As they were heading into the kitchen, Emily slowed down a moment. She thought for a second, then turned around to look at Ash.
"Do you have a highchair, sweetie?" Emily asked mischievously.
"N-No I don't!" Ash protested weakly while looking away from his babysitter.
In truth, there was a highchair in the kitchen, but it was folded up and was slipped into the gap between the refrigerator and the dishwasher. Since he was always undersized for his age, his mother had him use it until he was almost 8 years old. Emily didn't know that, but Ash had the complete inability to lie convincingly. He didn't know exactly what gave him away, but whenever he tried to lie it went over like a lead balloon. And so it was that Emily looked at Ash with deep skepticism.
"Hmm, let's take a look then." Emily said shortly while leading Ash into the kitchen.
Ash fidgeted awkwardly while Emily looked around in the kitchen. It only took her a few seconds to find the folded up highchair, and she pulled out it of the gap with a satisfied air.
"What do we have here, princess?" Emily asked Ash, looking at him directly.
"A highchair." Ash mumbled, looking away.
"Toddlers lie a lot, sweetie, so I'm not upset. But you need to try to be more honest with me in the future, okay?" Emily asked him, using a measured, even tone very similar to the one Ash's mother used on the occasions where she needed to lecture him.
Ash nodded quickly and watched as Emily set up the high chair, then came closer when Emily gestured for him to do so. She lifted the tray in front of the highchair and Ash sat down on it. Emily then lowered the tray and locked it in place. To Ash's surprise, he was still able to sit in it fairly comfortably.
Emily tested the tray part of the chair to make sure it would keep Ash secure, then walked over to the refrigerator. There was a digital lock on the handle which prevented Ash from opening it himself. When he was a little kid, he used to be a bit chubby. His mother had bought the locking refrigerator years ago to control the amount of calories her son consumed. But even after she slimmed Ash down successfully, she kept the lock on the handle. Ash didn't mind. He trusted his mother to feed him correctly. He didn't even bother to try to see what combination Emily entered to open the fridge.
Emily then checked some of the cabinets. These were not locked, but there was no need to lock them. The food there was all packaged and required cooking. Ash had no idea how to cook anything, as his mother had forbid him from ever touching the stove.
"Hmmm. What do you think sweetie, chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese?" Emily asked him, holding up the two packages in her hands and once again making sure to limit his choice to one or the other.
"Um, macaroni and cheese." Ash answered shyly.
Ash would never admit it out loud, but he was glad that Emily was so quick to pick up on the fact that he had a very hard time making a decision himself. He was so used to his mother simply deciding for him. Being asked to choose between two options was a little challenging by comparison, but he found he could do it.
Ash watched in awe as Emily whipped up the macaroni and cheese with ease. He would have been scared of the hot burners himself, but Emily seemed to have no fear. After only a few minutes, she poured the macaroni and cheese onto a plate and sat down at the table next to Ash. She speared some macaroni and raised the fork up to Ash mouth.
"Open up sweetie!" Emily instructed in a sing-song voice.
"I-I can do it myself." Ash stammered in response.
"I don't want you to get your cute little dress dirty. Now open up." Emily instructed again, her tone becoming a little sharp at the end.
Ash recognized that tone from his mother and it signified a lessening of patience. He opened his mouth immediately and Emily was quick to insert the fork into his mouth. She waited until Ash's mouth closed and withdrew the fork, then gave him time to chew and swallow. Emily then speared more macaroni and repeated the process. Ash fell into the rhythm and in no time, the plate was empty.
"All done! Now let's see what we have for you to drink." Emily said with satisfaction as she got up from the table.
"Grape juice or apple juice?" Emily asked as she looked in the fridge.
"Grape juice!" Ash answered a bit of excitement. He was quite thirsty and his mother generally gave him milk afterward and reserved juice for earlier in the day.
"Grape juice it is. But I don't want you spilling anything." Emily said as she rummaged through one of the lower cabinets.
"Aha! This'll be perfect!" Emily exclaimed, holding up a dusty sippy cup.
Ash blushed slightly as Emily washed the cup, then poured a small amount of grape juice in the cup before fastening the lid. She placed it in front of Ash and watched as he grabbed the handles on each side before raising it to his lips. He knew he looked like a toddler doing this, but he was just doing what came naturally. The sweet taste of the grape juice was more important than listening to Emily giggling anyway.
"No more spills! I should mention it to your mother that you liked using your sippy cup." Emily said lightly.
Ash blushed again and waited for Emily to wash the dishes. He wished he could get up from the highchair, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. The lock on the highchair required some strength to open it, and even though Emily manipulated it easily, he wasn't sure he could. Once she was done, she walked over to Ash and unlocked the tray so that he could get up from his highchair. After he stood up, Emily immediately raised the front of his skirt and examined the front of his diaper once again.
"Still nothing! I'm impressed, sweetie! I definitely thought you'd be wet by now." Emily exclaimed as she ran her fingers over the front of Ash's pampers.
Ash squirmed and was on the verge of asking his Emily if she would touch his pen-is again when she led him into the living room.