Page 56 of Instant Bond

“I’m in the first grade,” he answered sweetly, blinking his long eyelashes at her. I wished that would work for me. “I can do adding and subtracting and I know all my shapes and I can tell time. And I can read all the books on Mrs. Cooper’s quiet time shelf.” And he was very humble and didn’t brag whatsoever.

“That sounds like a lot,” she told him. I was pretty sure she had calculated the age of a first grader and cross-referenced it with my age to understand when I’d gotten knocked up. That fun fact about me was probably not a mom-pleaser. “My son was usually at the head of his class, too.”

“Karter was your son,” Ty determined, smiling. I think he liked that they had something in common. “Now he’s my daddy’s boyfriend.”

“Ty,” I groaned. Karter snickered lightly on his other side. Clearly he didn’t mind that particular announcement.

“That’s fine,” she said, shaking her head a bit. “I can see that for myself. How long have the two of you been seeing each other?”

I hesitated. That part was going to sound silly no matter how we framed it.

“Awhile,” Karter cut in. Clearly he didn’t want to wade into that muddy territory either. Most people probably weren’t going to think too highly of ourit just feels rightphilosophy when it came to the living together part. “We’ve been together awhile, and living together is what made sense for us.”

“Alright,” she said, seeming to accept his answer. “Well, you seem happier, at least. I know some of the other department heads at work have commented that you’re not living in the office anymore.”

“I have something to come home to now,” he said. Hearing him say that, especially to someone else, gave me flutters in my stomach like it always did.

She took a minute to absorb that before nodding slowly. “Well, your mom’s going to want to meet Cam as soon as possible. You know how happy she’s going to be about you settling down.”

At least it sounded like one of them would be happy about him being with me.

“I know. We can figure out a time that will work for everyone.”

“Why don’t you just bring Ty to our house for Halloween?” She suggested, before turning to face me. “Has Karter told you about our holiday parties?”

“Uh, no, he hasn’t mentioned anything.”

“Tracey, my wife, always puts together the most amazing holiday parties. Easter, Halloween, Christmas, you name it. Everyone comes, and there’s a lot to do for the kids. Ty would love it.”

“What kind of stuff?” Ty asked, wiggling with excitement.

“Well, there’s a corn maze, and a pumpkin carving contest, and bobbing for apples, and-”

“Bobbing for apples!” He cut her off, grabbing my arm and shaking it. “Dad, she said bobbing for apples!”

“I heard.”

“So then you’ll come?” She prompted. When I glanced at Karter for confirmation, his eyes were narrowed at her. I wasn’t really sure why. Was there a reason he didn’t want his other mom meeting us? Or why he didn’t want us at the party?

“We’ll come,” he finally said.

“Perfect! Tracey’s going to be just thrilled,” She said, standing up. “And it looks like the rain’s let up too, so I’ll just scoot while it’s not so bad. I’m sure you have your little nighttime routines, so I won’t impose.”

“No, you would never impose, would you?” Karter responded dryly. She gave him an equally dry look before shaking her head.

“How I raised such a disrespectful brat, I’ll never know,” she mused, but her tone wasn’t too serious. “Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Cam. And you, Ty.”

“Thank you!” He chirped. “It was nice meeting you, too.”

“Likewise,” I added, feeling a little dazed. I hadn’t really expected the whole meet the parents thing anytime soon and Halloween was less than two weeks away.

Karter walked her to the door, closing it behind her, and returned to us where he gave me a very apologetic look. I reached out to take hold of his hand, squeezing it to let him know I wasn’t upset. Even if I had been, Ty’s immediate and gleeful tangent on the advanced bobbing for apples techniques he’d heard from kids at school would have cheered me right up.

That night in bed, I laid on my side staring at Karter. He was lying on his side staring at me.

“Tell me something,” he requested, reaching out to toy with my fingers, where I had my hand set on my hip.

“Anything.”

---