Forgive for Joy's Sake (Part 14)

Tuesday morning came entirely too fast. My bag was already in my car and I was enjoying a quiet cup of coffee before I headed to my parent’s house. I had already talked to my mother who kept calling to make sure I wouldn’t run late. She was already upset with me for deciding not to stay over Monday evening at the last minute. When I pulled into their driveway, my father was waiting for me on the porch.  I climbed out and grabbed my laptop bag and luggage from the back seat. 

“Morning, Dad,” I called to him as I made my way up the walkway. “You and Mom can relax. I’m here and you can sail off into the sunset.”

He met me at the bottom of the porch, grabbed my laptop bag and luggage, and carried them up the stairs. “Morning, baby girl. Your mama and I plan to do just that.” He led the way into the house. “Oh and remember Chelsea will be here at 7:30 to watch Joi and help keep an eye on Mel while you work.”

Mom came from the kitchen and gave me a hug. “I put Mel’s therapy schedule on the refrigerator, which is fully stocked so you should be set until we get back. I even have a menu plan, also on the fridge, in case you need some ideas.” She buzzed around the room with her hands gesturing as she talked. She looked down at her watch. “Oh, our ride should be here soon. Let me go grab my purse.”

***

The moment my parents pulled off, I heard Joi’s footsteps pattering down the hall. I’d already been warned that she had learned how to climb out her crib. “Here we go,” I muttered, looking down at my watch. There was still thirty minutes before Chelsea would arrive and I could log into work. I was on my own until then. I waited for Joi to toddle her way into the living room and find me. She entered holding ZaZa to her chest. I waited to see what her reaction to seeing me would be and was pleasantly surprised when she smiled, dropped ZaZa, and ran over to me with outstretched arms. I scooped her up in my arms and smiled back at her. “Good morning my little cutie. Are you ready to spend the week with Auntie J?” I swooped up the stuffed animal and handed it to her before heading into the kitchen to find her something to eat.

By the time Chelsea arrived, I had fed Joi and changed her wet diaper. I handed her over, quickly peeked in on Mel, who was still sleep, before heading to my father’s office and starting my work day. Wes called me just as Chelsea peeked in.

“Are you expecting me to take care of Mel’s lunch too? Your mom didn’t say I was responsible for feeding anyone other than Joi. To be honest, I am no cook, but if you need me to make a sandwich or warm a can of something up, I don’t mind.”

“No, I’ll take care of it, just give me a few minutes.” I waited until she closed the office door before returning to Wes on the phone. “Sorry about that. You were asking how my first day was going and so far it’s going okay. I have to jump off this call though, because I need to hurry up and take care of lunch before my next meeting.”

“Okay, I’ll call you later. Enjoy the rest of your day.” He hung up before I could ask him why he felt the need to call back. I decided to let his next call go to voicemail. He could call Mel to check in, there was no need to keep checking in with me.

I hurried to the kitchen and looked at my mom’s menu plan. It was simple enough so I decided I would follow it to save myself the headache of trying to figure out what to cook every day.   Today’s lunch would be the easiest because she had already prepared it.  It was chicken salad sandwiches and homemade black bean soup.  I put the soup on to warm, took a deep breath and headed to Mel’s room. 

After knocking on her door, I waited until I heard her say “Come in,” before entering.  “Lunch is almost ready. Do you want me to bring it to you on a tray or do you want to eat in the kitchen?”

“I’m not hungry.” She was turned away from me facing the wall.

“I didn’t ask you if you were hungry. The question was do you want me to bring the food to you or eat it in the kitchen.” She had already skipped breakfast by sleeping in and now she wanted to skip lunch. My patience with her was short and if she planned to be difficult while on my watch then she was in for a rude awakening.

“Fine, just bring it to me.” Her speech was still slurred, but the bad attitude was quite clear. 

“Am I missing something? What is with the attitude? Were you playing all nice Mel for my parents and Wes. Trust and believe I can find someone else to take care of you until they get back.” I grabbed her wheelchair and rolled it by the bed. I snatched back the covers, ignoring her wide-eyed surprise as she rolled over to face me.

“Let’s go.” I said holding my hand out for her to grab so I could help her out the bed and into the chair. She opened her mouth I suspect to protest, but when she looked at my face, she quickly closed it and grabbed my hand. Not today devil, I thought as I helped her into her wheelchair.

In silence I rolled her to the kitchen table, where Chelsea already had Joi sitting in her highchair eating finger food.  When Joi saw Mel, she lit up and tried climbing out of her chair. Mel lit up instantly, so I rolled her closer to Joi and lifted her out of her chair and onto Mel’s lap.

“Chelsea, looks like mom made a sandwich for you too.  Do you want it or are you going to stick with what you brought?” I pulled two wrapped sandwiches from the refrigerator.

“Uh, that would be your mom’s food for the win, especially if it comes with some of that soup that has the kitchen smelling so good?”

I chuckled as I sat one sandwich in front of her and one in front of Mel, “Soup and homemade lemonade.”   Going over to the stove I turned off the soup, grabbed three bowls and filled them.  I repeated my sandwich voyage with the soup, careful to keep the hot soup out of Joi’s reach.  I joined them at the table, after pouring the drinks and grabbing my food.

Chelsea returned Joi to her chair and kept her entertained as she ate to give Mel the opportunity to eat. We ate without speaking until I looked at my phone and quickly stood. “Mel do you want to stay out here a while or go back to your room?  I have to get back to work. I’ll have to take care of the dishes later.”

Mel looked at Joi, then asked Chelsea.  “Where are you two headed?”

“Into the family room until Joi’s naptime in an hour.” Chelsea said as she cleaned up Joi’s mess.

“Do you mind rolling me into the family room.  I’ll be ready to go back to my room when Joi goes down for her nap.”  Mel asked me.

Without a word I walked over to her and unlocked the wheels on her chair and pushed her into the family room. I turned to walk away when Mel called behind me, “Thank you Joy and I apologize for earlier.”

I kept walking but called back, “No worries.” She’d better be glad she’d come to her senses, because if she’d have kept that attitude, I would have rolled her right out the door and sat her ungrateful behind by the garbage can on the curb.

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