Project X: Dandelion

Marie held out her hand to Robbie as she tried not to laugh, but her voice shook as she asked him. “Well, are you ready to go? We need to run a few errands and I’m sure that Alexx has things that she has to do today.”

“Do we have to?” Robbie asked with a bit of a whine in his voice, sitting against the wall with a sudden thump. He looked dazed as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Marie answered with a sigh. Sadie wriggled in her arms, and she put her on the floor. They both watched as she crawled over to Robbie and mirrored his actions by sitting against the wall. “That’s unless you don’t want to go visit Aunt Jenny.”

Leaning with his eyes toward the ceiling, he suddenly paused. His eyes lit up and he was nodding incessantly before the words flew out of his mouth. “I want to go see Aunt Jenny.” His nose crinkled up as he stood up and offered his hand to his little sister. “Come on Sadie—we’re going to see Aunt Jenny! “

Squealing, Sadie flailed her hands back and forth, almost tipping over completely on the floor. Robbie was already holding onto her hand, so she was already half leaning back as he tried to pull his sister back up. Truth was: Sadie was already half his weight and she was a year and a half.

“Mom—” There was a slight desperation in his voice, as he struggled to pull his little sister up, who was now purposely leaning back.

“Aaah…” Sadie offered, putting her free hand in her mouth, while letting out a small giggle.   Marie stepped in and picked her up, before they all walked to the door.  

“I hope you enjoy the cookies.”

Alex clasped her hands together. “I will—thanks.” Opening the door, she had a sudden thought. “I know that we don’t know each other that well, but would you like to get together soon?”

“I would like that.” Marie pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I will give you a call when we get back into town and we’ll definitely plan something.”

“Let me give you my number.” Walking into the other room, Alexx returned a few minutes later and handed her a piece of paper.

“Thanks.” Robbie turned the knob and they walked out onto the patio. “What do you tell her?”

“Bye Alexx.”  Waving, he skipped down the stairs onto the grass, where he plucked a dandelion and held it in his hand. He gave a thoughtful look and paused. He ran back to them and held it up to Alexx.

“What’s this called?”  

“It’s a dandelion.”

“Oh.”

“I picked this for you.”

“Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you. I’ll make sure to go and put this in some water.”

Robbie smiled brightly. “Okay. Bye Alexx!” Marie exchanged a thankful glance, and followed behind as he started skipping down the sidewalk. After what had happened last time around, she was sure that Marie was keeping a careful eye on her son.