Grandma’s House

By the time Jacob could sit up on his own, Connor and Amy were ready to leave him with Maya for an entire evening.

They arrived carrying Jacob, a diaper bag, a cooler, two blankets, three toys, and enough spare clothing to survive a minor disaster.

Maya looked at the pile by her door.

“You’re going to dinner. You’re not deploying him.”

“You say that now,” Amy said.

Connor set down the cooler.

“His bottles are in here. He ate about an hour ago, but not much. He’ll probably want another one before—”

“Connor.”

“What?”

“I raised you.”

“That was a long time ago.”

Maya took Jacob from him.

“And yet you survived.”

“Barely.”

Amy was still checking the diaper bag.

“I know I packed the blue cup.”

“Livonne,” Connor said, “send Mom Jacob’s handoff.”

The Surface in Maya’s living room lit up.

“Got it,” Livonne said. “Maya, Jacob’s last bottle was at five ten. His afternoon nap was short, so he may be ready for bed early. He’s been refusing bananas, and the blue cup is in the front pocket of the diaper bag.”

Maya looked at Amy.

“You packed a cup and lost it in the same bag?”

“It has a lot of pockets.”

Connor pointed toward the door.

“We should go before she unpacks it again.”

Amy kissed Jacob, handed him to Maya, then kissed him once more.

“We’ll have our phones.”

“I know.”

“You can call anytime.”

“I know.”

“And if he—”

“Go to dinner.”

They made it as far as the driveway before Amy came back for one final kiss.

After they left, Maya carried Jacob into the living room.

“Well,” she said. “Apparently it’s just you and me.”

James looked over from the couch.

“I’m here.”

“You can help too.”

“I was afraid of that.”

Jacob spent the next hour demonstrating how much had changed since Maya had last watched him.

He no longer stayed where she put him. He could cross half the living room through a combination of rolling, dragging, and furious determination. He rejected the toy Maya offered him and devoted himself instead to reaching the television remote.

At dinner, she brought out mashed carrots.

Jacob opened his mouth eagerly.

“See?” Maya said. “Grandma still knows what she’s doing.”

James sat across from them.

“Try the bananas.”

“Livonne said he doesn’t like bananas.”

“He loved them last week.”

“That was last week.”

Maya added a small spoonful beside the carrots.

Jacob tasted it, frowned, and pushed the spoon away with enough force to put banana across Maya’s shirt.

James nodded.

“Livonne was right.”

“Thank you, James.”

“I thought you’d want confirmation.”

Later, James sat on the floor making faces at Jacob.

Jacob studied him carefully, pressed his lips together, and blew a loud raspberry.

James did it back.

Jacob’s entire body shook with laughter.

They repeated it until both of them were covered in spit.

“Livonne,” Maya said, laughing, “did you get that?”

“Yes. Would you like me to send the clip to Connor and Amy?”

“Please.”

A reply appeared less than a minute later.

Connor had written, We leave him alone with Grandpa for one hour.

James read it over Maya’s shoulder.

“He has no proof I started it.”

“You absolutely started it.”

As bedtime approached, the Surface chimed.

“Amy and Connor would like to say goodnight.”

Maya accepted the call.

Their faces appeared on the screen from a restaurant booth. Jacob stared at them, then leaned forward and slapped both hands against the floor.

“There he is,” Amy said.

Connor smiled. “Hey, buddy.”

Jacob responded with another raspberry.

Connor closed his eyes.

“Dad.”

James raised both hands.

“Still no proof.”

They talked for only a few minutes. Amy asked about the bottle. Connor asked whether Jacob had gone down easily. Maya assured them that everything was fine and told them to finish dinner before it got cold.

When the call ended, she carried Jacob upstairs.

The room was different from his nursery. The crib was different. The shadows on the wall were different.

But his bedtime music followed him. So did the order he knew: clean diaper, sleep sack, bottle, lights down.

Maya did not have to rebuild his evening from instructions Connor had hurried through at the door. She simply picked up where his parents had left off.

Jacob finished his bottle against her shoulder.

His eyes closed before she reached the end of the first song.

When Connor and Amy returned, they found Maya reading on the couch and James asleep beside her.

“How did he do?” Amy whispered.

“He ate, he slept, and he learned a disgusting new skill from his grandfather.”

James opened one eye.

“Allegedly.”

Connor checked the nursery view on the Surface. Jacob was still asleep.

Amy let out a breath she had apparently been holding all evening.

Maya stood and hugged her.

“He was fine.”

“I know.”