Page 10 of No One Like You

“Yeah, that sounds good. Mommy? Are we going to talk more? Because Aunt Tasha said that she was making hot chocolate. She makes the best hot chocolate!”

“Okay, okay. Wait… Better than my hot chocolate?”

“Yeah! She puts cinnamon in hers.”

“Oh, I see now! Well, I guess that I’m going to need to do better, then. Let’s go, munchkin, so you can get some of Aunt Tasha’s hot chocolate.”

“Yay! Race you!”

They raced up the stairs, and Sophia won—not that there was any doubt of the outcome.

As Megan closed the door, Tasha grinned and asked, “Out of breath?”

“Chasing an eight-year-old is great cardio. Who knew? Now, if I could just bottle her energy, then I would make a fortune!”

“I bet.” Tasha laughed.

“I have a bone to pick with you,” Megan said in a serious voice.

“Uh oh, that sounds ominous.”

“Yes, this is very serious. Apparently, you are using cinnamon in hot chocolate as a way to pierce my aura of motherly infallibility.”

“What? Girl, that sounds like a ‘you’ problem!”

“Oh no, girl! Don’t you ‘girl’ me!,” Megan shrieked as they both collapsed on the couch laughing.

As she sipped her hot chocolate, Megan tried to remember the last time that she and Brad had laughed about anything. She drew a blank. Whenever the last time was, it was a long time ago. Megan smiled over at her daughter, struck by Sophia’s insight.

Turning her head, she whispered, “Hey, Tasha. We do need to talk. We haven’t been roommates for a long time, so we’ll need to figure out how to live with each other again.”

Tasha’s face lit up. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yes. Sophia and I would like to live with you, at least until we get back on our feet. I’m gonna do my best to make sure that we aren’t imposing for too long.”

“Megan, you aren’t imposing. Well, unless I come home and find a sock on the door…”

“Hey! That was mostly freshman year, and that was because we were in that triple with Lauren!”

“Oh my God, Lauren! I haven’t thought of her in forever. I do give her credit for our good grades freshman year.”

“Yeah, socks on the door meant that we spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights in the library.”

“Tuesdays and Wednesdays too, for some reason.”

“You’re right! I totally forgot about that.”

“What are you two laughing at?” Sophia asked.

“Nothing!”

“Jinx!”

“Mommy! What’s so funny? No fair! You can’t tell jokes and not tell me, too…”

Megan and Tasha barely avoided spilling hot chocolate on the couch as they collapsed in a fit of giggles. When Sophia jumped on the couch between them, the tickling started and soon all three were giggling like mad.

CHAPTER 7

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