On the car ride home I looked out the window at the lights of the city as they disappeared behind us. As much as I loved the city tonight, I was glad to be going home, where Sky and Nans and Grandpa were waiting for us and where I knew tomorrow morning I’d have a text from Casey.

Chapter Seven Middle School Musings

Sure enough, the next morning there was a text from Casey, asking me what time I would be home from work. I texted her back, put on my Donut Dreams shirt, and went downstairs, where Nans and Mimi were already having coffee.

“Ready for work?” asked Nans, putting a plate of scrambled eggs in front of me. “Mimi is going to wait until Prince Sky wakes up, so I can drive you to the Park and get some things done in the office.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I looked from Nans to Mimi and smiled at them as I ate. It was nice having both grandmas here at the same time.

“Okay, all done! Reporting for duty,” I said, finishing up my breakfast. Mimi reached over to clear my plate.

“I can do it,” I said. I didn’t want Mimi to do any extra work for me.

“Oh, you get to work, honey. I’ll clean up,” said Mimi.

Nans raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

She would always say, “I am not a waitress in my own home!” whenever one of us didn’t clear our plate and scrape it off before we put it in the dishwasher.

“Should I pack a snack in case you get hungry?” asked Mimi, opening the fridge.

“Uh, Mimi,” I said. “I’m going to work in a restaurant. Where there is, um, a lot of food.”

She spun around. “Oh, right,” she said. Then she laughed. “That would be like bringing books to a library!”

“Kind of,” I said.

Mimi was not the type of person to ever sit down. After dinner Nans and Grandpa would sit and talk while they had coffee or tea. When we were at Mimi’s house in Chicago for Thanksgiving, she would jump up and clear the table and start cleaning the kitchen. I never saw her sit around, really. She always had projects, as she called them, or “tidying up” around the house. There was never anything out of place at Mimi’s house, so she must spend a lot of time tidying.

“Well, have a good day, Lindsay,” said Mimi. “I know you’ll do a great job!” She gave me a kiss, and I followed Nans out the door.

When we got into the car, I said, “Nans, Mimi tried to send food to a restaurant!”

“Well,” said Nans. “She means well. She doesn’t know how to help when she comes, so you can’t really blame her. Plus, walking into the house is hard for her, Linds. She misses your mother so much.”