It's not every day a guy waltzes into my life and offers to walk me out to my car, open the door for me, and then blow me kisses as I'm pulling out of the driveway. Kinda melts a girl's heart.
It's just a little different, though, when it's your 3 1/2 year-old nephew.
You've met Rocco before. He stands about 3 feet tall, weighs 40-some odd pounds, has a shock of red hair, and loves to sing "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas as though he were the lead singer himself. He still claims that I am his best friend and I'm honored with the title.
The boy certainly has his moments when you wonder what sort of crazy energy possesses the child, but for the most part he's a good kid - loud, but good.
The other night I was over to my brother's house visiting with him and my sister-in-law and their three kids. Rocco was just getting out of the bath tub when I arrived and when he came careening around the corner, he looked like he had just been set free from a prison in the North Pole. He had this green and white-striped pajama suit on, with a train embroidered on the front of the chest. My brother had just given him a buzz cut earlier that day so all his beautiful red hair was gone, and was now just a subtle strawberry-blonde.
At one point, the poor kid had to be put in timeout he was getting so wound up and hyper. And as he's sitting in the chair across the room from me, he leans forward and attempts to half-whisper, half-yell, "Tortney. Maybe when I come to visit your house again, just you and me can play a game together." The kid clearly gets tired of having to do whatever his big sister is doing, and wouldn't mind a little attention just to himself. I laughed and told him of course we could play a game together.
He is eventually allowed up and at this point, it's time for me to head home. I go to put my shoes on and Rocco comes running into the room, holding his hand up as though he's out to stop traffic, "Wait, wait! I will walk you out to your car!"
I have never had him make such an offer before so I was little confused as to what was prompting it now, but I told him I'd wait. Well, he just marches over to the door to leave, and I'm like, "Rocco, don't you think you ought to put some shoes and socks on first?" "Oh, yeah, hold on." So then he's scrambling to get his neon-green Velcro-strap sandals on before I can walk out the door without him.
He gets his sandals on, grabs my hand, and out the door we go. Then he races ahead of me so he can open the car door. He started opening the back door first and I told him, no, I'll be riding up front in the passenger seat (my mom was driving). I had already started opening the front door and he stops me again. "No, no! I will open it for you!" The door weighs way more than he does, so he struggles to open it. We finally get it open, he takes a step back, lets me in. Closes the door for me. Walks back down the driveway and is standing there with his mom. He starts blowing kisses and waving to my mom and I. And at first, I just waved, didn't blow kisses. Then he makes this indignant face at me like I better start blowing kisses or else. So I do. Then he gets all bashful and embarrassed, hiding behind his mom. My sister-in-law is looking at us and making gestures like she has no idea where this child came from.
Rocco, you can be my knight in shining armor any day. Green-striped pajamas and all.
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