Phoebe

The apartment was quiet when Phoebe woke up again. There was a clock on the wall, but she couldn't tell the time.
She got out of the bed and went to the window. The sun was rising above the buildings and the city below looked a lot smaller than it did last night.
There was a knock at the door and Phoebe quickly turned.
"Hey. Didn't mean to scare. I made some breakfast." Bill said.
"What kind?"
"There's eggs and pancakes."
"I don't like eggs." Phoebe looked back to the window.
"That's okay. You can have some pancakes."
Phoebe was confused when Bill's voice wasn't demanding. It was welcoming.
He had left the room and she followed. He got out plates and set them on the counter then went to a drawer and grabbed two forks.
A phone started to ring and Bill pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"I have to take this. Can you get the food for yourself?"
Phoebe shook her head yes and watched Bill leave the room.
She could hear Bill's end of the conversation.
"Hey. Thanks for calling back."
There was a pause.
"No. I'm gonna have to reschedule. I'm so sorry."
Another pause.
Bill sighed. "I know. I know. I'm sorry."
Bill sighed again. "Please just let me make it up to you."
"Alright. I have to go, but I'll talk later."
Another long pause.
"I love you, Tommy."
Then the phone hung up.
Bill came back into the room and rubbed his face.
"Who's Tommy?"
"He's a friend. Sorry. Did you hear all of that?"
"Yeah." She turned back toward the food.
"Do you want syrup?" Bill asked.
"What's syrup?"
"Uh. You put it on pancakes and it makes them taste really sweet."
"I've never had syrup."
"Never ever?" Bill asked.
"I don't think so."
"Well then. Today is your lucky day."
Bill walked over to a cabinet and got out some syrup.
"Syrup looks gross."
"It tastes pretty good though." Bill smiled and poured a small bit onto the plate so Phoebe could try it.
He was a little confused when Phoebe didn't dip the pancake in it, but instead put her finger in it.
She licked it and had a surprised look on her face.
"I like syrup." She smiled up at Bill.
She picked up a fork and dipped the pancake in it.
"Thank you for the food."
"No problem."

-

Bill called Tommy later in the day and said, "Do you wanna come over tonight?"
"Are you sure the kid will be okay with that?"
"I don't know, but it can't hurt to try."

-

When they were done on the phone Bill went to Phoebe's room and saw her sitting on the floor, looking out the floor to ceiling window.
"Hey."
"Hi." Phoebe looked over her shoulder to him.
He walked into the room and cane over to her.
"Can I sit with you?"
"Sure." She looked back out the window.
"Can I talk to you about something?"
She shook her head yes.
"Okay. Well." Phoebe looked at Bill and noticed he looked nervous. "My friend is gonna come over for dinner."
"Tommy?"
"Yes. It that okay with you?"
"Yes, but can I ask a question?"
"Sure." He gave her a smile.
"Is Tommy nice?"
"Oh yeah. He's really nice." Bill smiled. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"
"Can Mrs. Frances come?"
"To dinner?"
"Yeah."
"I can call her and see if she'd like that."
"Okay."

-

It was getting close to dinner time and Phoebe still hadn't left her room. "Hey." Bill said as he walked in the room. "You wanna come help set the table?"
It wasn't a demand. It was a simple question.
"Okay." Phoebe got up from the floor and walked to the door.
"Thanks, kiddo."
The buzzer for the door went off and Bill went to answer it.
"Hey. How are you?" Bill asked the person.
Phoebe hadn't got too close to the door, fearing it would be Tommy.
Mrs. Frances walked into the main entrance and said, "I've been alright. How is the little one settling?"
"She's good." Bill turned to look at her.
"Hi, Mrs. Frances." Phoebe said.
"Oh you can call me Mary."
Phoebe just smiled and walked the rest of the way to the kitchen.
"So. You never gave me a full explanation of why you wanted me here for dinner."
"Oh yeah. I have a friend coming over and Phoebe said she wanted a friend to come over too. That friend was you."
"Aw that's too sweet. Has she been okay?" Mary said with a smile.
"Yeah. I think she's doing okay."
"Where's your friend?"
"Uh. He should be here soon."
Not even a whole minutes later the buzzer went off.
Bill went to the door and opened it.
"Hey." Tommy said with a big grin.
He came into the apartment and kissed Bill on the cheek.
"I missed you."
"Yeah. I missed you too." Bill smiled.
Tommy had a bag in his hand and held it up.
"Did you get it?" Bill asked.
"Yeah." Tommy smiled.
"Get what?" Phoebe asked with a shy tone.
"It's a present." Tommy said to her.
"Who's the present for?"
"It's for you." Tommy held out the bag to Phoebe and she hesitantly walked over.
"What is it?"
"Open the bag." He said calmly to her.
She reached into the bag and pulled out a small box.
It said, nightlight on the side.
"What does it say?" Phoebe looked up at Bill.
Bill pointed to the word and said, "It says nightlight, sweetie."
"Like we talked about yesterday?" Phoebe sounded a little unsure.
"Yeah. Do you wanna go put it in your room?"
"Can you come with me?"
"Sure." Bill smiled and took the girl's hand.
She handed Bill the box and he opened it.
He plugged it into the wall and turned it on.
Bill adjusted it so that the image was on the ceiling.
"Who is that?"
"They're called Elsa and Anna. They're from a movie called Frozen."
"I'm never seen that." Phoebe shrugged.
"That's okay. We can watch it some time if you'd like."
"Okay." She looked up at the image again then stood up. "I'm hungry."
"Alright let's get you some good in your tummy." Bill got up and walked back to the kitchen.
"You guys ready to eat." Bill said to Mary and Tommy.
"Yeah." Tommy said.
They all sat at the table and Bill had made spaghetti for dinner.
"Do you like spaghetti? I didn't even think to ask." Bill said to Mary.
"Of course. I love spaghetti." She smiled and waited for Tommy to finish getting his serving.
Once Mary finished, Bill noticed that Phoebe wasn't grabbing any good.
"Do you like spaghetti, Phoebe?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Okay. That's alright." Bill patted her hand.
"Can I go to my room?"
"Sure." Bill was slightly let down that Phoebe didn't even want to try to eat.
Phoebe got down from the chair and went to the room.
"Is she alright?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah I think so." Bill continued looking at where she had disappeared to.
"She'll be alright." Mary said.