Page 34 of No One Like You

“And yes, you are always a little goddess, aren’t you?”

After dinner, Megan got Sophia ready for bed and tucked her in. She found Tasha on the couch, trying to find something to watch. “Thank you for dinner. It tasted amazing, especially after the day that I had.”

“Rough one?”

“It wasn’t hard. Just two big clients emailing me about changes all day long, plus stupid Kevin is back, so he had to chime in. Ugh.”

“I’m sorry, Tasha. Shoulders or feet?”

“Huh?”

“Probably shoulders. Turn around.”

“Wuh?”

Megan sat behind Tasha and dug her hands into Tasha’s shoulders, working out the knots of tension she found.

“Goddess… definitely goddess…”

CHAPTER 23

WE FOUND LOVE

Tuesday was a regular school day, so everyone woke up when Megan and Tasha’s alarms went off simultaneously. Tasha fell back to her pillow thinking, Good news, two alarms means that I’ll get to work on time for sure. Bad news, I can’t push the snooze button on an alarm that requires reaching across two people and a cat.

She lay there with her eyes closed, listening to Megan as she tried to rouse Sophia. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be sharing my bed with another woman and an eight-year-old, I would have told them that they were crazy. It’s not bad, though. Actually, it’s really nice. I’m really glad that I bought a queen-sized bed, though. Seemed frivolous at the time, but it’s paying off now. It’s definitely very cozy. I should think about a king-sized bed. Uh oh, Sophia is finally getting up. I better pee before Megan hogs the bathroom.

With a newly found urgency, Tasha got up and started her day. The whirlwind of activity was a bit more familiar today. She made coffee while Megan coached Sophia through the process of feeding Nocturne, a task made more difficult by Nocturne’s insistence on sticking her head into every step of the process. Tasha was getting familiar with Sophia’s morning routine, so she jumped in when she could, getting a relieved smile from Megan in return. While Sophia was brushing her teeth, Tasha poked her head into the bedroom. “Why don’t I walk Sophia to school today?”

“Really, won’t you be late?”

“Nah, there’s a bus stop near the school. I can drop her off, hop the bus, and still get to work on time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. It would be my pleasure.”

“Thank you, Tasha. That would be a huge relief. Oh, hey, sweetie. You’re going to get breakfast at school today, alright?”

The productive chaos continued until Megan had to leave. “Okay, Sophia. Mommy has to go to work now. Do you have everything? Your bag is packed. Do you have the keys? Are you sure that you know how to walk home?”

“Mom!” Sophia huffed. “I’m a big girl and it’s only four blocks. I can do it.”

“I just worry about you. You’re my angel. Your Aunt Tasha is going to walk you to school, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Alright, I gotta go! Tasha, thank you! Sophia, I love you!” With that, Megan was heading out the door.

Tasha watched her go, then turned to finish getting herself ready. She helped Sophia into her coat and got her arms into the straps of her backpack. “Got your keys, munchkin?”

“In my backpack, Aunt Tasha.”

“Okay, don’t lose them.”

“I won’t!”

With that, she grabbed her coat and they headed for the door. Tasha locked the door behind them. As she put her keys in her coat pocket, she felt a small hand grab her free hand. Tasha looked down. Sophia was looking up at her with an impish grin on her face.

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