✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

145. Anticipation

Tess slept in a little later than usual, and was excited for today even before she could remember why. She was almost dancing as she got out of bed, and only gave a brief sigh of frustration when she had to change out of a wet diaper again. She hesitated briefly before choosing some childish, chintzy outfit. She would have preferred to be in charge, but there was nothing that really needed her attention today, and she could be happy enough playing the role that Gabby and Spike wanted.

She reached the kitchen, and she was surprised to find that Gabby wasn't already there making breakfast. She looked in the lounge, but there was nobody there either. Then she checked the little notice board to see if anybody had appointments today. The magnets were in place, indicating that Ffrances was working an early shift this morning. Tess remembered that she had gone back to her house in Pine Ridge at supper time last night, so that she didn't need to wake up quite so early. And there was a note from Gabby as well; she had needed to go out early, and didn't want to wake Tess while she was sleeping. The note promised that she would be back soon, and that there were bagels in the cupboard if they couldn't wait until she got back for breakfast.

Next, Tess checked her phone. Ffrances had given her access to the app that would let her track Gabby's truck's GPS, and she could see that she was just heading back on Misty Lane. It wouldn't be long before she was home; so Tess could fix a proper breakfast, and have something ready for Gabby when she got in. She checked the fridge and cupboards, and decided that bacon, mushrooms, poached eggs, and hash browns would be a perfect breakfast that everybody liked.

"Oh, you're Gabby today?" Spike said from the bottom of the stairs, as Tess was waiting for her skillet to reach the right temperature.

"Gabby's out," she said. "She barely lets me cook, so I thought I'd fix something for her. Can you tell me how far away she is?"

Spike checked Tess's phone, which she'd left on the kitchen table, and reported that Gabby was on the edge of Palmerston now. He put the coffee on, judging that it would be ready just as she got back, and then made himself busy as Tess's assistant.

"Thanks for last night," he said. "I really... It was a big help to stop me worrying about everything that happened. I think I needed that. And... I guess you did too?"

"It was nice to relax," Tess mumbled. She didn't need to say that she would have preferred to be the big sister. She had promised herself that she would trust Spike's judgement on when she needed to take a break. She was sure that he wouldn't have made her regress unless he really thought that it would be good for her, and she wanted to keep on trusting him like that.

They were just putting breakfast on the table when Gabby came home, and made polite small talk for a couple of minutes. Gabby was appreciative; but had to make the obligatory joke about Tess not being old enough to cook for herself. Tess felt like she should have been angry; she still wasn't comfortable with being treated like a baby, and she hated having her responsibility diminished. But if she said that to Gabby again, it would make Spike less comfortable as well when he wanted to baby her. That wasn't a desirable outcome.

"You guys up for watching an illicit DVD this afternoon?" Gabby asked, while Spike took away their dishes and started washing them without even asking.

"Yeah," Tess nodded with a big grin. "I mean... is it any good? If you've got it, you could look and see quickly. I don't know how much they'll have done so far, I mean, hasn't it only been in production for a couple of months? But if it's done enough to be fun watching..."

"I actually just went to see my contact," Gabby said with a little grin. "Some scenes are still out-of-costume rehearsals, and most of the CGI and special effects look like they came straight out of South Park, but it's watchable. And I just swapped it for yesterday's update. Mostly because the one I had included a wardrobe malfunction that I thought you wouldn't want to see. I certainly wish I hadn't."