returning the same Friday.”
Rose took a while to weigh the available options, which weren’t many. Anyway she looked at it; there was no way to escape from the babysitting job. With a sigh, she continued
“Ok..when do I pick her up or are you dropping her off here?”
“Thank you so much, Rose!! I’ll drop her off on Sunday if it’s ok..” Rose could feel the caller sigh in relief the moment she said yes.
“No problem..sorry about earlier..I was surprised..I mean..”
“Rose..I find it so adorable that you’re explaining yourself to me when we both know you were just shocked silly for a moment there..am I right now, Rose?” the caller teased her with that all familiar tone of voice.
“Whatever..is there anything else? I have a report to finish..” she exhaled tiredly and rubbed her eyes.
“Oh..I’ll text you in the morning about Krystal’s daily schedule and all the other details. Have fun writing your report. Good night, Rose. And..thank you..really. This means a lot to me, and to Krystal..”
“Yes..I suppose it does…good night, Lu…”
Rose slumped onto the chair after she had hung up. With one hand draped over her eyes while the other hanging off the chair still clutching her phone, she was wondering how on earth was she going to babysit, if the term even applied to her, her five-year old daughter in the coming week.
***
“Now..Krys..be a good girl to Rose ok? Mommy will be home in a few days, do you understand?”
“Yes, mommy.” The child nodded as her mother kissed her cheeks and her forehead before she stood up.
“Sure you don’t want us to send you to the airport?”
“No, it’s fine..my boss will be picking me up from here soon. Is it ok if I left my car here though?”
“It’s fine..no trouble at all..” just as she finished her sentence, a car stopped in front of her lot and a middle-aged woman stepped out.
“Luisa, are you ready?” she called
“Yes, ma’am” she quickly replied and bent down to hug her daughter one more time while Rose helped loaded her luggage into the car
“Mommy will see you in a few days, ok sweetie? Rose will take care of you until then.” Luisa turned her head to the car when the trunk slammed, signalling that she had to go or they would miss their midnight flight.
“Mommy loves you a lot, sweetie” she gave her daughter another kiss before letting go. “See you in a few days.” She offered the child her warmest, most reassuring smile, worried that the child would cry.
“See you in a few days, mommy. Krystal will be a good girl. Krystal loves you, too.” The child called out to her mother as she waved.
Krystal didn’t cry, though her mother did tear up a bit. As far as she was concerned, her mommy was going to work for a few days and would come back to get her afterwards. Her mommy made her a promise that she would come back, just like she did every morning when she dropped her off at kindergarten. Her mommy would always say that she would come and get her when the big hand is at twelve and the little hand is at eleven. Her mommy was never late. Krystal had a lot of trust in her mommy and if her mommy said she would come back in a few days, then she would. Krystal had nothing to worry about. Besides, she was with her mommy Rose. It was going to be ok.
While in Rose’s mind, she was trying to sort everything out. Luisa had told her all about Krystal’s daily schedule and had even took up the liberty of writing it all down in a notebook in case she needed to refer to something. She had the notebook delivered to Rose’s office two days after the call. Rose, of course, not wanting to waste her efforts, studied it and while she had almost every detailed memorised, she was not confident in herself to care for her child, even if it was only for four and a half days. A tug on her shorts snapped her out of her thoughts and her eyes fell onto the girl.
“Will you read Krystal a bed time story?”
“Sure..let’s get you to bed, princess.” Rose lifted her up and carried Krystal up to her bedroom for the week.
After washing up, Rose tucked the child into bed and brought out a book Luisa had packed along with other things that Krystal might need. It was a classic tale of a princess and prince and it apparently was Krystal’s favourite
“…and they lived happily ever after.” she closed the book and glanced back at the child falling asleep. Rose bent over and kissed her forehead and wished her good night before leaving the room to her study.
She did not have much to do that night. Most of her work were completed that Sunday afternoon so she merely sat there and twirled around in her chair for a bit. After she had enough of twirling, she grabbed the notebook on the table and flipped it open and familiar, cursive handwriting spilled from its pages.
The schedule Luisa had written for her was very concise and detailed. Every word written was expected to be followed. She reread the line written next to “11am” again and again
Do not be late. EVER. She’ll cry if you’re late. So never be late. Or else…
That ‘or else’, though only two words, intimidated her. After all, her ex-wife was a very intimidating person, despite her small stature, and can pack quite a punch if angered. Rose chuckled to herself recalling all the trivial fights they had in the past. They were quite fun to be honest, unless of course if Luisa had a book in hand, then it was best for Rose to duck and cover. Luisa rarely threw things at her though, it only happened twice. The first time happened when they started dating, Luisa threw a salt shaker at her for a reason that she had now forgotten. The second and last time was when they had that fight that ended their three-year marriage. She had flung a water bottle at her and it hit Rose square on the face. Needless to say she sported a bruise on her cheek for a week.
After rereading the notes for a while longer she decided to retire for the night, seeing how she would be busy tomorrow onwards tending to their daughter, it was best to get some decent hours of sleep before that. Soon after Rose had settled in bed, the bedroom door creaked open and a little head popped out behind it. Rose squinted her eyes to adjust to the hallway light before getting up and went to the door.
“Krystal..why are you out here?”
The child hugged her pillow tighter and whimpered.
“Krystal couldn’t sleep..and mommy is not with Krystal…”
“Alright..come on princess..” she scooped her up and closed the door “you don’t mind sleeping with me right?”
A soft no was heard and she tucked her into bed again. The little princess slept better in her mother’s company.
***
The next day Rose held her daughter hand as she led her into the school’s compound. She had been there a handful of times after Krystal was enrolled a few months back. It took a while for the teacher to recognise her before she greeted her.
“Good morning, Ms Ruvelle. It’s been a while. And good morning, Krystal. Where’s mommy today?”
Krystal looked up to her mother and Rose nudged her to answer.
“Go on..she’s asking you a question…”
Krystal turned back to her teacher and answered
“Mommy went to work and will be back in a few days..”
“Is that so? Then I take it as you’re staying with your mom until mommy gets home?”
The child nodded.
“Wonderful! Now why don’t you say good bye to mom and go play with your friends.” The teacher beamed at the child and left the duo to greet other children who were coming in.
“Right…” Rose knelt beside Krytal and continued “I will be back at 11 o’clock, ok? You know when is 11 o’clock right?” she showed Krystal her watch.
“It’s when the big hand is at 12 and the little hand is at 11.” Krystal pointed at the watch’s dial.
“That’s my girl. Now go enjoy yourself. I’ll see you later.” Rose kissed her temple and urged the child into the building. She stood and watched till she went into the room before she turned to her heel and left, half wondering if she would be on time later.
Bless her lucky stars; she was on time that day. Her boss did not exactly approve of her leaving the office for a while, she left before she was given an answer. After collecting Krystal, she brought her back to the workplace and somehow managed to bring her into the office completely unseen by her colleagues. It must’ve been her height, Rose mused. She was completely covered by the cubicle walls. The child watched in amazement as her mom towered over the make-shift walls of the somewhat familiar office space and led her into a private office which she has never been in. Krystal has only been in her mom’s workplace once or twice that year, while she recognised the colour of the make-shift walls, the rest were completely alien to her.
“Alright princess, this is my’s office. What chu think?”
Krystal then took a moment to survey the room. It was simply and neat, much like her mom’s home. There was a rather large looking table that sat at the far end of the room and two shelves filled with files and books on the left. Nearer to the door was a coffee table and a small sofa set.
A knock on the door came and it opened to reveal Rose’s boss, Mr Lee and he was not exactly happy that Rose had gone out without proper permission just now. He was about to give Rose a lecture before his gaze fell on the little figure peering from behind his staff.
“Well now, who do we have here?”
“This is my daughter, sir. I’m taking care of her while her mother is away for a conference.”
“You never told me you were married before, Ruvelle.”
“You never asked.”
“I see..so who do we have here? What’s your name, little girl?”
Krystal hid behind her mom even more before Rose placed a hand on her back and guided her front.
“Introduce yourself, princess.”
“My name is Krystal Alver. I’m five years old this year.”
“Well, nice to meet you, Krystal. Aren’t you a cute little girl?”
Rose was relief that her boss’s expression soften considerably after meeting Krystal. If she played her cards right, she would be able to pick her up on time for the week and even have Krystal hang around here until it was time to go home.
“Sir I have a favour to ask.”
“Go ahead.” His boss sat down on one of the sofas and gestured Rose to do the same while Krystal plopped herself onto one of the vacant seats beside her mom.
“I’m taking care of her for the week and I would like to ask for permission to leave the office to pick her up at 11. And also to have her around until it’s time to go since I can’t leave her home alone for so long. Just for this week.”
“Sure you can. I’ll even give you a half an hour extension for you lunch break so that you can bring her home and give her a shower.”
“Wow! I mean..thank you sir! That’s very kind of you.”
“Not a problem at all. Of course, I expect you to work off those extra half an hours in the future, without over-time.”
“Oh that won’t be a problem at all, sir. Thank you for the extra hours. I’ll work them off next week.”
“Very well. I shall leave you two then. It’s very nice meeting you, Krystal.” He waved while the child simply nodded.
***
That day went smoother than Rose had expected. Krystal was a joy to have in the office. When they had returned from lunch half an hour late, Rose’s colleagues swarmed them and started cooing at the little girl who once again, hid behind her. After some coaxing, she introduced herself to the staff members and they started to fuss over her. Rose could see that Krystal was used to the attention, the same scenario probably happen in her mother’s office quite often. Her colleagues were more than happy to have Krystal around, even if it was just for that week. Most of them were parents themselves and their children had all grown up so having a child around in the office for the week was like a trip down memory lane for them.
After dinner that day, things turned rather uneventful. Rose had moved her work station to the living room to keep Krystal company while she played by herself. Rose looked up from her laptop once in a while to check up on the child while Krystal occasionally looked up at her, wondering if her mom was going to play with her. Shyly, she asked.
“Will you play with me, mom?”
Rose looked up in bewilderment. How was she going to play with her? She knew nothing about playing with her. Rose saw her probably once a week, during Saturday afternoons when Luisa would bring her over to her place for a few hours. That was about it. There was rarely playing involved. What was she to do? Just then, as she glanced at her laptop monitor, an idea struck.
“How about we call mommy? Would that be better?”
The child’s eyes lit up as a grin plastered itself across her face.
“I’ll take that as a yes…come here, princess. We’ll see if mommy will answer” she hoisted her up and sat her on her lap while she navigated the cursor to click on the video call button. A few rings later and Krystal squealed in delight as her mommy appeared on screen.
“Mommy!!!!”
“Hey sweetie!! How are you today?”
“I’m good!”
“Did you give Rose any problems today?”
“No, Krystal was a good girl today. Right, mom?” she turned and looked up at Rose.
“Yea..she was a good girl today. Made friends with the people at my office even. They love her.” She patted her daughter’s head with her free arm while the other was wrapped around her waist, preventing her from falling.
“That’s good to hear. Did you have trouble sleeping last night, sweetie?”
“I did but mom’s here so everything is ok” she grinned and gave her mommy a thumb up.
Luisa’s smile looked relieved to Rose. She understood, she left her daughter in the care of a somebody who was never really a parent to her. She didn’t even know if she was capable of taking care of Krystal properly but there really was no one else she could trust.
Krystal was talking animatedly to Luisa, telling her about the day she had while both adults listened intently, until she started to yawn.
“Alright, princess..that’s enough for today. Look at the time! It’s 9!! It’s bed time! Now say good night to mommy”
“Ok..good night mommy..mom says I have to go sleep now.”
“Yes you should, it’s bed time. Good night, sweetie. Mommy loves you, see you soon ok?”
“Krystal loves mommy too. Good night mommy. See you soon.”
A few more good nights after that and the video call ended with a yawning Krystal rubbing her eyes.
“Come on..bed time, princess.” Rose carried her upstairs like it was the most natural thing in the world to do and tucked her into bed.
***
The couple of days following that saw improvements in the interactions between Rose and Krystal. They were getting less and less awkward and they were beginning to enjoy each other’s’ company more and more. Krystal also had practically won over everybody in the office - Mr Lee included and was being fussed over left and right whenever she was in the office. Her mom’s office room door was kept ajar at all times so that she can hear whatever that’s going on while her daughter was out running about in the workplace while she worked inside. There were times where Krystal would sit quietly in the office reading one of her books and would occasionally ask her what certain words meant. Then she would go back to reading again.
Krystal, much like her mother, fell in love with books at a tender age. From her memories, Luisa had told her she started reading since she was about Krystal’s age. Like mother, like daughter, Rose thought. It was quite scary how much the child resembled Luisa. But there was one aspect Rose had found the day before that reminded her of herself. Krystal, like Rose, enjoyed pizza with a passion. It was their fourth day together and the little girl had requested for a pizza meal three times.
“Pizza!! Pizza!! Pizza!!” Krystal would chant whenever Rose asked her what she would like to eat and pouted when she said it was unhealthy to eat it every day.
“But..Krystal really likes pizza…”
“I know..we’ll have it next week or so, ok?” she tried to appease the child.
“Krystal will be seeing mom next week?” the child beamed at the thought.
“Yes, when mommy gets back we’ll go for pizza together. The three of us. How does that sound?”
“That sounds super!!!” Krystal giggled and started clapping with excitement.
“It sure does. Now eat your vegetables. I’m under strict orders from your mommy to have you finish your greens.”
“But..I don’t wanna….” She started to whine
“If you eat them, I’ll take us out for doughnuts later…powdered sugar doughnuts. You love those, don’t you?”
“Really???!!!!” Krystal beamed again
“Yes, really. Now hurry up before it gets cold.”
The doughnut outing after dinner that day gave grave consequences. Krystal was high on a sugar rush and refused to go to bed, prancing about around the house with glee, singing her favourite tunes from the Disney movies she watched every night before bed. Rose was getting out of breath chasing the spunky kid around before successfully tackling her to the sofa.
“Gotcha!!!! And your punishment is to be tickled!!” Rose laughed and proceeded to tickle the daylights out of the munchkin while the giggling little girl squirmed to break free from her tickle sentence.
“Had enough? Or shall I tickle you more?”
“Enough../gasp/ ...hehehehe /gasp/ enough…hehehe” the little girl fought to catch her breath while still giggling.
“Will you surrender and go to bed now?”
“Yes mom..hehehe Krystal will go to bed now” she held her arms out and her mom picked her up and went upstairs. It was their last night together and Rose was really satisfied by how things turned out that night. It had been a fun filled night and she had to admit, despite her earlier reluctance to babysit Krystal, the week didn’t turn out so bad after all.
“Good night, princess. Sweet dreams.” Rose kissed her temple and rolled onto her back. She then felt the weight on the mattress shift and the sheets shuffled slightly and felt a peck on her cheek.
“Good night, mom. Krystal loves you.”
***
When Luisa returned to collect Krystal, the child was quite reluctant to leave and clung onto Rose’s leg while her mother packed up her things.
“Does Krystal have to go??” she looked up and implored.
“Well..technically, Krystal belongs to mommy and now that mommy’s back..Krystal has to go home with mommy. Understand?”
“B-b-but…don’t Krystal belong to mom too??”
“Of course you do..which is why we’re going for pizza in a few days, remember?”
Krystal’s mood became less moody at the mention of her favourite Italian food.
“Yup yup! Krystal has not forgotten! Mommy!!” she called out to Luisa who was standing by the car, letting the pair have their moment.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Mom says we’re going out for pizza in a few days! The three of us!!” the child beamed as she ran to her mother while Rose stood at the other end of the driveway, smiling at them.
“That’s a great idea!! How does lunch on Sunday sound?”
“Lunch on Sunday sounds super” she gave the two of them a thumbs up and Krystal cheered.
“Pizza on Sunday!! Yay!!!!”
“Alright now, sweetie, let’s go home..” Luisa ushered her daughter into the car but she took a u-turn and ran back to Rose.
“Mom…”
“Yes, Krystal?” Rose bent down.
On slight tip toes, Krystal kissed his cheek
“See you on Sunday, mom! Krystal loves you!” and little arms enveloped her into a hug.
“Yea..see you on Sunday, princess. Mom loves you too.” Rose picked her up and carried her to the car.
She stood at the driveway until Luisa’s car disappeared around the corner.
***
The pizza lunch on Sunday went by smoothly and it was fun filled to say the least. Both Rose and Krystal were absolutely in love with their pizza slices and even fought for the last one. Luisa observed the two and a dreamy smile played across her lips. It was a sight she never thought she’d be able to see after her divorce with her wife. Krystal needed another parent in her life and Luisa felt really bad for not letting them spend more time with each other before this.
About a week later Luisa had received a text from Rose, requesting to meet over coffee at their usual spot way back in the days. She had agreed almost too willingly and left Krystal in the care of one of her friends, since their usual babysitter was still out with a broken wrist. A few hours with her friend wouldn’t hurt, she guessed? She reached the coffee house at spotted Rose sitting at their then usual table.
“So how you’ve been?”
“I’m great, how’re you?”
“Great, too! It’s just that..the house feels really quiet now”
“I know what you mean..Petra picked up Krystal about half an hour before I came out to see you and I already felt it..”
“She’s one great kid. You raised a great kid.”
“Rose, thank you..for taking such good care of her. I can tell she got happier after that week.”
“Well, I am her mom.”
“Who knew you were such a big softie..where’s that badass lawyer I married?” Luisa teased
“Well..kids..they do that to you” she waved it off and flashed Luisa a smile, her blue eyes lighting up.
“I haven’t seen that in years…” Luisa rested her chin on her palm and leaned closer.
“Seen what?”
“The way your eyes light up when you smile for real.” that dreamy smile appeared on her face again.
“I’ve missed your smiles, too”
Luisa blushed and cleared her throat to cover it up. She could feel her ears burning red and she knew that Rose had noticed them as well.
“So..you asked me out here today to talk?”
“Ah..yes..I would like to ask if I can be a bigger part of Krystal’s life, your lives.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying is that, I know it might be a few years late but I want back in. I want to be in your lives. We can start over, you know? Start again like back in college..what do you say?”
Luisa stared blankly at her and pondered for a while before leaning forward
“Tell you what, how about you pick me up at 7 on Friday and we’ll see how it goes”
END