Adding Up To Family. Marie Ferrarella

after she’d gone to bed. “Didn’t you like being an engineer?”

      “In the beginning, I did. Very much so,” she told Stevi. “But after a while I decided that maybe the pressure was too much. I found I was always working and that it wasn’t fun anymore, not like it used to be. So I decided to take a break for a bit and just smell the roses.”

      “So is that what you did?” Stevi asked, doing her best to understand what this adult was telling her.

      She liked the fact that Becky was talking to her as if she were another grown-up rather than just a little kid. Too many adults treated her as if she couldn’t understand things. Her father wasn’t like that, but lately, communication between them hadn’t been going very well. Like an old train with a faulty wheel, it kept breaking down.

      “Did you go smell roses?” she pressed.

      “Yes,” Becky answered. “I took time to enjoy the things around me.”

      “And being a housekeeper lets you do that?” Stevi was still somewhat unclear about the concept.

      “Well, until now, I’d come to different houses, race around cleaning them up and then go home. This will be my first live-in position. So, like I said earlier, I’m counting on you to help me navigate this whole new career change. I’d like to be the best housekeeper that I can be,” she confided. She looked at Stevi. “So, can I count on your help?” she asked, holding out her hand.

      Stevi looked at it, and after a moment, she grinned broadly and put her hand into Becky’s, shaking it.

      “Yes!” she declared, doing her best to sound grown-up. “You can.”