“Ms. Carter, this is my daughter, Precious.”
Precious. Now that was more like it, Michelle thought, her heart melting at the sight of the little girl with long dark brown pony tails falling on either side of her little heart-shaped face. She was no muffin. She was precious.
“Hi, Precious,” Michelle said in a buoyant voice, coming closer to the tangled pair.
Precious glared at her through a pair of wide cinnamon-brown eyes. There was no doubt this little precious muffin didn’t like her. Well, neither did her father. So… “My name is Michelle, and I’m hoping to be your new—”
“I don’t need a nanny.”
“You’re so right, Precious.” Michelle fell to her knees and sat back on her haunches. “Just for the record, I wasn’t going to say nanny. I hope to be your new friend.”
“I don’t need any new friends. I don’t like you.” Her scowl deepened.
Ignoring her father’s swift intake of air, Michelle pointed to the rag doll tucked under Precious’ arm. “Who’s that? I bet she could use a new friend.” She smiled with hope in her heart. She needed this job and was willing to do anything to win this kid over.
But Precious just stared her down.
Michelle understood her unfriendliness. Her mother was gone, and according to Mrs. Hayes, her nanny recently left to start her own family with her new husband. Precious felt abandoned. She was tired of people leaving her. She was protecting her little heart in the only way she knew how. If she didn’t become attached, she could never be abandoned. It was a hard lesson for someone to learn at such an early age. Michelle empathized. She never knew her own mother, and her father may as well be dead. It hurts like hell when people you depend on abandon you.#p#分页标题#e#
Michelle longed to tell Precious that it was okay to need and to love, and that when people left, it was their loss, as Robert had often told her. But in order to do that, she had to make her laugh first.
Michelle stared into the cinnamon-brown eyes staring back at her, and took a deep breath. “Okay, little one. Here’s the deal. We’ll stare each other down and make funny faces and the first one to crack a smile, loses. If I win, you’re stuck with me.” Michelle had no doubt she would win this game. It was how she and Yasmine settled disputes when they were children. Heck, they still did. “Ready?” she asked Precious. “Okay, here goes. We start on three. One… Two…”
“Wait,” Precious yelled, pulling her arm from around her father’s leg and handing him her doll. “What happens if I win?”
You won’t. “I’ll walk out of the house and you’ll never see me again.”
Precious’ brows puckered into a frown. “Okay.” She planted her feet apart and folded her arms across her chest.
Michelle veiled her smile of impending victory. The kid had no idea who she was up against. It would be over in thirty seconds. She settled her buttocks against her heels. “Alright, on three. You can go first. One… two… three.”
Precious made a fish face, stuck her thumbs in her ears, and waved her fingers around.
Cute, but no effect. Michelle shrugged, made a monkey face, and began to sway back and forth on her haunches.
Precious rolled her eyes in boredom.
Darn, the kid was tougher than she thought.
“Your turn, Precious,” her father chimed, clearly amused at the game.
Michelle wondered if he was rooting for Precious.
Precious pulled apart her eyelids and let her tongue hang out of her mouth.
Unimpressed, Michelle decided to pull out the big guns—her unconquerable pig face.
She placed a finger in the space between her nostrils and pulled her nose upward. When she saw the slight hint of a smile flash across Precious’ face, she knew it was over. She rolled her eyes back into their sockets until only the whites were visible, pursed her lips, and began making slurping noises like a pig at the trough.
“Hee, hee, hee, hee.... You’re silly.”
“And you’re precious. C’mere.” Michelle held her arms wide. It was a huge risk, but she let out a long sigh when Precious wrapped her arms around her neck. The feel of those skinny arms about her pushed Michelle over the edge and tears flowed down her cheeks.
Precious was no different from Jessica, Malcolm, Tessa, Ashley, Parker, or any other kid who hung out at the youth center where she volunteered on a regular basis. She may have a lot more toys, nicer clothes, and eat more food in a day than they had in a week, but at the end of the day, all a kid needed was love, and to know that somebody cared enough to fight for them, laugh with them.