Alena, a pro at multitasking, flips pancakes into perfect circles while simultaneously pulling a spreadsheet onto her tablet. She scribbles a quick note for the kids: The note lands on the fridge with a magnet shaped like a tiny compass—her secret nod to adventure.
Alena Croft never meant to be two places at once, but by nine on a Tuesday she’d mastered the illusion. She kept one hand on the stroller—Ricky’s small fist curled around her thumb—and the other on her phone, where a calendar that might as well have been a second heartbeat buzzed insistently: MEETING, 9:30; PICKUP, 3:00; GROCERIES, ASAP. The world pressed in from both sides—emails to answer, dishes to ignore, a toddler who demanded a song and only accepted the wrong words. alena croft ricky johnson mommys busy mommy got
“Then maybe Ricky can handle the books,” Alena suggested, winking. She knew better—Ricky had enough on his plate (both literally and figuratively) with his gigs at the Blue Note Café across town. But the man adored Lila in his own quirky way, and sometimes “handling the books” meant teaching her to play chords while sticky syrup squelched between his fingers. Alena, a pro at multitasking, flips pancakes into
Alena arrives at a remote archaeological dig in the Andes. The team uncovers a set of stone tablets that may hold clues about a lost civilization’s trade routes. She crouches beside the artifacts, her mind flickering between and “What’s the next move?” The same focus she brings to fieldwork also fuels her ability to keep the household running smoothly. She kept one hand on the stroller—Ricky’s small