That night, Annie observed as Ken watched the television in her hotel room. He was quiet and Annie found babysitting him not to be as unpleasant as she had feared. The boy had his full attention on the television and had remained still the whole time. His presence was barely felt.
With the absence of distractions, Annie had finished the homework that she had brought with her. She was now seated beside the boy at the edge of the bed, together with eyes and ears on the idiot box telling happy cartoon stories.
She had not heard anything from Big Sis so far that night. Perhaps Marie had called Second Sis instead.
"I'm hungry," Ken announced.
"I'll get some food." Annie picked up their last snack coupon and called room service.
Nachos and juice were delivered by a cheerful redhead named Lisa. The girl expertly arranged the tray of food, jug of juice and glasses on the coffee table. She did her work with minimal obstruction to Ken's view of the television.
After thanking the girl goodbye, Annie invited Ken to the food. She smiled as the boy ate. She tried some, savoring the smooth, sour topping - she had been careful to choose a non-spicy one. The snack was much more enjoyable than dinner.
Ken clumsily drank some juice, spilling a lot of it down his chin and onto his shirt.
"Oh, you have to be careful," Annie said. She took a serviette to wipe the child's shirt.
Ken laughed and threw some juice at Annie, hitting her on her face and blouse.
Annie firmly grabbed the hand holding the glass, then gently guided him to lay it down. "Don't do that," she admonished softly, "It's not good to waste food." She found that she was not angry with the child. The boy had been so quiet, so obedient, so adorable. How could she be angry?
The girl wiped her face. She gently took the boy's hand and led him to the bathroom. "Let's wash that juice off, okay?"
She pulled the child's clothes off then she helped him into the tub. She used the hand-held shower to wash the sticky juice off him. As she applied some body shampoo on him, Ken took the shower head and sprayed water onto her, laughing all the while.
Annie shut off the water. "Naughty," she chided, "you got me wet." She went to the sink, took off her blouse and wrung it.
"What is that?" Ken asked, pointing at her chest.
"This? This is a bra. Girls wear one." Annie stepped closer so he could see.
"Bra," Ken tried pronouncing the word, "Can I have bra?"
"No, you can't have it," she said as Ken reached out with a hand. She pushed his hand down and stroked his cheek. "Boy's don't need a bra. Ken is a boy, right?"
"Yes," he agreed.
Ken was happy with the attention Annie was giving him and Annie found her heart gladdened by the child's joy as he laughed and splashed. She found it a delight to bathe the boy. This must have been what Mother felt while she had bathed her. This must have been why Mother had wanted to bathe her.
Annie toweled the boy dry. She selected a t-shirt from her bag and clothed him in it. The shirt fit him well as a smock. The bathrobe that she added after was definitely too big. However, despite the heating in the room, she did not want the boy to suffer the cold. When she was done, she set him in front of the television.
She watched the boy for a while. Satisfied that the boy's attention was on the television, she returned to the bathroom. She left the door open, so she could listen for anything that might happen in the main room. Annie flipped on the switch for the exhaust fan to suck the steam away.
Looking down at her wet slacks, Annie sighed. The dampness was getting uncomfortable. She took off her clothes and hung them to dry. Hopefully, it would be dry by morning so she could pack it away for washing at home. She did not like the unsightliness of clothing hung in the bathroom, though.
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