y of extra pancakes. I should have thought of cutting the food. I was a little out of practice with the daily routine of Gina. I cut up the remainder of her pancakes, and by the time I returned to the table after throwing away the wasted one, she was already happily eating the rest.
I sat next to her with my own plate and dug in. We had eaten for a few minutes before I bridged the topic of a new nanny.
“I’m sorry that Layla had to leave, but I’m going to start looking for another nanny for you,” I said.
I don’t know what I expected. Maybe screaming or fighting about wanting to be with me. But instead, all Gina did was nod.
So far, so good. As I wanted Gina to like the new nanny, and this kid was incredibly intelligent, I asked her, “What type of nanny would you like?”
Her eyes lifted to mine. They pierced my soul, just as her mother’s did. “Um, someone who can play with me without going huh-huh.” She mimicked heavy breathing for me.
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. There were many occasions where Layla was out of breath after playing with Gina outside.
“What else?” I asked.
Gina quirked her lips and looked at the ceiling, deep in thought. “She has to like tea parties. I love tea parties.”
“I know you do,” I said. “Anything else?”
“Would she be my new mommy?” Gina asked.
I cleared my throat. I preferred to hire older women to care for Gina since they had life experience and there was no way that Gina would think any of them would be her new mom. But even lowering the age to a woman in her fifties might not be enough. I knew I’d have to open it up to someone much younger.
“No, honey, whoever I pick won’t be your new mommy,” I said, wanting to nip that idea in the bud as soon as possible.
“Oh,” she said dejectedly.
“But I’m going to look really carefully this time to find someone who you like,” I promised.
That seemed to make her happy as she bounced her legs against the chair. “Okay, Daddy.”
I changed the subject, not wanting to get too bogged down with the process of finding a nanny quite yet. “How about we go to the aquarium today?”
“Yeah!” Gina said, throwing her arms in the air.
When we arrived at the aquarium, there was already a line about a dozen people deep. I was grateful for Layla for making me purchase a membership because we skipped the line before the rush came in.
“Where do you want—” I said before Gina grabbed my hand and took off with me in tow. Even though she was small, she was strong. Holding my finger, she pulled me toward her favorite exhibit.
“Sharks! Sharks!”
We went to the shark exhibit and watched the massive creatures appear to float effortlessly through the water.
“Turtles!” Gina cried and rushed over to the tank as one of the turtles pressed against the glass. She gave the glass a high-five, and I knelt down next to her.
She shoved her hair out of her eyes a few times and started to get frustrated. Her little mane of brunette hair was always in a ponytail, and now I knew why.
“Do you want me to put your hair up?” I asked.
Gina turned to me, sighed, and nodded.
I reached into her bag, which Layla always called her “bag of tricks,” and took out a hair-tie from a small plastic bag of about a hundred of them. She was always prepared. I hoped whoever I chose next was the same.
“Ow!” Gina cried as I held a handful of her hair.
I loosened my grip. “Sorry.”
As I twisted the tie around her chunk of hair, her face scrunched together.