Mary
I was filling the water glasses when Rachel and Piper walked into the dining room. Piper knew just where to sit. When I bought the stuffed puppy I also bought a princess place setting with a matching plate, bowl and drinking cup. Piper sat down in front of the princess plate and put her puppy on the chair next to her.
She shook her tiny finger. “Now you be good, Rachel Rose.”
I glanced at Rachel and smiled. “What a pretty name, Piper.”
“I named her after me and Rachel.”
I pulled out my chair and sat down. “They’re two very pretty names, just like the girls they belong to.”
“Thanks,” Piper said. “You’re pretty, too. I like your white hair. I don’t have any friends who have white hair.”
“Well, now you do. Would you like to say grace, Piper?”
Piper bit her lip. “I don’t know how.”
I reached for Piper and Rachel’s hands. “I’ll show you. I’ll say a line and you repeat it. Does that sound good?”
Piper nodded.
“God is great, God is good.”
Piper repeated, “God is great, God is good.”
“Let us thank Him for our food, Amen.”
Piper squirmed in her seat. “Let us thank Him for our food, Amen. Now can we eat?”
I laughed. “Absolutely.”
Piper stared at the place setting and bit her bottom lip.
“What’s wrong, Piper?” I asked.
“Why do I have so many forks and spoons?”
I pushed out my chair and walked over to Piper. I pointed to the fork. “You use this one to eat your salad and the other one to eat your dinner.” I proceeded to give Piper a quick etiquette lesson, explaining that you use utensils in an “outside in” order.
“But why don’t you just use one fork for everything?”
“I suppose you can at home,” I said. “But when you have dinner out, you must learn how to navigate…” I paused. I needed to remember I was talking to a five-year-old. “You must learn how to use the different utensils and in what order to use them. Every princess must learn the proper way to do things.”
Piper looked up at me with her big blue eyes. I could tell by the look on her face that she liked being called a princess. In a matter of minutes Piper was repeating back to me when to use which utensil.
“Very good, Piper,” I said. “I think you pass the Princess Table Setting test.”
“Will you test me on other princess stuff?” Piper asked. “I want to be the best princess ever!”
“I’d loved to.”
We started dinner with cream of crab soup and Caesar salad. By the time I served the juicy roast beef with petite potatoes and mixed vegetables, I was full. I figured I’d pack up the food and send it along with Rachel. Piper seemed to be enjoying the chicken nuggets and French fries I’d made her.”
I jabbed my fork into a carrot. “Would you like to try a carrot, Piper?”
She shook her head. “I don’t like vegetables.”
“You don’t like carrots? Why, carrots are the best vegetable there is. Every princess knows that!”
Piper tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “Are you sure princesses like carrots?”
Mary waved. “Of course, dear. After all, I’m a princess, or used to be when I was young like you. Now I’m a queen and I love carrots. If you want to grow up to be a lovely queen, you need to eat your carrots and other vegetables. Would you like to try one, Princess Piper?”
Piper nodded and I jabbed my fork into a carrot and held it up to her mouth before she could think twice about it. Piper gobbled down the carrot and I waited for her reaction.
She nodded. “They’re good. Much better than I thought they’d be for being orange.”
I laughed.
“Everything is delicious,” Rachel said. “I can’t thank you enough for having us.”
“Can we come back?” Piper blurted out.
“Piper! Mind your manners!” Rachel said.
I waved. “It’s okay. And of course you can come back. It’s nice having someone to eat dinner with.”
Piper smiled. “I’ll eat dinner with you whenever you want.”
I reached over and patted Piper’s hand. “That’s so sweet of you, Piper. Why don’t we have dinner together once a week? That is, of course, if Rachel agrees.”
I looked at Rachel and she nodded.
“Let’s make it the same day every week so it’s something that’s constant,” I said.
“What does constant mean?” Piper asked.
“When something is constant it means it always happens. It’s something you can count on.”
Piper’s chin began to tremble. “Mommy picked me up at daycare every day. That was con-stant. But then one day she didn’t come.”
My eyes filled with tears and I stood and walked over to Piper and bent over to hug her. “Piper, I promise we’ll have dinner once a week. How about every Wednesday? And if for some reason we can’t… maybe I’m sick or you’re sick… we’ll try to do it another day. Would that work for you?”
Piper nodded. “And can Rachel Rose come, too?”
I patted the top of Piper’s head. “Yes. You can bring any friends you want.”
Piper’s eyes grew wide. “Even Jacy?”
I looked at Rachel. “It’s her friend from school,” she explained. “The one I told you she met the first day.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, we’d have to talk to Jacy’s parents to see if they’d allow her to come. But you can invite Jacy sometime.”
“And we can have a tea party with our stuffed animals and climb your tree.” Piper talked so fast the words piled on top of one another.
Once again, I looked at Rachel to translate. “I told Piper you had a beautiful tree in your back yard that was perfect for climbing. But, of course, I explained we’d have to ask you first if we could try.”
I smiled. “As long as you’re careful climbing. I wouldn’t want anyone to slip and fall and hurt themselves.”
I stood. “Is everyone ready for dessert?”
Piper’s smile took up her entire face. “Are we going to have worms again? I liked the worms.”
I shook my head. “But I do have a dessert I think you’ll like.”
“Is there whipped topping?”
“As much of it as you want,” I said.
As I walked away I heard Piper tell Rachel, “Mary’s nice and she knows I like whipped cream.”
“I knew you would like her. She’s a wonderful person,” Rachel said.
I returned with a tray filled with three raspberry vanilla pudding parfaits. The parfaits were layered – vanilla pudding on the bottom, raspberries in the middle, vanilla pudding on top. I’d finished them with whipped cream, raspberry drizzle and a cookie. I served Piper first, setting the bottle of whipped topping beside her parfait so she could add as much as she wanted. Then I served Rachel and finally myself.
Rachel picked up my dessert spoon. “These look amazing.”
Piper picked up the bottle of whipped topping.
“Don’t forget to shake it,” I reminded her.
She shook the bottle and pressed the white nozzle down, shooting out a steady stream of whipped topping. When the whipped topping started oozing down the side of the parfait, Rachel reached over. “That’s enough, Piper.”
By the time we had finished dinner I could barely move.
“Everything was amazing, Mary,” Rachel said. “How did you learn to cook so well?”
I sipped my tea. “Growing up we had a housekeeper. Her name was Esther and she was a great cook. She taught me.”
“What about your mommy?” Piper said. “Did she cook? My mommy used to cook for me. Rachel doesn’t cook.”
Rachel patted Piper on the arm. “I do, too, cook, Piper. I made you chicken noodle soup the other night.”
“But the soup you bought had noodle strings. I like round noodles better.”
I could see Rachel’s face was turning red. “Cooking was never something I excelled at.”
I smiled. “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”
“You’d do that? Teach me?”
“Sure,” I said. “If we’re going to have dinner together once a week, maybe you can help me and learn.”
“Sounds wonderful, as long as I have time to help Piper with homework. Speaking of which…” I checked the time on my cellphone. “It’s getting late, Piper. Let’s help Mary clean up and then go home and finish your schoolwork.”
Piper’s shoulders slumped. “But we didn’t get to climb the tree.”
“We’ll climb it another day. We have to read yet tonight.”
Piper looked at Rachel. “Can Mary read to me?”
I looked at Rachel, waiting to hear her response. “You’ll have to ask Mary.”
Piper popped out of her chair and bounced over to me. “Will you read a book to me?”
I patted the top of Piper’s curly mop. “Of course, dear. I love reading. I read to some boys and girls about your age earlier today. But let’s clean off the table first. Then we’ll find a book in the library. There’s a whole shelf of kids’ books. Most of them were mine when I was your age.”
We cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. There were a few items that needed to be washed by hand, including the big roasting pan. “Mary, why don’t I finish up while you read to Piper?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. It’s the least I can do.”
I took Piper’s hand and we walked into the living room. We sat on the sofa by the lamp and Piper scrunched up as close as she could. She looked up at me. “Will you be my friend?”
I smiled. “Of course, Piper. Will you be mine?”
Piper nodded and smashed up against me even more. I opened the book and began to read Madeline.
Rachel came in a few minutes later. “I loved this book when I was a child. I wanted to be just like Madeline because she was so brave. She wasn’t afraid of anything! I remember when I had chicken pox I scratched my leg and it left a scar. I was devastated. But then I remembered Madeline and how she was so proud of her scar that she hiked up her nightgown to show it off.”
Piper giggled and pleaded with me to read the book again when I’d finished it.
“Pretty please with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup and whipped cream and a fat cherry on top?” Piper asked.
I looked at Rachel because I knew it was getting late and it soon would be past Piper’s bedtime. “We’d better go, Piper. You need to get your bath yet and it’s getting late.”
Piper’s face was the picture of disappointment.
“We can read it the next time you come to visit,” I assured her. “Rachel’s right. It’s getting late.”
I stood and took Piper’s hand. Piper grabbed Rachel Rose off the couch. Rachel looked inside her purse and pulled out her keys. “Look what I’ve found, Piper. You forgot to give Mary the drawings you made her.”
Piper grinned and gave them to me. “And I did it all by myself.”
I looked at the drawing and my hand flew to her heart.
“That’s your climbing tree and your water fountain. And you and me and Rachel.”
“It’s the most beautiful present anyone has ever given me,” I said. “I will treasure it always.”