Page 27 of Cooper

“Hey, Bean! How was your day?” I gush, as she trots over to me and gives me a hug.

Cooper walks to me and hesitates. He’s not sure if it’s okay for him to kiss me in front of Bean. I’m not sure, either. I know that she likes Cooper, but I’m not sure how she’s going to feel if she finds out that we’re in love. One step at a time. And it’s like he can read my mind as he winks at me, as if to say, ‘don’t sweat it, babe. We’ll figure it out’.

“We stayed after so Cooper could give me extra piano lessons!” Bean brags.

“No way! You always wanted to learn to play the piano.”

“And now he’s going to teach me.” She beams, and then she sees the frosted cupcakes on the counter. “Mommy? Did you make those?”

“I sure did.”

“They look great. It smells like a five-star restaurant in here.” Cooper comments.

“I hope you enjoy it.”

“Oh, I’m sure I will. If it tastes even half as good as it smells.”

Bean looks at Cooper. “It’s my favorite. You’re going to love it.”

Cooper checks his watch. “Gosh, I hate to sound like Fred Flintstone, but, is it ready yet? Wade got us a gig tonight, which is like a true Christmas miracle, because we never play on Tuesday nights, but I’ll take it when I can get it.”

“Oh, really? Isn’t that good news?” I ask, spooning the pork chops and stewed vegetables onto plates.

“It absolutely is. The more exposure we get, the better.”

“Where are you playing?”

“It’s about an hour’s drive away. That’s how come I need to jet out of here as soon as possible. Wade’s meeting me at Mingles in like a half an hour. We have to zoom out there and do setup and soundchecks before we go on at ten.”

“Wow, so you’re going to be out all night.” I say, unable to hide the disappointment in my voice.

“Yeah, Mister Walters is going to be bleary-eyed in class tomorrow.”

“Are you even going to make it back in time to get any sleep?” I ask, very concerned.

“We’re on until one o’clock. I should be home by two or three. I’ll get four or five hours in.”

“Are you going to play again tomorrow night?”

“Depends on how tonight goes, I suppose.” He states, popping a carrot into his mouth from his plate. “God, this is good.”

He inhales his food and gestures to me, without Bean seeing, to follow him into the bedroom. “What’s up?” I whisper.

“Nothing. I just wanted to give you a kiss before I leave and thank you for dinner.”

“But you didn’t get a cupcake.”

“I’ll take one for the road.” He grins, and then he kisses my lips chastely. “God, I missed you today. I was half thinking of turning Wade down for tonight, but we need the money and the exposure, like I said.”

“I missed you, too. I’ll try to wait up for you tonight.” I say, aching to be alone with him.

“Now, don’t you think of it. I’m going to be home super late. And you’ll have Nate here to watch Bean for you. I already called Liz to ask.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s no trouble.” He kisses me again. “How can you miss someone that’s standing right here?” He pulls me close. “When do you think we should tell Bean about us?”

I look back towards the living room, where she’s placing decorative Christmas edible ornaments on the cupcakes, to take them to school tomorrow for her friends. “Gosh, I don’t know, Cooper. I think she’s been through a lot lately. I don’t want to shock her.”

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