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My entire world.
If only I weren’t about to crush his.
He’s so happy, I wish I could freeze this moment in time, tucking it away to pull out when life get hard. Because Lord knows a difficult season’s coming, but I had hope we’d make it through this one, just like we got through all the rest.
I lost my job at the veterinarian’s office last week when the business was sold. It happened fast, the time between the doctor deciding she wanted to retire and making the decision to sell. The building was snapped up almost immediately, and I went from assuming I had a few weeks to make plans to literal days.
I’d been struggling to keep my head above water with the bills for months, but now, I’m drowning.
Noah has no idea, and I’ve been delaying the inevitable conversation, dreading the moment I’d have to look into his hazel eyes and tell him that baseball is now a luxury we can’t afford.
I don’t have an athletic bone in my body, as demonstrated by the fabulous cartwheel, but Noah is an extraordinary baseball player. His coaches repeatedly tell me that he could receive a full college scholarship when the time comes, and he’s only ten.
It’s absurd. How my son has that much talent. How much it costs to keep him doing the thing he loves. How he’s probably going to hate me when I finally confess the truth.
“Where were you working?” Austin asks, pulling my attention back to his face.
“Hm? Oh, um. I was a receptionist at a vet’s office.”
“You like animals?”
“Yeah. Birds are my favorite.”
“That’s perfect. I need someone to take care of my bird.”
That makes my ears perk up, and I try not to overload him with facts. “That’s awesome. I love birds. They’re living dinosaurs.”
He juts his ear out like he didn’t hear me correctly. “Dinosaurs?”
“Yeah. They’re direct descendants of avian dinosaurs.”
“But…” He braces his hands on his hips. “What about crocodiles and alligators? Wouldn’t they be dinosaurs?”
“No. They share an ancestor with dinosaurs, but birds come from carnivorous theropods.” When he arches his brow, I assume he wants me to keep going, so I do. “Theropods had three toes and claws on each foot.” I demonstrate with my own fingers. “Most of them were meat-eaters, and a lot of them were probably covered in feathers. So every time you see a chicken, you’re basically looking at a tiny T. rex. Cool, right?”
“I…guess. You really into dinosaurs?”
Knowing that unloading my knowledge usually disinterests people, I attempt an unaffected shrug. “I was obsessed with the science museum when I was younger.” I aim my thumb over my shoulder as if it were right behind me. “I would’ve lived there if they’d let me. So, what kind of bird do you have?”
“Uh…” He focuses his attention up to the sky. “A white one.”
“A white one?” I incline my head, mentally cataloguing white birds that could be household pets. There are not that many.
“Yeah. I need someone to help me with it. Feed it. Take care of it when I’m not home.”
“And you want me to do that?”
“Yes. I want you to do that.”
“How do you know I can?”
His shoulders slump. “This is not a joke, but… Are you always so difficult?”
“No. Most of the time, I don’t like to frustrate people. But I’ve also never met a stranger who wants to hire me for a job, even though he doesn’t know anything about me and I don’t know anything about the job.”
He heaves my name on a sigh. “Millie.”
“Austin.”
