"He does realize I'm almost ten right?" Kenzie asks her mother one afternoon. "Actually what is going to happen with my birthday?"
"We'll figure your birthday out," Rilla tells her as she paints her daughter's toenails. "And I am sure he realizes you are almost ten."
"Then why did he get me a doll?" Kenzie asks. "I mean she's pretty and I like her but a doll?"
"He's new to this Kenz, poor guy was probably afraid to show up empty-handed or something and thought maybe a doll of Ariel might be a good ice breaker?" Rilla explains to her looking up from her job as a nail artist. "What brings this up, it's been almost three weeks since you meet eachother so what's bothering you?"
"Nothing really? It's just that Summer commented on the doll the other day and I wasn't sure what to tell her. It's hard to explain Ken," Kenzie says after a moment. "It's all right if I just call him Ken for now?"
"You can call him anything you want Bug, he told you that." Rilla reminds her.
'I know he joked saying I could call him to captain like everyone else," The young girl told her mother. "Do you think we're alike?" Kenzie asks boldly.
"I think you have some similarities yes," Rilla says after a good moment.
"Do you like him?" Kenzie asks.
"I think so far he is a very nice man, and the people I spoke to about him had nothing but good things to say about him," Rilla says after a moment. The poor man felt so nervous he sent a list of character references at one point. "But much like you, we are still getting to know each other and really he's here to know you, not me Kenzie." Rilla reminds her.
"I saw him starring at your butt," Kenzie giggles. "It was when Cheshire hissed and made a swipe at him." To which the young cat looks up from his bed, white, black and orange in spots.
"I doubt that," Rilla brushes that comment off.
"He saved dinner," Kenzie pointed out. "You almost burnt down the house again." She emphasized the again cheekily.
"Don't be sassy young miss," Rilla warns her but grins. Her cooking was far from great, why they ate a lot of salad, vegetables, and the healthiest nuggets she could afford to buy.
"He's a pescatarian, did you know that?" Kenzie tells her mother proudly.
"Well, at least we finally know why you refuse to eat anything other than chicken nuggets for protein, and why he opted for frozen fresh sticks," Rilla teases. "Because that does not come from me or my family, and there you are all finished," Rilla tells her capping the nail polish.
Kenzie grins and looks at her freshly painted nails, toes included.
"You doing all right with all of this?" Rilla asks her. "It's a big adjustment for you."
"I don't know what to tell the kids at school," Kenzie admits.
"Just tell them when you're ready, there's no rush on these things," Rilla tells her, pulling her close to for a cuddle. "It will get easier the more you see him, you won't be strangers and it will be more comfortable."
"Do you think he would want to come to see my circus show?" Kenzie asks next.
"We can always ask, offer the date to him so if he wishes to come he can plan ahead for it," Rilla tells her.
"What about my birthday though, usually at Grammys and Grampas for our birthdays? I mean, I wished for this moment for years when blowing out my candles to know who he was. To have a dad watching me do it?"
"We can figure out your birthday with him," Rilla tries to comfort her daughter. "Is that what you wished for truly?"
Kenzie shrugs, looking away from her mother. "It seemed like the thing to wish for? I know you always tried to be honest and make up for the fact that he wasn't around, but it still felt like something was missing, but him showing up? It made me feel slightly more normal?"
Rilla smiles sadly, she always was afraid of Kenzie feeling different from the lack of a father in her life.
"That's storybook gardens, Grammy takes me here when they came to visit. She likes it there, did you know my middle name is Alice Ken? Like Alice in Wonderland of course? Kenzie sprouts off as she walked towards the park on a warm early may afternoon.
"I did your mother told me," Ken says nodding, pausing to look behind as Rilla was on a telephone call, her way to give them some privacy while still being close.
"It's much better than her own middle name she tells me. Isolde. But I think it pretty, do you think it's pretty?"
"It's a very unique and lovely name," Ken says carefully.
"My grampa is a doctor, he's still working even though we threw him a retirement party last year." Kenzie goes on. "He says he's helping Uncle Jem and Aunty Faith, but we all know he just doesn't want to give up working. Aunty Nan teaches piano and is married to Uncle Jerry who is a lawyer. They have Lillie and Luca who are my cousins. They are out on Island. While Uncle Walter works in the Toronto area, Aunty Di has Tansy, my cousin, she's like mom as she's not married either, Uncle Shirley is a blast when he visits, he usually does escape rooms with me, or takes me to the fair."
Rilla can't help but laugh at Kens exasperated looked but manages to nods his head.
"She'll be fine Rilla, he's a dad. No, what is worse than dads, having three mothers," Rilla hears her sister Nan through the phone. "Mom and Alicia and then your mom Anne, do you know what it's like to start your period and have three women gushing over you? Horrible!"
"Yes, no thank you," Rilla laughs. "Though she's getting to be about that age being almost ten." She sighs.
"Do you think you can bring Max next time?" Kenzie goes into her next round of questions. "What does he do when you're at work, or when you come here? Is he old, what type of dog is he?"
"Max is a sheepdog, he's just turned seven I got him after my first deployment. He tends to go in between my parent's houses if I'm away from long periods of time, which he likes because they spoil him." Ken says taking his phone out of his pocket and Turning the screen to her, "that's Max."
"He's so adorable!" Kenzie squeals loudly. "He's like Max from the Little Mermaid! You can't even see his eyes."
"He's due for a groom," Ken laughs lightly "He's rather big so I don't think your mother would like him in her little car."
"So we can just take your car?" Kenzie shrugs. "My booster is moveable, it's not like a car seat, plus I'm like a whole inch and half away from being tall enough. I'm four feet and six and a half inches, and 60 pounds. Technically I don't need a booster, but grampa says it better safe than sorry with such things." Kenzie tells him
"If he's a doctor that makes sense," Ken says nodding his head.
"Max is adorable though, mom says a bunny and a cat is work enough for us. Oh! Take of picture of me," she demands of him as she sets herself into a pose as they came to some sort of tree. "Oh, I'll do my cartwheel for you! That way you can show people you know. I'm the best in my gymnastics troupe."
She pulls out all stops for her tricks, ignoring the fact that she was wearing a dress
"You're in public Kenzie!" Rilla calls out hanging up her phone.
"I have spankies on!" Kenzie calls back out and she did have a pair of little shorts she wore sometimes wore for gymnastics under her sundress.
"Spankies?" Ken asks bewildered.
"Her gymnastic shorts," Rilla fills him in. "We watched bring it on one day, and the word stuck. Actually, she has a circus event coming up soon at the end of June, it's actually interesting to watch, but you're more than welcome to come, it's a Friday night though?"
"Text me the address and I'll make it work," Ken tells her looking back out to Kenzie was yelling at them for attention. "Is she always this hyper?"
Rilla lets out a musical laugh and pats his arm. "This isn't even the tip of the iceberg."