Extreme Profession: Editor
After finishing the shopping, I pushed the now-heavy stroller toward home.
The late afternoon sun still held the heat of a summer day, but the kids spent a happy stretch under the stroller’s canopy, taking in the world outside.
Reni’s earnest efforts to teach Luca this and that were so sweet and admirable.
Though every now and then the information was a little off…
“Luca, Luca, look over there! That’s a water-meat flower!”
Water-meat?
I followed Reni’s pointing finger and saw a full bloom of sky-blue hydrangeas.
Not wanting to embarrass him, I decided to gently correct it later at home and kept pushing the stroller with purpose.
The expensive wagon-style stroller earned every penny of its price, rolling along smoothly.
…So why did my lower back hurt?
My body felt off.
I wiped the faint sheen of sweat from my forehead and somehow knew it wasn’t just from the heat.
“…….”
Maybe it was the restless night and the morning rush of dessert deliveries and everything else…
Truthfully, pushing myself a little too hard hadn’t started yesterday. The stretch of preparations before bringing Reni home had already been long.
Waiting for the light at an intersection, I stretched and rolled my shoulders—and the sky seemed to tilt just a little.
“……Ugh.”
A groan slipped out before I could stop it.
…This was bad.
A cold sweat suddenly ran down my back.
I couldn’t afford this. I couldn’t get sick right now.
Ordinarily I was perfectly healthy.
But every few years a brutal bout of body aches would knock me flat.
Sometimes it got so bad I genuinely thought I might die from it.
Back when I lived alone I’d even thought, well, if I die like this, so be it…
Not anymore. Who would look after the kids?
Listening to their chatter as we headed home, a thousand thoughts crashed through my head.
The babies still couldn’t do anything for themselves. Should I call Cassandra?
But she’d said she was busy with personal matters today; I’d already taken a taxi this morning because of it.
To make things worse, my eyelids started to droop.
The sunlight was glaring, yet I couldn’t feel the heat…
Somehow, running on pure willpower, I pushed the stroller all the way home.
“We’re home!”
When I lifted the kids out of the stroller, Reni crowed with joy.
I smiled and scooped him up. I washed both boys’ hands and feet and changed their clothes.
While they tore around the living room as if making up for the two days we hadn’t played together, I put away the groceries and set water to boil for Reni’s jello.
Maybe a warm cup of tea would help.
I dug a cold-and-flu medicine out of the first-aid kit I kept for the kids, swallowed it, and leaned against the island, waiting for the water to boil.
If I sat or lay down now I was sure I’d pass out on the spot; I couldn’t risk getting comfortable.
Once the medicine kicked in, though, maybe I’d feel better?
Thinking that, I poured the jello powder into the rolling boil.
I stirred, added cold water, kept stirring until it thickened a little, and slid the bowl into the fridge.
Even that simple sequence left my stomach lurching.
I knew stubborn endurance wasn’t going to fix this.
I reached for my phone, meaning to text Greg and ask him to stop by after work…
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang. Luca’s eyes went round and he froze mid-motion.
Reni, on the other hand, dashed toward the entrance and called out,
“Who is it?”
Sharp as anything for a four-year-old.
I was proud of the confidence blooming in him, but I couldn’t manage a proper compliment.
I forced myself to the door and checked the peephole. Evan stood there.
Come to hound me for the manuscript, no doubt…
Having an editor show up at my front door to demand pages—well, I was certainly living life to the fullest.
I unlatched the door and faced him.
“Good afternoon. I just wanted to—wait, are you all right?”
Evan took one look at me and asked in alarm.
Great. Looking like death itself in front of the guy who came to pressure me for copy. My luck was just incredible…
While I stood there thinking idiotic thoughts, Evan continued,
“You’re pale as a sheet. Shouldn’t you see a doctor?”
“……No. I just need to rest my eyes for a bit.”
That really was how it felt. One good nap, just one proper sleep…
And Evan wasn’t the sort who missed cues.
“Is there anything I can do to help, then?”
I’d been waiting for those exact words. Asking for favors without even handing over a recipe—call me shameless if you want.
But when help was standing right in front of me, what room did I have to be picky?
I clung to the lifeline and asked,
“Then… just for a little while… could you watch the kids for me?”
“Yes, of course—wait. The kids? Plural?”
Only then did Evan notice Reni glued to my leg.
The expression that flashed across his face let me read his mind perfectly.
I cleared up the misunderstanding with a quick introduction.
“This is Reni, Luca’s older brother. He’s four.”
“Ah, I see. Nice to meet you, Reni.”
Evan spoke to the boy with a faintly awkward smile.
That man had definitely just wondered whether Luca had already grown this big.
Judging by the neat clothes and the stuffed briefcase, Evan had come straight from the office.
He set the bag down by the entrance and remarked,
“Your home feels incredibly cozy and warm.”
Come to think of it, this was his first time inside.
Good thing I’d closed the bedroom and playroom doors; the living room at least was tidy.
But right now he wasn’t a guest or my editor—he was my savior and temporary babysitter.
“Yes. First, wash your hands here…”
“Of course.”
Once he’d washed up, I steered him to one of the little chairs at the kids’ table in the living room.
“…….”
A perfectly respectable office worker folded into a toddler chair looked ridiculous, but I had no energy left to care about aesthetics.
Ignoring his slightly flustered expression, I made my request in a voice that sounded half-dead.
“Just read them a few picture books, please.”
“Ah—yes.”
I sat Reni in another chair and strapped Luca into the Bumbo seat.
“Even while you’re reading, keep checking that they stay put. Kids can cause an accident or get hurt in the blink of an eye. Especially this little guy…”
“Uung…”
Luca, apparently displeased about something, grabbed my finger.
Evan answered with the voice of a man who had made up his mind.
“I’ll look after them as if they were my own child who hasn’t been born yet.”
Ah… something flickered through my mind, but I couldn’t catch it. I was at my limit.
“Then just a few picture books, please. Hold the book to the side so they can see the pictures while you read.”
With that final instruction I collapsed onto the sofa and blacked out.
Light returned to a world that had been pure black.
I felt the evening sun resting on my eyelids.
The nape of my neck, which had felt stiff as stone, was soft again; the forehead that had seemed weighted with a rock was clear. Neither cold nor hot.
“And so the fairy who became a water droplet went from cloud to river, and from river to sea…”
Someone’s gentle voice was reading aloud.
“Sometimes rain, sometimes the ocean…”
It was The Tale of the Fairy Who Became a Water Droplet—a story so melancholy I wondered if adults were even allowed to feel this sad.
My mind snapped into focus and my eyes flew open.
I locked gazes with Evan, who was reading to the children.
“……And so she circled the world forever and ever.”
Evan closed the book after the final line, his voice full of emotion. Reni clapped his hands in delight.
“Woooow, amazing!”
No, Reni. That isn’t amazing—it’s incredibly sad…
I rolled my eyes toward Luca. He was bouncing his feet in the Bumbo seat, happily playing with a toy.
“……Hello.”
I offered a sheepish greeting. Evan nodded and returned it.
“Yes. You look a bit better. I’m glad.”
I pushed aside a cushion I didn’t remember hugging and sat up properly.
My body felt much lighter. The medicine must have worked while I sweated through a deep sleep.
Reni ran over, smiling.
“Daddy! Did you snore?”
“Yeah. Daddy fell asleep. Did the nice man read you picture books?”
“Uh-huh! Three whole ones!”
Three books…
I’d been out for a solid thirty minutes at least. I started with thanks.
“Thank you. Earlier I really wasn’t in my right mind…”
Evan shook his head.
“Not at all. You must have been exhausted.”
Apparently even while I was dead to the world I’d been stroking and patting the cushion as if it were a baby.
“I can only imagine how hard it is raising two children alone.”
“Ah… yes.”
Doing that in front of someone who wasn’t exactly a stranger yet wasn’t exactly close either—mortification washed over me.
Yet Evan seemed to be looking at me with a touch of respect.
I stood. Relief flooded me; my body truly felt fine again.
“If you’re free, would you stay for a simple dinner? You must have come with something to discuss.”
“Ah… yes. Then I won’t refuse. And please tell me if there’s anything else I can help with.”
We finished a light dinner.
Reni was still a picky eater, but he managed a little more than a few days ago.
After carefully chewing and swallowing the last bite, he asked,
“Daddy, can we eat the jello yet?”
“Not yet. It’s still a bit watery. Jello needs a few more hours to get nice and bouncy. Would it be okay to have it tomorrow morning?”
“Okaaay. Heehee.”
I lifted the giggling boy down from his chair and carried him and Luca back to the living room.
Reni settled at the table announcing he wanted to draw; Luca immediately demanded to be held again, so I simply strapped on the baby carrier.
When Luca got like this, the only solution was continuous carrying.
I set a cup of coffee in front of Evan, who had been watching me with a quiet, thoughtful gaze.
“Next time I’ll treat you to a proper dinner. Today’s been a complete mess.”
“Not at all. That was the best sandwich I’ve had in ages. I mean it. You’re skilled at cooking as well as baking.”
“Haha.”
An awkward chuckle, then a short silence.
Now it was time for the delinquent author who kept postponing his manuscript to receive the editor’s gentle pressure.
“……You came about the recipes, right?”
“Yes. Though after seeing all this, I fully understand why the manuscript is late…”
Evan didn’t ask why one child had suddenly become two.
He was far more interested in when the next recipe would actually arrive.
I apologized first, then laid out the current situation honestly.
“I’m sorry the second recipe is delayed. I’ve still been jotting down ideas whenever I can…”
I pulled out the recipe notebook I’d been scribbling in during spare moments and walked him through the concepts so far.
“As a parent looking after two kids, it’s hard to get meals on the table on time. So I was thinking about something quick and healthy…”
I showed him a few dessert-style recipes that were basically energy tonics. Evan considered them, then shook his head.
“They’re solid recipes, but I believe Vanessa has already submitted something quite similar.”
“Ah…”
Vanessa was the influencer who specialized in healthy diets and body management. Of course she’d already claimed that territory.
“I’m sorry. When two recipes are too close, we have no choice but to go with the one submitted first.”
“Yes, of course. I understand.”
Disappointing, but fair. My lateness was the problem.
I closed the notebook as casually as I could and said,
“Still, I’ll make sure to submit a recipe within this week.”
“Please don’t feel too pressured… Think of today’s visit less as a deadline reminder and more as a check-in to see whether anything else had come up.”
So basically: “I came to pressure you, but you don’t have to feel pressured.”
Even so, here was a poor office worker who hadn’t managed a proper end to his workday and had even babysat for me.
This time the fault was clearly mine, so I simply repeated my thanks and apologies.
As Evan finally stepped out the door, still insisting he was fine, he added one more thing.
“We already have an author covering adult health recipes. Perhaps Jun, you could focus on healthy desserts for children? That might even help the overall balance of the recipe book.”