Unsuitable by Ainslie Paton Page A

gym. He’d worried he might’ve overstepped the mark with the pie, but
looking at Audrey’s pale face, the droop of her shoulders, he was glad he’d
chosen to close out the first week by making it easier for her.
    “Hi,”
he said, as Audrey entered the kitchen, dumping her laptop bag on the table and
swooping to kiss Mia. He looked away, while they talked. He was so lame. Five
days on the job without Cameron and still unsure how to relate to Audrey. He
felt too big and too lumbering around her. She was so fine and so well
organised; she made him feel even younger than he was by comparison.
    “Red
jelly is better,” Mia said. She’d eaten more jelly than spaghetti, but some of
the meat sauce made it into her mouth, as well as onto the front of her top and
the table.
    “It’s
my favourite too,” Audrey said. She straightened up and smiled at him. “We made
it through our first week together.” She rolled her head, putting her hand to
the back of her neck and closing her eyes momentarily. It sounded as though she
hadn’t been sure.
    “Tough
week?” He coughed. “I mean, not me. You had a tough week, I mean, did you? My
week was good.” Good for learning to gibber. Shit . Way to prove
competence, genius.
    Audrey
kindly let the incoherence pass through to the keeper. “Feels like the week had
more than five days.”
    “I
won’t dispute that if you want to pay me for more than five.” Reece scratched
his cheek. He wanted to put his big clumsy hand over his enormous stupid mouth,
because oh, yeah baby, let’s shift it up from gibbering to grasping.
    She
smiled. “Nice try. Run through the week for me. What worked, what didn’t? What
do we need to change for next week? How was Mia today?”
    “I
was good, Mum. I was special good at kindy gym. I did tundling. It was dizzy
Lizzy.”
    He
wiped the table in front of Mia, a slop of jelly. “Tumbling.”
    “Tundling.”
    Who
was he to correct her tonight? “Close enough.”
    Audrey’s
eyes were busy, watching Mia, watching him. “So kindy gym was a success.”
    Other
than their brief handover in the morning when Audrey was rushing out the door
and in the evenings when he was, this was the only time they’d spent together. There’d
been a daily phone call to check in, brisk and business-like, but their actual
contact had been pretty limited. No wonder she wanted a week’s end roundup.
    “How
was playgroup?”
    Playgroup
had been a challenge. Of course he’d gone twice with Cameron, so he’d been
introduced to the other mothers and carers, but it was a different thing to go it
alone. To be the only male in the group. He was asked the girlfriend question
four separate times and he was fairly sure Carrie, Eugenia’s mum, propositioned
him. He pretended not to hear her suggestion he bring Mia over for an afternoon
nap so the two of them could chill.
    “That
good,” Audrey laughed.
    “Mia
loves it.” All the kids were around the same age; it was chaotic, but more laughter
and learning than tears.
    “We
don’t have to do it forever.”
    “More
jelly, Reece.
    Audrey
smoothed a hand over Mia’s hair. “Say may I have more jelly, please, Reece.”
    “May
I have jelly prease, Reece.”
    He
took her bowl and gave her another tablespoonful. “You’ll turn into jelly.”
    She
shook herself head to tail. “Wibble, wobble.” She turned to Audrey. “We did
dancin’ all the days, before lunch.”
    “Did
you? Was it Wiggle time?”
    Mia
nodded around her spoon. “Did you dance on your own?” Audrey looked at him,
Mia’s brand of mischief in her expression. “Cameron wasn’t a dance fan.”
    He
dropped his head, wondering what Mia would come out with. Fortunately she was
unlikely to say he busted a move to Big Red Car and Hot Potato .
    “I
did up, up, up and down, down, down. I was a statue.”
    “I
bet you were a good statue.
    “I
was a lady beetle.”
    Audrey
laughed. She smoothed Mia’s hair again. “We keep kindy gym. Give playgroup
another