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“Oh, shit.”
“Swear jar,” Jacob called out.
“Not now, Jacob,” David said, sounding both preoccupied and harried as his eyes darted around, taking in the after-dinner debris and settling on the little boy, still sitting at the table in his booster seat.
Pretty sure she knew what he was thinking, Paige rushed to say, “Go help your mom. I’ve got all this covered.”
Even though he looked relieved at that, David still asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m more than capable of handling a messy kitchen along with Stinker over there,” she replied, with a jerk of her thumb in Jacob’s direction, using the nickname he’d really taken a liking to. “But, maybe you should show me where the first aid kit is, just in case things get out of hand. Oh, and maybe the fire extinguisher, too.”
“I just don’t know how long I’m going to be, is the thing,” he said pointedly, ignoring both the first aid kit and fire extinguisher references. “It might be really late before I get back and you probably have to get up early for work.”
“I don’t, actually. So, no need to worry about that. I can stay here all night, if necessary, and … sleep on the couch. Now, go.”
“All right,” David said, quickly heading over to Jacob. “Paige is in charge while I’m gone, okay?”
“Okay.”
He planted a kiss on top of Jacob’s head, then surprised Paige with one on the mouth while Jacob watched, followed with a quiet, “Thank you,” before rushing out of the kitchen. The sound of keys being snatched off the entryway table was heard, then the opening of the door.
“Lock up behind me,” David called out and a second later he was gone, the door almost slamming shut behind him.
After doing as instructed, Paige returned to the kitchen to find Jacob had climbed out of his booster seat and was standing next to the counter.
“You owe the swear jar,” he told her, pointing to a glass container on the counter Paige had seen before, but had simply thought was a dumping ground for spare change and loose bills. “You said a bad word.”
“You’re right, I did. So, how much do I owe the swear jar?”
“Fifty dollars.”
His bold delivery almost had her cracking up. “That seems excessive. How about one dollar, since it’s my first offense?” she countered.
He pressed his lips together. “Okay.”
After making a big production of putting a dollar in the jar, Paige surveyed the room. “Well, we should probably clean this mess up. What do you think?”
Jacob made a face that let her know he wasn’t a fan of that suggestion.
“You don’t like cleaning up?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“Why not? It’s a lot of fun.”
He shook his head again, this time with more vigor, clearly not buying what she was trying to sell.
“You don’t think so? Then you must not be doing it right, because I always have fun when I’m cleaning up. It’s all about the right music, though,” Paige said, getting her phone and scrolling until she found her ‘Funky’ playlist. She hit shuffle and almost immediately, Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” started playing.
While Jacob watched with curiosity, she made a show of dancing a little to the intro and then grooving over to the table and grabbing a plate. She then danced to the sink with exaggerated dance moves and turns, taking her time rinsing it off and putting it in the dishwasher. She did this several times, removing one thing off the table on each trip.
“That’s how it’s done,” Paige told him as the song ended and “Boogie Shoes” began playing. “Now why don’t you try it with me?”
She started dancing again, and after a brief hesitation, he joined in. It wasn’t long before he was able to copy most of her movements, while helping her clear the rest of the table. When The Gap Band’s “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” came on, she exclaimed, “Oh, this is a really good one,” and turned up the volume a little more. Jacob found the synthesizer sounds indicating a falling bomb to be hilarious and she immediately focused on more dancing with him. When the ‘bombs’ fell, she raised her arms and simulated jazz hands, making him laugh as he did it, too.
They also danced to Kool & the Gang’s “Get Down On It”, which Jacob seemed to dig, as well.
The kid had great taste in music.
