“Me being his mom?”
“Well... yeah. Or just the fact that you’re dating someone who had a kid. I know you’re used to being around kids, and you’re great with them, but being a teacher is different.”
“It is. And you’re right—I think it is good to talk about this early on. A lot of people don’t; they just sort of let the chips fall where they do and then are surprised when there’s conflict later down the road. I don’t know what the future will be like, exactly, but if things work out between us, then of course I want to be a part of Declan’s life, in whatever capacity seems right.”
Cole smiled. “It makes me really happy to hear you say that.”
I smiled, too, and took another sip of my beer. I hadn’t really been thinking too far into the future, but as I sat there, I let myself imagine what it would be like to have this to come home to every night, to have Cole and Declan as part of my family. It would be nice; no, it would be more than nice.
“Oh, you know, I’ve been meaning to ask if you had plans tomorrow night. Ben’s on tap to babysit, so if you’re around, we should go out to dinner. It’d be nice to do something sans children. You know, like an actual date. Have we been on one of those yet?”
“I think so,” I said. “But either way, that sounds great.”
“Awesome. He said he’d be here around 6:30, so feel free to come by any time after that.”
I stifled a yawn with the back of my hand. Part of me wanted to stay there and maybe suggest we go curl up on the couch, but I was tired, and we’d had a long day outside, and I could tell that if we went inside and sat on the couch, I’d be asleep in about a minute. So I finished my beer, and then Cole walked me across the yard to my house. I did give him a long, lingering kiss before we said good night.
“Sweet dreams,” he said. “I’ll be thinking of you.”
I turned and walked inside, feeling like I was floating on air.
For our official date, I decided that I’d dress up a little. My closet wasn’t boasting a ton of fancy clothing, but I did have a form-fitting purple dress with black stripes that I thought looked pretty good. I fiddled around with my hair a little bit, too, wanting to do something with it since it was rather hu
mid and I didn’t want it hanging down over the back of my neck.
I gathered my hair into a ponytail and then twisted it up the back of my head, securing it in place with an alligator clip. I regarded myself once in the mirror before I stepped out of the bathroom, and decided that I didn’t look too bad at all.
Ben was already there when I walked over to Cole’s. He came to the door when I knocked, and he made no effort to hide the fact that he liked my outfit very much. He let out a low whistle and then stepped back, holding the door open for me so I could step inside.
“Hi, Ben,” I said. “Thanks. For holding the door and for hanging out with Declan tonight.”
“No problem,” he said. “Just call me Mr. Babysitter. Where do you two lovebirds have plans tonight?”
“We’re just going to go out, get something to eat. I wouldn’t mind maybe seeing a movie,” I said.
“Anything good playing? I haven’t been to the movies in ages.”
“I’m not sure. Do you guys have anything planned for tonight? I bet Declan’s really excited.”
“Of course he is. I get to be the uncle, which, when you think about it, is really the best of both worlds. I’m the one the kids get to have fun with, and then when it’s time to do the responsible parenting shit, well, that’s when my man Cole gets to take back over.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” I said.
“Having kids of my own obviously isn’t in my future,” he said.
I shrugged. “It’s not for everyone.”
“I never thought Cole would be saddled with one either, if you want to know the truth. I figured that the two of us would be bachelors for life. Free spirits. Able to come and go as we pleased.”
He paused, like he was going to say more, but then thought better of it.
“What?” I said, looking at him.
He opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to say anything, Declan came running down the hallway, his hair still damp from his bath.
“You look so pretty!” he exclaimed.
“Thanks, Declan,” I said.