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A lot of serious thoughts for my first official day with this kid. I was probably moving too fast, but I couldn’t help it. Sometimes you met people and could feel it in your bones that they were going to be important in your life. I’d talked with Stace before about that. She’d said she knew the minute she first saw Hunter that she’d known. Granted, Stace’s feelings were romantic, but I just really adored this little girl already.

Juniper helped me make lunch and even assisted with cleaning up. I was definitely new and shiny in her eyes and I couldn’t help but be completely charmed by her.

Before her mom got home, I decided to help Juniper burn off some energy at the park right near their apartment. I sat on the swings while she hit the slide and then the climbing structure and finally came to chill next to me, pumping her legs to go higher.

“Are you gonna take care of me every day?” Juniper asked.

“Not every day. But during the week, from Monday to Friday I am. Is that okay with you?”

She didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah, that’s okay.”

I grinned and started swinging higher to catch up with her.

It had been a good first day. No crying, no blood, no injuries. I even made sure the house looked nice when Larison returned so she wouldn’t have to deal with coming home to a mess.

“Mama!” Juniper ran to meet her mom and give her a big hug.

“Hey, how was your day, my love?” she asked, kissing the top of Juniper’s head.

“Good! We went to the library and Jo read me so many books and she also made me a grilled cheese, but it wasn’t like yours, Mama.”

“Ouch,” I said, pretending to clutch my chest as if that comment had wounded me. “I thought you liked it, Juniper.”

She turned to me. “It was okay. You should ask Mama how to make it right.”

Larison looked like she was holding back a laugh. “The secret is using half butter, half olive oil in the pan.”

I nodded. “Got it. I’ll make sure I do that next time, Princess Juniper.”

Larison looked tired, but she let Juniper tell her about our day and I wondered if I should leave and give them some privacy. It was a hard balance to strike, when you worked in someone else’s home. Boundaries got murky pretty quickly.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked Larison.

She waved me off. “That’s not your job. I’m good.”

It was definitely time for me to go home, but I wasn’t ready to leave yet.

“Can you say goodbye to Jo?” Larison prompted and Juniper ran over and gave me a hug.

“Thanks for hanging out with me today. We had fun, didn’t we?” I asked her.

“Will you come over tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “No, but I’ll see you on Monday. Remember, anything you want to tell me, you tell Mozzarella and I’ll hear it.”

Juniper looked over on the couch where we’d made a little nest for Mozzarella out of blankets.

She nodded. “Okay.”

I stood up and faced Larison. “She did really well today. Just so you know. Did you have a good day?” It was really important that I knew how her day was before I left.

She nodded, running her fingers through Juniper’s hair.

“Yeah, it was good.” She lowered her voice and leaned closer. “I only had to pull myself together in the bathroom twice.”

“It’ll get easier,” I said, as if I knew anything about this.

Larison sighed. “I hope so. I don’t know why it was different when she was in preschool, but it was easier when I was in class and so wrapped up with homework and everything else. I don’t know.” She shook her head and smiled, and my heart did that tripping thing again. Oh no. There was that attraction again. Bad timing. Very bad timing.