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“Uh-huh.” Francis smiled. “Would you like one?”
His ear-to-ear grin made Prescott chuckle. “Yes, please.”
She opened the glass lid and pulled out two. Maybe your uncle would like one too.”
He snatched them up. “Fank you.” Then, he peered up at Prescott. “Can I have one now and one at home?”
Francis laughed. “Wow, you’ve got your hands full.”
“I thought one of those was for me,” Prescott said.
Ethan giggled. “Can I have yours?”
“Go for it.”
“Fank you!” Ethan exclaimed with a grin.
Prescott chuffed out a laugh. He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t. Ethan was dealing with so much. If a bitesize piece of candy made his nephewthathappy, he’d break his own damn rule.
“How ‘bout I show you the playground?” Prescott asked. “There’s a slide and a cool maze.”
“I’ve got a few things to run by you,” Francis said. “There’s a board meeting this morning that you should attend, if you can.”
Prescott nodded. “That’s the plan.”
In the elevator, he let Ethan push the button again. Once outside, they followed the path to the building next door. As they entered the daycare center, children’s laughter and chatter floated into the lobby. The man sitting behind the counter walked around to greet them.
“Good morning, Mr. Armstrong.” He smiled at Ethan. “You must be Ethan. We’re excited you’re here.”
Ethan tightened his hold of Prescott’s hand.
“Ethan already has a daycare, but we just wanted to see what’s going on over here, right Ethan?”
“No, fank you.”
“What about the outside maze?” Prescott asked.
“But we’re inside!” Ethan exclaimed, raising his small arms as if to question his uncle’s knowledge between inside and out.
The daycare staffer laughed. “The three- and four-year-old class is about to start story time. Why don’t you sit in and listen?”
“We’d love to,” Prescott replied, and they followed the employee down the hallway.
“These classrooms are for our two-year-olds.” He pointed left and right, like a flight attendant. “And these six rooms are for our three- and four-year-olds. That’s our biggest group of students.”
He entered one of the playrooms. There had to be twenty little ones playing in small groups, pairs, and even alone. Four employees were interacting with the children.
“Miss Nancy,” called out the front-desk staffer.
A young woman hurried over. When her gaze met Prescott’s, her cheeks flushed. “Mr. Armstrong. Hi, I’m Nancy, the head teacher in this pod. Welcome.”
“This is my nephew, Ethan.”
Nancy smiled at him. “Hi, Ethan, I’m one of the teachers here. You and your uncle are just in time for a story.” She left, returning with a large dinosaur picture book. “Join us in the circle while me, Miss Keisha, and Mr. Tim read it.”
A boy wandered over. “What’s your name?”
“Ethan. What’s yours?”
