Alex looked at all the boxes her little kia had held. "I didn't know what to bring." She told Mrs. B. , "So I brought what I could pack in my car." Jon's mother laughed.
"Stephanie will show you where to unpack." She held out her arms for a hug from the boys and then transferred romeo to Alex. "Go to Alexis Honey, grandmother has to get home to grandpa." Romeo looked like he was about to cry.
"I'll take him." Stephanie came up and Romeo went immediately to her. Like the whirlwind she was, Mrs. B. left the five of them in the foyer.
Hattie came in and saw them all standing there. "Well Miss Alex, I guess we need to get all this upstairs." As she walked past each door she told Alex which child belonged to which room, and which one was Mr. Jon's room. Opening the last door she walked into her room.
"Most governesses stayed in the quarters out near the street, but seeing as how you're all these poor children have now, I think this room suites." Alex looked around; there was plenty of room for all her stuff and then some.
Once the boys started bring in the boxes, Alex put her suitcase on the bed. they had just about every thing up when Hattie came in to tell them lunch was ready. Alex turned to find the boys going through the box of games and Stephanie was just walking around the room looking at all the books she had.
"Miss Jones?" Jake asked
"I got an idea guy's, I never liked to be called Miss Jones, the makes me feel really old. Why not just call me Miss Alex." She said Trying to make friends with the children. "You think about it and lets got eat. We can pay one of those games later, unless you all have homework"
The boys gave her a funny look but put the games back in the box. "It's Saturday miss Alex, we have until tomorrow to finish," Jessie said as they walked out of the room.
Alex laughed and followed the kids downstairs into the formal dinning room. "This is a little formal isn't it for lunch with the kids?" she asked Hattie. Alex noticed Romeo's chin barely passed the table. Going into the kitchen she looked around. Finding a booster seat she started back in, until she saw the stack of phone books. Going back in she squatted down beside Romeo's chair. "Booster or big boy seat?" she asked Romeo.
"Me want big boy seat Miz Alwix" Romeo said shyly.
Alex helped him out of the chair and put first one phone book in the chair, checking the height as they slowly raised him up so he could sit at the table. Three down, one to go she thought.
"Saturday and Sunday we eat in the dinning room." Stephanie said as she put her napkin in her lap. Alex sat near Romeo and helped him with his napkin. As the plates were set in front of each child she noticed that they all waited and watched her to see what she was going to do.
She looked at Stephanie. "do you all bless he food?" She wasn't sure, knowing they were raised Catholic, she felt a little out on a limb.
Jessie looked at Stephanie as if waiting for her to tell Miss Alex. he took a deep breath and said.."Mom used to say it when she ate with us." The sound of his small voice nearly broke her heart.
"Well, where I come from...." she reached out and took one of Romeo's and one of Jessie's hands..."We hold hands to say our blessing." Jake took Rome's other hand then he reached out to Stephanie. Stephanie sighed and took his hand and Jessie's. Alex bowed her head and said a quick prayer. Looking up when she finished she smiled. "This all looks so good" and everyone began to eat.
Alex looked over at Romeo, whose chin seemed to be getting closer and closer to the table. She started to pick him up, but Stephanie rushed over, knocking her chair over in her haste, and took her brother in her arms.
"I have him." She cleaned up his shirt and took him out of the room. Alex thought that if Stephanie could growl she would be like a mother bear protecting her cub. Hattie came in to clear the plates and she noticed Alex looking sad.
"She'll come around soon." Alex looked into Hattie's eyes and smiled. "I hope so, or this is going to be a rough month or two."
Stephanie is not going to make it easy on Alex being there in the house she grew up in with both parents.
ReplyDeleteRomeo is absolutely adorable.