Molly - Sarah Monzon Page 0,43

time, some kids went off to retrieve a mat and work on hands-on activities stored on low shelves in the practical life area, while others immersed themselves in the sensorial cubby. I called students to me one-by-one to work on language and math skills.

The two hours allotted to the morning class flew by. The passion I felt for teaching filled me, reinforcing my decision to study elementary education. Good thing, since I was so close to graduating and getting a classroom of my own.

Chloe meowed quietly from her place in front of knobbed cylinders as she visually differentiated the height and diameter of each cylinder by returning them to their respective homes. Her yowl was like a cat’s claw to a balloon, my happiness at being in the classroom again seeping out and deflating me.

Very soon I’d have to choose between them, wouldn’t I? Graduating and getting a classroom of my own meant I’d no longer have the free schedule Ben needed in a nanny for Chloe.

But how could I give them up?

Chloe beamed up at me as she placed the last cylinder in its respective hole.

How would I be able to say goodbye? Not see her or Ben every day? Not be a part of their lives anymore?

Maybe I wouldn’t have to. Chloe would be going into Kindergarten the next school year. Maybe I’d be able to find a job in her school district and we could make our schedules work.

Would that be something Ben would want too?

I guess there was only one way to find out. With Benji playing in the background, maybe the little rescue dog’s namesake and I could have a heart-to-heart.

12

Ben

“Whiskers, you really need to stop licking me. Otherwise you might get taken to the humane society.”

I blinked and stretched then looked at the watch circling my wrist. 2:17 pm. Five hours of sleep. Time to get up and rescue Molly from…Whiskers? Sounded like a pet’s name, but Chloe didn’t have a pet and neither did I.

“Oh, now you’re going to get it, little kitty.” Squeals of laughter drifted through my closed bedroom door. Shushing sounds followed. “Shhh. You don’t want to wake your dad.”

I grabbed a pair of crumpled jeans from off the floor and shoved my legs through the holes. “He’s already up,” I shouted as I finished buttoning the waist.

Just in time too. My door banged open, and Chloe jumped into my outstretched arms. A reception I’d never get tired of. “How are you, princess?”

Before I knew what was happening, her little pink tongue darted out of her mouth and ran over my cheek. I suppressed a shudder. Only several thousand bacteria lived in the human mouth. No big deal.

“Meet Whiskers.” Molly chuckled.

Chloe lifted her hanging hands like paws. “Meow.”

“You have an actress on your hands there.”

I tickled Chloe’s neck. “Who? This little drama queen?”

Chloe shrieked. “I’m a kitty, not a queen, Daddy.”

“My mistake.”

Chloe wiggled out of my arms and yelled, “Movie!” as she shot past Molly hovering near the doorway. Molly followed after her, and I padded toward the en suite to rid myself of morning breath. Or mid-day breath, as my case would be.

A steaming cup of black coffee waited for me on the kitchen island alongside a small stack of mail. I scanned the return address, surprised to see a letter from Mom. Wasn’t my birthday or anything, and Mom preferred communicating through video calls so she could interact with Chloe, although she did send little presents here and there for the both of us.

I opened the letter and found a VISA money card for twenty-five dollars inside along with a Post-It saying she loved us and wished she could do more. She also sent Dad’s love.

A familiar anguish washed through me. I should be there with them. For them. I shook my head. Funny how Mom had said the same thing last week about Chloe and me. But I had my residency here and couldn’t leave, and Mom had to take care of Dad. Because of his health issues, they thought they shouldn’t leave either.

A dog barking on the TV caught my attention. The terrier mix scratched at an old memory. Was it just coincidence or was that… I glanced back down at the envelope and groaned. Of course Mom would address the letter to Benji instead of Ben.

Molly strode over from the living room and leaned against the butcher block top of the island, a knowing gleam in her eye. She looked really cute in a gray-and-white