“Big fun!” Preston said.
“Whoa, be careful with that amount of fun,” I said, and he grinned at me.
“You come have fun with us?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, I can’t today. Your mommy and I have some yoga to do.”
His little face screwed up as he thought about that. “Yogurt?” he asked.
“No, yoga,” Piper said. “It’s a kind of exercise. You ready for your snack?”
At the mention of food, Preston took off toward the kitchen.
Piper laughed shook her head as we followed.
“Okay, let Natalie help you. And no running with snacks,” Piper said. Natalie took the little plate in one hand and took Preston’s hand with her other.
“Say bye-bye to McKenna,” Natalie said.
“Bye-bye!” Preston said, waving with his other hand as Natalie took him outside to eat on the grass of the front yard.
“He’s adorable,” I said to Piper as she washed her hands.
“Thank you. I do my best.”
“Being a single mom can’t be easy,” I said, and hoped that wasn’t too much.
She exhaled. “It isn’t. It really isn’t. Some days hit me harder than others. This is one of those days.”
“Why don’t you go get changed and you can set everything down for a little while?”
She gave me a long look that I didn’t know how to interpret.
“That would be perfect.”
“I’m sorry if I’m distracted,” she said. “I know we’re going to get interrupted, so I’m just waiting for it. Natalie is amazing with him, but sometimes he still needs Mama.”
She sat on her mat after glancing out the door another time.
“How old is he?” I asked.
“He’ll be four in November,” she said.
“That’s a fun age. My nephew Leo and niece Harley are both around that age.”
“How many do you have again?”
“Ten,” I said. “And I’m fully expecting to have a new one announced any day now. My brother Rob and his husband Tony are dying for another.”
I could have sat on that floor and talked to her about my family all day, but that wasn’t what I was here for.
“Let’s take advantage of the quiet, shall we?” I asked.
“Sounds good,” she said.
Today I led her in a nice slow flow, where she would hold the poses for longer, really breathing into them. I didn’t think she was up for any tricky transitions or really advanced poses today.
Here and there, I would give her an adjustment so she could get the most out of each pose. She needed this practice. She needed this time to put down her worries and take care of herself.
I kept my hands gentle and didn’t linger any longer than I needed to.
She came out of Savasana with a smile on her face.
“Wow,” she said, sitting up. I officially closed the class and we bowed to each other.
There had been no interruptions, and I was happy about that for her.
“I completely lost track of time,” she said, looking up at the clock on the wall. “Seems like Natalie must have things under control.”
We left the gym and she started to make tea even without asking me.
I could hear Preston laughing in the yard.
“Would you like to stay for lunch?” Piper asked.
“Oh,” I said, completely taken aback by the offer.
“No pressure. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other things to do,” Piper said, and she almost looked flustered.
I’d never seen Piper Patrick flustered.
“Yeah, sure, I can stay,” I said. I was hungry.
“I figure I’m not going to get much work done today, so we can have a nice long lunch,” Piper said and, as if they’d heard her, Preston came running into the house.
“Mama, I’m hungry,” he said, and she laughed, brushing his hair back from where it had fallen into his eyes.
“You are a bottomless pit, my son,” she said. “What should we have for lunch?”
Preston thought about that for a second. “Ice cream.”
Piper laughed, her face lighting up. She was beautiful with him.
“You can’t have ice cream, Preston. We can have that after we have lunch. What about some noodles?”
“Noodles!” Preston yelled, forgetting about ice cream for the moment.
“Do you have any dietary restrictions?” Piper asked me as she started pulling things out of the fridge.
“No, I’m fine with whatever you have.”
Natalie amused Preston while Piper cooked. For the first few minutes, I felt a little awkward. Like an intruder.
“Can I help?” I asked. I helped Amanda cook all the time.
“If you want, you can put that lettuce in the salad spinner and rinse it. Preston likes to push the button,” she said as Natalie dragged over a little kid-sized step so Preston could see over the counter.
“Spinny, spinny!” Preston cheered. I threw the lettuce leaves in the basket of the salad spinner and rinsed it well before setting the container on a towel and putting the top on.
“Ready?” I asked Preston.
“Set, go!” he cheered, slamming his little hand down on the top of spinner to make it spin off the water.
“Good job,” Piper said. “You’re the best salad spinner.”
“Salad spinner, salad spinner,” Preston chanted to himself as he kept the spinner going.
“Okay, I think we’re good,” I said before things got too excessive. “Let’s check it.”
I pulled off the top and tilted the bowl so he could peer in.
“How does that lettuce look?” I asked.
“Perfect,” Preston whispered in his little voice. I laughed and then put the lettuce in the bowl before adding the chopped veggies Piper had already prepared.
Preston looked up at me and held out his little hands. I snuck him a chunk of carrot and he crunched down on it.
“Do I hear someone sneaking snacks?” Piper said, her eyes narrowing.
“I snuck a snack, Mama,” Preston said. “I am sorry.”
“It’s my fault. I gave it to him,” I said. This little guy didn’t have to take the fall for me.
“It’s okay,” Piper said. “I sneak snacks too.”
Preston smiled and hopped off the step, going to hug his mother around her legs.
“It’s almost ready, baby.”
Preston heaved a heavy sigh for someone who couldn’t tie their own shoes.
Piper finished up the pasta and I was surprised that we all ate in the kitchen and not in the formal dining room. Although, it would probably be pretty hard to keep that room clean with a toddler in there every day.
Piper gave Preston exactly the same plate as the adults, if smaller portions.
He had a little kid-size fork and spoon that he was pretty excited about.
The pasta had a simple olive oil, herb, and Parmesan sauce, and the salad was bright and crisp with a lemon vinaigrette.
For some reason it seemed strange to see Piper just eating pasta like a regular person. The same kind of pasta that Amanda bought at the grocery store. Maybe I thought she had access to special pasta or something. She just didn’t seem to live in the same world that I did.