You guys are great. Really great. Enjoy!
VVVVV
Stella cleaned the kitchen and paid a few bills--things she'd planned on doing earlier in the day before she knew she'd be spending the afternoon and evening with Lucy. She checked on Lucy twice to make sure she was okay, both times finding Lucy intensely concentrating on her artwork.
Just as she moved to check on her a third time, Lucy raced into the kitchen carrying her artwork in one hand and a few crayons in the other.
"I'm almost done, Aunt Stella," Lucy stated as she put the items on the table and climbed into one of the chairs. "I just needa put Uncle Mac's name on it. Can you spell it for me?"
Stella did as Lucy requested, spelling at a pace that allowed Lucy to concentrate on her penmanship. When finished, Lucy studied the picture and finally put the crayon on the table.
"I thought that was how you spell it, but I didn't wanna mess it up, 'cause I'd have to start all over!" Elbow on the table, she rested her chin in her open palm. "Coloring is hard work!"
"It sure is!" Stella grinned as she moved to stand next to Lucy and look at the picture. The black and brown puppy was carefully drawn and colored in, and Stella's grin widened as she looked at the words. If only her male coworkers had Lucy's penmanship! "This is a wonderful picture, Luce. I'm sure Uncle Mac will love it! Do you want to put it on the fridge now or wait and give it to him when he gets here?"
"I wanna put it on the fridge now!" Lucy exclaimed as she slid off the chair and skipped to the fridge, paper in hand. She turned back to Stella. "Can you pick me up so I can put it high so Uncle Mac'll see it?"
"Of course," Stella said, quickly crossing the kitchen and lifting up the little girl.
Lucy giggled and secured her artwork to the fridge door with a magnet. The picture was slightly askew, but neither Stella nor Lucy made a move to straighten it. It was perfect just the way it was.
Once Lucy's feet were back on the floor, she raced back to the table. "I made you a picture, too, Aunt Stella. But your name is even harder to spell than Uncle Mac's!" She climbed back in the chair and once again picked up a crayon. "How do you spell your name?"
Stella spelled her name for Lucy, barely able to contain her emotions. No one had ever made anything for her. Soon Stella was presented with her own piece of artwork. A giant purple X was in the middle of the paper, vertical lines connecting the top and bottom corners of the X. Smaller lines extended from the top of the X's cross. It was the prettiest butterfly Stella had ever seen.
"Thank you, Lucy Goosey," she said as she scooped Lucy into her arms and hugged her close. "This is beautiful."
"You're welcome. Can we put it next to Uncle Mac's puppy?"
"You bet!"
The second picture joined the first, and they stood back and admired Lucy's work.
"That fridge looks better already, Luce! It definitely needed some of your art."
"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "Are we gonna eat soon? I'm hungry."
Stella glanced at the clock, surprised it was already so late. "Yeah," she chuckled, "I guess I better feed you something besides ice cream before your mommy and daddy come to get you."
"Do I hafta eat the broccoli?" Lucy whined. "I don't like broccoli!"
"Vegetables help you grow big and strong! Remember Popeye? He always ate spinach, and then his muscles got really big!" Stella said as she flexed her bicep.
Lucy giggled at Stella's animation. "Aunt Stella, who's Popeye?"
Stella laughed and shook her head. Of course Lucy had never heard of Popeye. Stella searched her brain for the name of any of the current cartoon characters, but all she could come up with was a vague image of a yellow sponge. Somehow she didn't think a sponge would help her argument for vegetable-eating.
"Popeye was a popular cartoon character when I was little."
"Like SpongeBob?"
"Yes, like SpongeBob," Stella answered, glad to at least know the name of the cartoon sponge taking the world by storm. "I bet SpongeBob eats his vegetables," Stella tried.
Lucy put her fists on her hips, a move she had most definitely learned from her mother. "SpongeBob lives in a pineapple in the ocean. They don't got vegetables in the ocean!"
"Oh, I see," Stella replied, biting back a laugh. She really loved this kid. And even though Stella was right about the sponge not helping with the vegetable-eating, Stella was bound and determined to find a way to get Lucy to eat the broccoli. But she would deal with that later. "Okay, it's going to be about twenty minutes before dinner's ready? Do you want to color some more? Maybe see if SpongeBob is on TV?"
"Can I help you cook? Daddy lets me help him. But not with the hot stuff…'cause it's hot."
"You can put the chicken nuggets on the pan."
"Yay!" Lucy exclaimed, jumping excitedly.
Breaded chicken nuggets probably wasn't the healthiest of meals, but at least Lucy would eat them--the ones shaped like dinosaurs, anyway. And Stella figured the chicken nuggets would be balanced by the fresh broccoli and whichever fruit Lucy picked.
Stella pulled the bag of frozen chicken nuggets from the freezer as Lucy tugged a chair to the counter and clambered up into it. Stella helped Lucy wash and dry her hands, and as soon as the pan on the counter, Lucy busied herself with lining up the dinosaur-shaped nuggets on it.
Once she was finished, she jumped off the chair and waited for Stella to put the pan in the oven. As the nuggets baked and Stella prepared the broccoli for steaming, Lucy moved the chair back to the table and cleared the table of her crayons, replacing them with plates, napkins, and forks.
"Is it done yet?" Lucy asked.
"About ten more minutes, Luce."
Lucy sighed. Ten minutes might as well have been forever! She sighed again. Waiting was so hard!
VVVVV
Thanks for reading! Yes, I know I'm utterly evil for leaving it there! Apologies for not having an appearance by a certain character in this chapter. I should really stop saying what I think will happen in the next chapter because my muse has an uncanny ability to prove me wrong. :D No idea how many more chapters, and I don't know who will show up when!
