Here we go. "Okay, Jacob, here we go, buddy." Carisi opened his door and ushered Jacob inside. "Your backpack's gonna go right here," Carisi pointed to a hook he'd cleared off. "Shoes go there. Sound good?"
"Okay!" Jacob sat down and untied his shoes and then handed his backpack to Carisi so he could put it up on the hook. "I have homework. Just a math page. It's adding. I'm good at it."
Homework. Carisi hadn't thought about that. Let's hope first grade ain't changed much in 30 years. "Yeah? Good for you." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's see. Room. You wanna see your room?"
"I have my own room?" Jacob's jaw dropped.
"You bet. C'mere." Carisi led him across the room and down the hall, pushing the door across from his room open.
Jacob stared. "Wow." He looked up at Carisi. "Sonny, this is really cool!" He skipped into the room and plopped himself down on the bed. It was just Carisi's spare bed with the guest sheets and comforter, but he'd added a few graphic novels and a Lego set on a corner shelf. Jacob made a beeline for the Legos and picked up the box. "The Mandalorian!" Jacob grinned. "This will take me like, ten seconds!"
"As long as that ten seconds is after your homework," Carisi laughed. "Okay. DInnertime. While I'm workin' on that, you're gonna go take a shower. And we're gonna see who gets done fastest."
"Me!" Jacob said. "I'm gonna hop right in and hop right out!"
"Cheater," Carisi accused. "No, you're gonna clean up really good. Because I'm not gonna just throw dinner in the microwave and be done. I gotta take my time, just like you do."
Jacob stared at him, and Carisi wondered if he was in for his first argument. Then, Jacob shrugged. "That's fair, I guess."
Carisi showed him how to turn the shower on, gave him a warning about being careful with the water temp, and then left the bathroom door open a crack before going into the kitchen on a hunt for dinner.
His phone buzzed.
How's it going?
He rolled his eyes and sent back a quick reply.
It's been like ten minutes!
He imagined Amanda laughing at him. Sometimes that's all it takes!
Let's hope not.
Carisi found most of the ingredients in the cabinets for a quick chicken noodle soup from scratch and threw it together. He knew from hanging with Jacob for the past few years that his Grandma Lola's soup was one of his favorites, and that the kid was a bottomless pit and would eat almost anything. Good job, Lola. He found some carrots in the fridge and was just slicing them into rounds when the shower shut off. Carisi ducked into Jacob's room and hunted up a shirt, jeans, and underwear, and dropped them just inside the bathroom door. He didn't know how far his guardianship extended with Jacob and he for sure did not want his former Captain and Sergeant breaking down his door.
"I'm cleannn!" Jacob announced, coming into the kitchen. "Is it ready yet?"
"Almost," Carisi said. "You wanna set the breakfast bar?"
"How come you don't have a table like Grandma Lola?" Jacob reached two plates out of the dish drainer and set them on top of the gray countertop.
"No room," Carisi explained. "And it's just me, I don't need a big table."
"Oh." Jacob found the silverware and pulled out two spoons. "That's kinda sad." He put the spoons down as Carisi turned the heat off on the soup. "Where'd you learn to cook so good?"
"My mom."
Jacob nodded. "Grandma was teaching me how to make some stuff. I showed her how to make those tortilla pizzas like we made the one day."
"Yeah?" Carisi was touched that he'd remembered the quick snack, and impressed that he could teach his grandmother how to make them. He pointed to a chair and Jacob sat down, his legs swinging in the air. Carisi dished him up some soup, then himself, and the two of them had their first dinner together.