“You didn’t tell him any funny stories about me, did you, momma? I don’t like when you do that; everyone laughs at me!”
“No, I haven’t told him any of those yet. I figured I’d save the best for last.” I giggled with my daughter. “He’s going to bring us some dinner. Are you in the mood for fried chicken?”
“Mm, that sounds good! I don’t know how much I’ll be able to eat, but I’ll try.”
“That’s all I ever ask. No matter what, mommy always loves you, okay?” I reiterated as I tearfully smiled at my daughter.
When Nevaeh became sick, she hadn’t had much of an appetite. It didn’t worry me at first since Nevaeh went through bouts where she wouldn’t eat anything to where she’d gobble up everything in sight. But these the last couple of weeks, she’d hardly eaten anything. I hoped her decreased hunger was the reason she was so weak, but my instinct told me that there was more than meets the eye.
Before Dale arrived, I ran around the house trying to tidy up. My home wasn’t ordinarily messy, but since I’d been taking care of my daughter so much, everything kind of fell by the wayside. Scampering from room to room, I was out of breath by the time I was done. That will have to be good enough, I thought as I looked around the house. I checked on Nevaeh again as I finished up with the housework.
“Momma, why are you running all over the place?” she questioned when she noticed me standing in the doorway.
“I wasn’t,” I lied, fanning my face in an attempt to cool myself off.
“I could hear you. I bet you ran through every room there is.” Nevaeh laughed.
“Mommy was picking up before our friend Dale gets here. I’ll come back in a few minutes to check on you.” I promised.
I made a mad dash to the bathroom, rubbed on some deodorant, smoothed out my hair and began to apply a bit of lipstick. I had just opened my tube of mascara when there was a knock on the front door. “Shit, Dale’s here,” I whispered. I quickly swiped my long lashes with a coat of black mascara and yelled, “I’m coming!” as I approached the front door.
Dale was carrying a few bags of food with a variety of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, biscuits, coleslaw and condiments.
“Oh my! Dale, you didn’t have to bring all of this!” I marveled as I rifled through the containers, placing everything on the table.
“It was no problem. I figured I’d pick up some extras so you can reheat them tomorrow for lunch or dinner,” he smiled at me.
“Thanks, Dale, that was very thoughtful of you,” I gloated. “Here, let’s make our plates and I’ll bring Nevaeh out to join us once everything’s ready.”
“You lead and I’ll follow.” He replied.
We formed a nice little assembly line as we put food on the dishes. I was in charge of the chicken and Cole slaw while Dale handled the mashed potatoes and gravy and corn. After our drinks had been poured, I went into my bedroom to bring Nevaeh out for dinner but she was fast asleep. I debated waking her up for a moment but decided to let her rest; she could eat later.
“Well, I guess it’s you and me,” I announced as I walked back into the kitchen.
“How come? Doesn’t she want to meet me?” Dale frowned, a little disappointed.
I shook my head, “No, she’s sleeping. I was going to wake her, but I’d like her to get rest so she has some strength. She can eat later. I’ll heat it up for her.”
As I pulled up a seat next to Dale, I had no idea that our evening was about to become much deeper than I’d ever imagined.
Chapter Six
“Thanks for dinner. It was delicious. If you don’t mind, I’m going to run to my room real quick to check on Nevaeh. You can go ahead and have a seat on the couch.”
Dale nodded as I began making my way down the Harris to my bedroom. The door was still cracked open, allowing me to poke my head into the doorway; I spied Nevaeh still fast asleep. I backed away and walked to the living room.
“Would you like some coffee or something?” I offered.
“Yeah, that would be nice. I’ll help you.”
“No, you’re my guest. You sit tight and I’ll be right back.”
“Kimberly, you’re not at work. You don’t have to wait for me. I insist, let me come help you.”
I shrugged my shoulders as he followed me into the kitchen. After we had poured our coffee, we headed back to the living room and sat on the couch facing each other. I sipped my coffee as I noticed Dale looking at all of my pictures.