Page 13

CHAPTER 12

EMERY

As soon as Alexei is out the door, my phone is out of my pocket.

“What are the chances you want to learn how to make a toddler take a nap?” I ask Inessa.

She solemnly shakes her head. “Can-cakes.”

“We’re going to multitask.”

I pull a chair up to the counter and give her a whisk so she can mix the dry ingredients together while I scroll TikTok for some babysitting tips.

Crowdsourcing life tips is my superpower. I love learning new things, and I’m pretty sure I can tackle spending the afternoon with a tiny, bossy little girl the same way I do everything else in my life.

“What’s dat?” Inessa asks, flicking the flour-covered whisk in the direction of my phone.

“I’m learning how to be an emergency back up babysitter,” I murmur. “Oh, let’s try to keep the flour in the bowl. Gentle stirs. That’s good.”

I melt some butter, then convince her to switch tools to a spatula as I add in the wet ingredients.

“Do you want the blueberries in the pancakes, or on top of the pancakes?” I mime adding the fruit to the batter.

Inessa’s response is immediate distress.

“No?”

“No,” she repeats.

“Okay, cool beans. We’ve got this. Blueberries on top.” I look at the stove. “The next part, I need to do myself. How do you feel about sitting in your highchair, for safety’s sake?”

She blinks up at me.

“No context? Okay, baby girl. Surprise attack it is.” I scoop her into my arms and march her to the highchair.

She protests, but I remember Alexei reaching for the berries when he wanted to distract her. I scatter a couple of blueberries on her tray, and that buys enough time for me to start the frying pan.

And when I slide a tall, fluffy pancake onto her tray a few minutes later, all is forgiven.

“Yummy?”

She nods.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Excellent.”

Pancakes, check.

Next up…nap time.