"So, Cady, have you given any thought to who you'd want at your birthday party? It's next Saturday, you know?" Roger asked nonchalantly with a smile, behind his morning paper.
Cady finished crunching her Corn Flakes. "I don't know, Daddy. Def'nitely Julia."
Roger put down his paper. "Well, I figured that. You two are inseparable." Julia Martin moved, with her family, next door to the Parsons on Richmond Avenue when she was one year old and became friends with Cady at their mutual age of three. "Is there anyone else?"
"Daddy, I just started kinnergarden. I don't know anyone at school yet," she said in an exasperated tone.
"It doesn't have to be anyone from school. Don't you have some more neighborhood friends you'd like to invite?"
She kept munching her cereal with a thoughtful look on her face, her dark brown waves of hair framing her face, which was illuminated by her bright hazel eyes. "I don't know, Daddy. Where's Momma?"
"She's working the early shift at the hospital. What about Betty Lou Montgomery?" he asked.
"Oh Daddy, she's a cry-baby," she replied, putting her spoon down.
"Cady, that's not very nice. Some people are just more emotional," he replied.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," Cady replied, always sensitive to his disappointment.
"Why don't you invite her because it would be the nice thing to do?" he said.
"Okay, Daddy," she said with a frown.
"Both sets of grandparents will be there," he said with a smile.
"Poppa and Mawmaw! Gramma and Grampa!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm.
"I knew you'd be excited. We haven't seen any of them in a while," he replied.
"I thought of some friends from the neighborhood, Daddy - Charlie and Steven," she said.
"Oh, you want some boys at the party?" he asked with a smirk.
"Daddy! What diff'rence does that make?" she said with her hands on her hips and a flash in her eyes.
"You're right. You're right," he said, holding out both hands. "I'm sorry. I'm sure they're both nice boys," he said.
"They are, Daddy. They're a lot of fun," she said.
"Okay, okay," he replied. "Oh yeah, your Uncle Robert and Aunt Janice are coming with your cousin Dorothy too."
"Yea!" she exclaimed and jumped up from her chair.
Roger looked at the clock. "Okay, Cady. You better get your things ready for school. I'm taking you to the bus stop today," he said. Roger had started his own private law practice over the summer after adding another room with a separate entrance for clients. Since starting his private practice, he was able to walk Cady to school, and mostly did so when Cynthia worked the morning shift at the hospital.
Cady ran down the hall to her bedroom, while Roger cleaned up her spot at the table. Minutes later, she emerged with her satchel, teeming with enthusiasm for school. "I'm ready!" she declared.
"I'm just about finished rinsing these dishes," he said. After he finished, he took her hand and the two left the house. They walked about two blocks down and stood and waited for the school bus that went to Barrick Elementary School.
"What are you learning in school right now?" Roger asked.
"Nothing," she said.
"Nothing?" he asked.
"I already know what we're learning," she said.
"Oh?" he asked.
"ABC's. Some short words. You know," she replied.
"Ah. Well, that's probably because your mother and I spent a great deal of time giving you a head start," he replied. "You're going to have to challenge yourself."
"Okay, Daddy," she said, looking at her feet which she moved back and forth in the dirt. "We have a classroom pet."
"You do? What kind?" he asked.
"A guinea pig," she replied. "He's cute."
"I'm sure he is," he said.
"Did you know that they're food in Peru?" she asked.
Roger showed some combination of surprise and disgust on his face. "No, I did not know that," he replied. "Where did you learn that?"
"In the 'cyclopedia in the den," she said.
"Oh," he said. "Money well spent," he muttered under his breath. Just then, the school bus rounded the corner and pulled up to the pair. Roger knelt down and adjusted the collar on Cady's dress and patted the top of her head.
"You have a good day at school today, sweetie," he said, as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks, Daddy," she said, looking at the bus. "The bus driver is waiting. I better go."
"Love you," he said.
"Love you too, Daddy," she said as she ran up to the bus.
Roger waved at Cady as the bus pulled away and he walked back to their house to prepare for his 9 O'clock meeting with a client. Bill Houston had led several clients his way when he initially started his practice, to give him a boost. Roger was mostly handling divorces, wills, business acquisitions and incorporation, and drawing up mortgages and contracts of all kinds. Sometimes he took civil litigation cases, though only ones he believed in, unlike when he worked for Hermann Hospital where Cynthia continued to work as an internal medicine specialist.
Roger's first few clients of the day were, in order, a copyright infringement, a patent violation, and the creation of a trust fund. He had a lunch meeting at the Barbecue Inn that day with Joe Spinelli, who wanted advice on selling his kitchen appliance business, and help with any documents needed to meet that end. Roger left his home office at 11:30 and arrived at the Barbecue Inn at about 11:55. He took a seat and ordered some sweet tea while he waited. Minutes later, Spinelli showed up. "Sorry I'm a little late. I had a phone call from my wife and it went a little long. I'm sure you know what I mean," he said cryptically.
Roger didn't know what he meant. "That's alright. You're not that late."
Spinelli looked at his watch, and said, "Oh, good. What's good to eat?"
"All of it," Roger said.
"What are you having?" Spinelli asked.
"Probably the Barbecue Pork Sandwich," he said.
Spinelli looked the menu over. "I think I'll just have the fried chicken."
The two men made small talk until the waitress arrived and they placed their orders. Spinelli was having second thoughts about selling his business, so Roger helped him weigh the options, pros, and cons.
"I want to retire, but I don't know what I'll do with myself," Spinelli said.
"You might find that there's more to do. A lot of people do," Roger replied.
"I don't know. I've been doing retail so long, it's all I know. It's eaten up so much of my time, I never have developed interests outside of work," Spinelli said.
"That can be problematic, or you can see it as an opportunity to try a whole bunch of new things," Roger replied.
"There's also the fact that these new-fangled appliances are quite lucrative these days. Maybe I'm just hitting my stride," Spinelli said.
"Perhaps," Roger replied.
"I don't know. I feel like I should think about this some more," Spinelli said.
"It's your business. You should do what you want. I can draw up papers for the sale anytime," Roger said.
"Thanks Roger," Spinelli said. "It's good to have someone to bounce all this stuff off of."
"No problem," Roger replied.
A voice came from Roger's left. "Hello Roger."
"Oh, hi, Bill. What are you doing here?"
"A lunch meeting." Bill Houston extended his hand to Joe Spinelli. "Bill Houston."
Spinelli shook his hand, "Joe Spinelli."
"Nice to meet you," Bill said. Spinelli nodded.
"Thanks for sending that client to me last week, Bill," Roger said.
"Glad I can help," Bill replied. "I hope you've been keeping busy in your new practice."
"I have. Word of mouth is starting to have some effect, I think," Roger replied.
"Well, you're an excellent and very professional attorney," Bill replied. He turned to Spinelli. "You've made a great choice."
"I had a feeling," Spinelli replied.
"What have you been up to, Bill?" Roger asked.
"The usual. I'm more involved in petrochemicals and plastics these days. Of course, my priority is raising Mattlock," he said.
"Of course," Roger agreed.
"He's quite the handful these days," Bill said. "How's your girl?"
"She's great. She says the funniest things," Roger said.
"Mattlock does too. They certainly are more interesting, or at least entertaining, at this age," Bill said.
"I just had a thought. Cady is having her fifth birthday party next Saturday and maybe you can come and bring Mattlock. Our family will be there with some neighborhood children. There will be boys Mattlock's age there too," Roger said.
"That's a kind offer," Bill said and thought to himself briefly. "I don't have anything planned for that day. I think I'll take you up on that. Just call my office and give me the particulars when you have them."
"Okay. Will do," Roger replied.
"Well, I'm sure Mr. Spinelli here doesn't want me using up more of his valuable time with you, so I'll leave you two to your business. Thanks again for the invitation," Bill said. He extended his hand to Roger first and then Spinelli, "Have a good day, Mr. Spinelli."
"Thanks," Spinelli said. Bill walked over to his table leaving the two men to their lunch meeting. "Was that Bill Houston of Houston Oil?"
"The one and only," Roger said.
"How do you know him?" Spinelli asked.
"It's a long story," Roger replied vaguely.
"It must be," Spinelli said.
Roger and Spinelli got their lunches and after eating, concluded their business together for the day. Roger went back to his office to meet another client before Cady came home from school. The client was interested in a standard Last Will and Testament, so it was an uncomplicated case. He left the house around 2:15 to meet Cady at the bus stop. Eventually the bus arrived and Cady stepped off and ran up and hugged Roger.
Roger hugged back. "Oh, thanks sweetie. How was your day?"
"Awful!" she replied, with tears welling in her eyes.
"Awful? What happened?" he asked.
She said through sobs, "The teacher kept asking questions, and I kept answering because no one else was."
"And?"
"Almost everyone made fun of me at recess. They called me 'teacher's pet,'" she said.
"Well, calm down, now. They're just jealous. You're very smart," he said.
"It just makes me sad, Daddy," she said.
"I know, sweetie. We can talk with your mother about it when she gets home," he said in a calming tone.
Roger scooped her up and held her in his right arm and carried her satchel in his left hand. He carried her back to the house with her arms around his neck.
"Why don't you get out of your school clothes, and then I'll look over your homework with you. Your mother should be home soon."
Cady came out of her room in a white short-sleeved shirt with a collar edged in lace, and in the boys' plaid pants Cynthia had bought her at her request. Just then, Cynthia came home. Cady saw her come through the front door.
"Momma!" she exclaimed and ran to greet her.
Cynthia hugged Cady and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"How was your day, Cindy?" Roger called from the kitchen.
"Exhausting. Yours?" she called back.
"Well, I wouldn't say that it was exhausting," he said. "Ran into Bill Houston today."
"Oh?" she said.
"Yeah," Roger said coming into the living room. "Cady, I put a snack on the table for you in the kitchen. Your satchel is in there too," he said.
"Thanks Daddy," she said, and walked into the kitchen.
Roger waited for Cady to be out of earshot. "The other kids made fun of Cady today," he said.
"Oh?" Cynthia said with an edge to her voice.
"Apparently being the smart one in class has already drawn her the moniker, 'Teacher's Pet," he said.
"Ah, well, it was only a matter of time. I guess one of us should go up and talk to her teacher," she said.
"I can do that," Roger said. "Maybe get her teacher to give her some more challenging assignments in the meantime. Cady seems bored."
"She probably is. I'll talk to her at bedtime tonight about how to handle her classmates," she replied.
"Okay," Roger replied. Then, he grabbed Cynthia and held her tight and gave her a sensual kiss at the same time Cady came out of the kitchen.
"Daddy! Momma! Ewww!" she said, and turned on her heels and went right back into the kitchen while Roger and Cynthia smiled at each other.
The three sat down for dinner by early evening.
"Cady wants Julia, Betty Lou, Steven, and Charlie to be guests at her birthday party next Saturday," Roger said.
"Oh? Betty Lou, huh?" Cynthia said.
"Daddy said I should," Cady said with some consternation on her face.
Cynthia looked reticently at Roger and then back at Cady. "Daddy's right."
"Uh-huh," Cady said, unconvinced.
"Cady, I wanted to let you know that I invited a friend of mine and his son who's your age. I figured it would be okay since there'd be other boys there," Roger said.
"That's okay, Daddy," Cady said.
"Is that what you talked to Bill about today?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah. He ran into me with a client at lunch and I thought I'd invite him since he's been sending clients my way," said Roger.
"It's okay with Cady, and it's her birthday, so it's okay with me," she said smiling at Cady who was eating her dinner.
"Cady, what do you think you'll want for lunch on your birthday?" Roger asked.
She yelled, "Pizza!"
"I don't know why you even had to ask, Roger," Cynthia said.
"I just like to hear her yell 'pizza,'" Roger said with a smile. "What about for dessert? What kind of birthday cake?" Roger asked.
"Mawmaw's coming. Maybe Momma can make her German Choc'late Cake," Cady said.
"That's a good idea, Cady," Cynthia said. "She'd love that."
"Just chocolate ice cream to go with it, then," Cady continued.
"That's a lot of chocolate in one place. Are you sure, Cady?" Roger asked.
"Daddy, everybody loves chocolate," she said, without a hint of doubt.
"You're right," he said, and winked at Cynthia.
The family finished dinner and Cady helped clean off the table and Roger and Cynthia cleaned the dishes.
"Did you finish your homework?" Roger asked.
"Yes, Daddy. Can I watch Kukla, Fran, and Ollie before bedtime?"
"Let me check your homework first," Cynthia said. Cady handed Cynthia her homework.
"Wow. You're right, Roger. This just isn't that challenging," Cynthia said. She turned to Cady. "Are you bored in school, honey?"
"Uh-huh," Cady said hesitantly.
"Your dad is going to talk to your teacher about giving you something a little extra or something more challenging, okay?" she said.
"Okay, Momma. Can I watch the show now?" Cady asked.
"Sure, but we're going to do some more reading before bedtime, too," she said.
"Okay, Momma," Cady said, running out of the kitchen into the living room to turn on the television.
When Cady went to bed, Cynthia talked to her about her classmates picking on her and the usual 'sticks and stones' speech that parents give their children. She told her that the other kids were jealous and perhaps she should just let some of the other students answer the questions or even let there be silence from the class at times, if necessary. And that whether or not the other kids answered questions was the teacher's problem and not hers. Then they took turns reading paragraphs in The Little Bookroom, a collection of short stories for children by Eleanor Farjeon, with Cynthia helping Cady with the harder words. Cynthia kissed Cady goodnight after they finished reading.
"I love you, Cady," Cynthia said.
"I love you, Momma," Cady replied.