The Girl Next Door
By Tvdfanpam
Ch. 7
Phoebe's sleepover
Ana knocked on Gail and Jason's front door Saturday morning around eight thirty am. She had been up since five thirty cleaning and doing laundry at her house. She felt guilty about letting Phoebe stay with the neighbors overnight after getting a lecture on stranger danger from her dad of all people!
"Hello Ana." Gail said warmly as she ushered Ana into the house. She could hear little girl giggles coming from another part of the house. "They are in the family room, follow me." Gail smiled at Ana as she led her to her daughter.
"How did it go last night?" Ana asked breathlessly. She hoped Phoebe slept!
"It was wonderful! We slept in the family room in the tent and we watched movies and ate popcorn after we ate dinner of course." Gail was all smiles. "I don't know who had a better time? Jason or Phoebe? I haven't heard Jason laugh so much in such a long time. Thank you for trusting us with your precious little girl. We had so much fun. I feel like I am twenty five again."
"Mommy! Hi! I missed you! Did you miss me?" Phoebe launched herself into Ana's arms. She had a death grip around Ana's neck. She kissed her mom and hugged her then tried to get down. "I loved my sleepover with Miss Gail and Mr. Jason. They said I could call them uncle and auntie. Can I mom, please? I just love them. I want to spend the night again!" Phoebe was jumping up and down in anticipation and excitement.
Ana laughed with Jason and Gail. "Did either of you get any sleep last night?" She asked the couple. They just shrugged.
"We had pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse for breakfast with chocolate chips!" Phoebe was twirling around the room as she talked. "And strawberries and syrup!"
"Thank you both for watching Phoebe for me. I appreciate it so much." She was looking around for Phoebe's blanket and backpack. She needed to run some errands so she was hoping to get Phoebe wrangled around quickly. Gail noticed what she was doing and helped her pick up Phoebe's things. "We will get out of your hair. Please let me return the favor by fixing dinner for you two tonight. I don't grill but I make the best spaghetti."
"She really does. Everybody says so." Phoebe added her two cents worth. "And you can see my room and all my toys and my books and my desk."
"That would be great. Jason loves spaghetti. We can finish unpacking boxes until then. We have to get ready to go back to work next week. That means we won't be around except on the weekends from now on. Well, as soon as Sophie's adoption goes through I am going to quit working fulltime." Gail hugged Phoebe and then she ran to Jason and jumped up in his arms.
"I am so excited to meet your little girl. She is going to be my new best friend!" Phoebe hugged Jason than got down. "Bye, thanks for having me." She blew them kisses as she took Ana's hand and they left.
"Mommy, Miss Gail and Mr. Jason are going to have a little girl not a baby. They are adopting her." Phoebe said as they walked back to their house. "That means she's not in Miss Gail's tummy but a big girl like me."
"Yes they are adopting Sophie. We need to go shopping soon and get her a special present. What do you think she would like?"
"I want to get her a Mr. Bear." Phoebe said immediately. "I love my Mr. Bear and want Sophie to have one too."
"Can we invite Mr. Christian to have spaghetti with us tonight? Mr. Jason said that Mr. Christian is his boss." Phoebe liked having lots of company.
"Probably not tonight. But we will definitely invite Mr. Christian over for spaghetti another time." Ana helped Phoebe into their house and Phoebe ran to her room. "Don't get anything out. I am getting my purse, we have to go to the grocery store. Don't take your shoes off!"
Ana and Phoebe went to Whole Foods for the ingredients for Ana's famous spaghetti sauce, she made the noodles from scratch; and bought food for the next week. Phoebe had just a few weeks left of school for the year then out for the summer. That meant Ana could have a less hectic schedule and mealtimes wouldn't be so strict. She was hoping over the summer Phoebe's appetite would increase with summer little coach's pitch baseball and gymnastics.
Phoebe played in her room while Ana put the groceries away in the kitchen. Ana assembled her ingredients for the spaghetti sauce and made the noodles with her Kitchen aide mixer with the pasta maker attachment. She laid the noodles out to dry on the wooden drying racks her parents got her for Christmas one year and made the sauce. The sauce went into the crockpot while she mixed up the meatballs. Phoebe ran into the room. "Mom, can I please have a bowl of strawberries?" Phoebe gave her puppy dog eyes.
"Yes, then it's time for a nap." Ana spoke quickly to her daughter to avoid a fight. "Miss Gail and Mr. Jason are coming over for supper and you want to be rested." Phoebe pouted as she took the bowl of strawberries and sat down to eat them.
"All done mommy." Phoebe yawned really big. Ana scooped her up in her arms and then took her daughter to use the toilet and wash her hands.
"You can watch Peppa Pig on your tablet until you go to sleep." Ana handed Phoebe her tablet and the little girl snuggled down under her blanket that she used for naps. After a kiss on the forehead, Ana closed the door and went back to the kitchen to finish the meatballs. They went into the oven to bake; Ana could put them in another crockpot to keep them warm when they were done.
She got a loaf of French bread ready to go in the oven and made a lettuce salad and homemade ranch dressing. Ana liked to cook when she was not rushed. Her phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Christian! Hey little mama, last night was great! Hope to see you this week. Let me know what day or night works for you. Ana texted back that she was busy until Thursday night so they quickly made a date for that evening. Phoebe was going to be so excited. Christian was going to take them both out to dinner.
Gail and Jason knocked on Ana's door at precisely 6:00 pm. Phoebe had been waiting all day long it seemed! Ana opened the door and ushered her guests inside. "I hope you brought your appetites! I made enough spaghetti for 10 people!" Ana was really glad to see them, they seemed like such a nice couple and she needed more friends. She was glad that they were in the neighborhood.
"We did and we brought wine!" Gail said as she handed a wrapped package to Ana. "This is for you and this is for Phoebe!" The little girl jumped into Jason's arms and hugged his neck. "I missed you both very much!" She thanked them for the package without her mother having to remind her. The tissue went flying out of the bag. "I love it!" She gushed. She pulled the box out of the bag. It was a realistic baby doll.
"Her name is Meadow and she comes with an adoption form. You can adopt her and be her mommy." Phoebe handed the box with the doll to Jason so he could take her out of the box for Phoebe. "I can adopt a little girl just like you!" Phoebe hugged the doll tight.
The doll was such a big hit for Phoebe. She could hardly eat her supper because she wanted to play with her new baby. "Mommy please excuse me!" Phoebe squirmed in her seat.
"You may be excused." Ana said to her daughter who took her plate and napkin to the counter beside the sink in the kitchen. She ran out of the room and into her own room. She had to take care of her baby!
"That was a very thoughtful gift for Phoebe. Thank you so much!" Ana was moved by their thoughtfulness. "You don't have to shower her with gifts though, she may think that you will give her a gift every time you come over." The adults laughed at that and drank their wine.
"Dinner was great Ana. You do make the best spaghetti that I have ever eaten." Jason toasted Ana with his wine glass. Gail stood up and went to take hers and Jason's plates into the kitchen like she saw Phoebe do earlier.
"Thanks Gail but you can relax. I can do the dishes after Phoebe goes to bed. I am going to finish up a project that I was working on so I will be up late tonight." Ana enjoyed her glass of wine too.
"If you need us, we will be up late as well. We are going to finish unpacking and hang some pictures. There's not much left to do to be moved in but I want to have everything done before Sunday night. We will go back to our apartment in the city around 5:00 pm. The time off went by fast." Gail sipped her wine. "We should hear something about the adoption next month; we want to have the summer with Sophie before school starts in September. "
"Have you looked at schools yet? The local school is great for a public school but Phoebe will go to Chestnut Hill Academy next year. They didn't have a preschool program so she will start kindergarten there. " Ana explained to the two prospective parents.
"We will definitely check it out. Thanks for the info." Gail smiled at Ana. "We need to be going, thanks again for supper, it was delicious." The women hugged and Ana let the couple out the front door. She locked up after they left and went to check on Phoebe who had been very quiet.
Ana's little princess was curled up on her bed 'reading' a book to her new doll. She took her phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture. "Time for a bath Phoebe." Ana spent the next hour bathing Phoebe and read her a story before putting her in bed with her doll. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep clutching her baby. Ana went into the kitchen and cleaned it up and put the dishes in the dishwasher and started it. The crockpot she set to soak in the sink. Then she went to her office and worked for two hours. Her phone buzzed around 11:00 pm. Are you still awake? Christian asked. Ana texted back a yes and her phone rang immediately.
"Glad you are still awake." Christian said breathlessly. "I was working in my home office and was hoping to talk to you before you went to bed." He paced up and down the hallway by his office, running his free hand through his hair.
"What a coincidence, I just finished working in my home office!" Ana said with a laugh. "Are you spying on me?" She asked, half joking.
"What? NO! I was just thinking about you and wanted to say hello." Ana thought that was so endearing!
"Gail and Jason came for dinner tonight and brought Phoebe a baby doll that she can adopt. She loved it of course."
"That's nice. Did they bring you anything?" He asked joking back. That got a laugh from Ana.
"Yes! They brought wine! We drank it all. They brought my favorite, I wonder how they knew that?" She asked playfully.
"I might have mentioned that you like Saracco Moscato." Christian resumed his pacing. "Did Jason eat all the spaghetti? I was hoping you would have some leftovers that I could filch."
"I have a lot of leftovers. Phoebe and I could bring you some tomorrow if you want." Ana said. That was the first time she mentioned coming to see him.
"That would be great. I will be home all day." His mind was racing. Ana was coming to his house.
"Okay, text me your address. I will let you know what time we are coming over. Phoebe will want to come first thing after I mention it so I hope you will be up early."
"Awesome. See you tomorrow. Have a good night." He hung up after she said goodnight. He started pacing around his apartment, looking at it with a critical eye. It really was a bachelor pad. The best part of it was the view of Seattle but it was not a family home. He went back into his office and emailed that realtor that Jason and Gail used when they bought their house.
A/N: Thanks for the interest in this story. I realized it had been a year tomorrow since I updated it. I have lots of ideas for this story and will continue.