Page 75 of From Maybe to Baby

Is it just?—

My phone buzzes one last time.

Jonas:

See you at 6

Maybe some questions don’t need to be answered… because thereisno answer for them.

10

JONAS

I spotAlexa at the SFO baggage claim, looking way too put together for someone who's been crammed into an economy seat for six hours. The kids see her a second later and their shrieks cut through the airport buzz like a fire alarm.

"LEXA!" Jace escapes my grasp and bulldozes through the crowd. "You’re here!"

"Inside voice, Jace," I remind her, but I'm grinning too. The two weeks of video calls didn't prepare me for how cool it feels to see Alexa here, catching my daughter in a flying hug, designer outfit not even slightly creased.

"Quite the professional greeting," she says as she reaches me, still holding Jace tight.

"The most professional," I agree, as Lukas attempts to climb her like a tree. She balances him on her hip, still managing to look like she stepped off a fashion runway, not a Boeing.

"Did you bring volcano rocks?" Lukas demands. "Did you learn new hockey swear words? Did you?—"

"Hey, let her breathe, man."

To be honest, I’m about as excited to see her as the kids are, but I, unlike my little ones, I have enough game to play it cool.

The drive home turns into an Jace-guided tour with the kids pointing out every San Francisco landmark we pass.

They blather in an insane stream-of-consciousness that I can barely keep up with. While this would send most people running, Alexa takes it like a champ. "That’s where we get the best ice cream." "That's where Daddy loses at hockey to guys half his age." "That’s where I saw a dog that looked like a walking cloud."

Alexa pretends to take notes on her phone, claiming it's for her article. But I catch her smile every time Jace claims something as "our" anything—our park, our library, our ice cream shop.

At the hockey rink, the kids' excitement skyrockets.

"This is where Daddy works," Lukas presses his face against the glass, leaving a nose print. "Sometimes he goes SUPER fast and?—"

"Inside voice," I remind him, futilely.

"And that's where I’m gonna play when I’m big," he continues, completely ignoring me. "After I'm done being a hockey-playing astronaut pirate."

"Can’t wait to see that," I reply. "Make sure you figure out the dinosaur part too."

"Knight." Vince Vincent, our PR guy, appears with his tablet like always. "You didn't mention your... friend... would be visiting."

His smug pause around "friend" rubs me the wrong way. So I ignore it. But Alexa does not.

"I’m here for research," she answers smoothly. "For my article about family-friendly spots in San Francisco."

"Of course," Vince’s smile is more PR than pleasure. "The one that just happens to overlap with pre-season?"

"Purely coincidental," Alexa chirps, her million-watt smile working its magic on him as he takes a step back and just smiles at her. Turns out not even an asshole like he can resist her.

I watch them, both masters of the PR dance, as Jace announces, "Lexa's gonna learn hockey. She already knows about volcanos, but Daddy has to teach her about ice."

Vince's eyebrows do a little dance. "'Lexa'?"

---