Baby steps ∽『boy ✮ boy -EDITED

Seventh 👣-edited

One more hour on the road and we reached Kathy's home. She lived in an apartment building, in a penthouse which had this huge pool outside its equally huge living room. I remembered her old flat had the kitchen, living room and bedroom all in one. They bought all the things they had now after her husband, Greg, signed a contact with a famous magazine as a photographer, although I doubt it was the contract and not some trickery which brought him all those money. Greg was known for having a gambling dependence, but I guessed it mattered to Kathy only when her husband lost, not when he won. Then she turned oblivious to his wrongs.

I focused my gaze back on the building in front of me, turning to face Ryder who was just opening the trunk.

"You can go ahead; I will come after you with the luggage." He said when he saw me staring, starting to pull the baggage out of the trunk. And when one luggage became four, then five I knew there was no way Ryder could carry them all by himself. My papa gave me jars with jam and pickles for Kathy and the bags must have weighted a ton. So with two rolls of my wheels I stopped next to Ryder, leaning over to grab one of the luggages and lift it in my lap.

"What do you think you are doing?" Ryder seethed when he saw me, pulling the handle out of my grasp.

"I am trying to help you."

Ryder shook his head, continuing to evacuate the trunk of luggage without sparing me a second glance.

"You've been sick on the road. Plus, I don't think it's a good idea to place so much weight on your legs."

"I can handle it, don't worry."

"Yes, Carter, I worry. You might not care about your life, your health, but I do because... I am your caregiver and if something happens to you, I lose my job."

"So this is all I am, a job." I found myself whispering and then quickly shut my mouth closed when my brain registered my words. Why would I feel irritated by Ryder's words? I knew the only reason why he was here was out of duty. He didn't want to be around me more than I wanted to be around him. Did I forget that I wanted to get rid of him? No. I wanted to torment him and drive him crazy and if I weren't half a body shorter then I would have punched him in the face.

With a sigh, I decided to leave Ryder and make my way inside the building. He could break his spine with all that luggage for all I cared.

I moved my wheelchair and entered the building, then move past the reception, took the elevator and finally reached the last floor where Kathy's house was opening to the right and her neighbors' to the left. If I recalled right, her neighbors were a sweet old lady and seven kittens. She either lived at this floor or on the one below. I really loved that woman.

Reaching Kathy's door, I stretched my hand and rang the bell. Five seconds later, my "fiancé" appeared in the threshold.

"Tommy!" I screamed with fake enthusiasm, opening my arms for the little man to jump on my legs and tangle his small body around my chest.

"Hubby, hubby, hubby!" The boy screamed, bouncing on my lap and compressing my balls into palm sized tortillas.

Tommy was Kathy's youngest son. He was almost two years old and had the biggest crush on me. But his parents decided to believe that Tommy was just looking up to me so they encouraged him in his behavior. Even when he started crying that I should become his "hubby", his mother forced me to wear a ring and pretend to be his fiancé only to make him shut up. But if he grew up to be The Great Gaysby, it would be a sin and I would be the one giving him "my disease".

"How are you baby boy?" I asked when Tommy's leaps slowed down, kissing the boy's chubby cheeks and making him giggle.

Truth to be told, I loved children and they loved me. The only problem was that Tommy was one of those annoying brats who made the spawns of the devil look like saints. He thought that jumping from the kitchen table on the counter and then hanging and swinging on the fridge's door –on which I never knew how he succeeded to climb-, was a normal Friday morning activity. However, he had his moments when he looked at me with big innocent eyes which made me realize it wasn't him, but the parents who brought him up, at fault for his behavior.

And this was one of those moments.

"Cater, Ommy iss u." The small boy whispered, leaning his head against my chest and sliding his thumb in his mouth. Baby talking was the cutest but also the hardest language one could try to understand. Every baby had their own way of talking. Good thing I used to spend a lot of time with Tommy and I came to learn most of his shortcuts and mumbling.

"I missed you too!" I responded back, patting his diaper covered bottom playfully. Meantime, something strange jumped from a windowsill under my wheelchair.

"Why did it take you so long? You said you'll arrive in five minutes, but it's already five to seven. Half an hour, Carter; I was getting worried. And why did you not answer any of my calls?" Kathy's voice distracted me from the tiny newcomer and in a blink of an eye she lifted Tommy from my lap.

It took me all the possible restraint not to roll my eyes at my cousin's bickering. If her calls didn't consist of half an hour of screaming and scolding and inquiring, I would gladly answer her calls instead of hurting my head to come up with excuses.

"My phone was low on battery." I responded simply, almost jumping out of my skin when a loud thud echoed from behind me. Cracking my neck to see the source of the noise, I saw Ryder drop six huge bags at his feet. How he could carry them all exceeded my comprehensive capabilities.

"Bless you!" Kathy smiled in greeting as Ryder sneezed and Tommy leaped from her arms and started running around Ryder.

"Thank you, m'am, and nice to meet you! I am Ryder, Carter's caregiver. "

"Oh, dear! Please call me Kathy, I am not that old."

"You surely don't look that old, Kathy."

I rolled my eyes, looking at the two demons flattering each other. I hoped we wouldn't share the same pit of hell in the afterlife. I didn't want to know what roasted bullshit smelled like.

"Achu!" Ryder's sneeze made me come back to reality. He was rubbing his red nose and teary eyes.

"Are you ok, dear?" Kathy asked, rising Ryder's chin to inspect his face.

Ryder nodded, removing the woman's hand as he once again sneezed in his palm.

"Yeah...I,Uhm...Achu!"

"Do you have any cats in the building?" He finally questioned after inhaling two deep breaths of air, taking out a handkerchief and covering his mouth and nose with it.

My eyes widened, suddenly remembering of Ryder's allergy to cats. I smirked, supporting my chin in the heel of my palm as Tommy climbed on my legs and leaned over the handle of my wheelchair.

"Kitty, kitty!" He started pointing to the floor, his feet moving painfully over my groin.

I didn't tell the boy anything, already used to his dangerous acrobatics. But I so whished his mother would sense my pain and decide to collect her offspring from my lap.

"We don't have a cat, but our neighbor does. She has seven of them. Oh, wait... you are not allergic to cats, are you?" Kathy's eyes widened as Ryder responded her with a sneezing nod.

"I actually am. Do you think I could enter the house?"

"Of course, dear! Come in, come in!"

I let Ryder enter the gates of the inferno first, Kathy after him and Tommy the last. Then, when they were all inside, I leaned over, slid my hands under my wheelchair and pulled out a ball of black fur. I kissed the animal's head and set it free, a wide grin adorning my face. Ohh, if I could just lock Ryder in the apartment next door... it would be so much easier to take rid of him.

"Carter, you coming?"

"Yes, Kathy! Right this second!"