Page 32 of Worth the Fall

"So demanding." He sighs dramatically, but he's smiling as he reaches for his phone. "Italian okay? Vinny swears their pasta is better than my burnt and tasteless offering anyway."

"Well, tell Vinny we will require extra carbs for all of the extracurricular activities." I bounce my eyebrows at him, making him laugh.

"He's very invested in our relationship," Miguel admits with a grin. "Pretty sure he's running some kind of betting pool about us so he will be more than thrilled to hear about this."

"What?"

"Kidding." He winks, a flood of relief hitting me. "At least about the telling him part; the other part is actually true."

"He knows about me?" I pause, shocked, considering Miguel and I have only just met in the last several weeks.

"He does. Ever since the divorce, his place has become a regular for Felicity and me. And after the pickleball incident…" He chuckles. "I, uh, yeah, I told him about you."

He pulls me into his arms, my hands resting against his bare chest again as I look up at him.

"Does that scare you?"

"No." I shake my head. "What’d you say about me?"

"Oh, come on now, that’s attorney-client privilege."

"He’s your client?"

"Of course he is." He chuckles, grabbing my hand. "Now, let’s get you fed."

CHAPTER 6

Miguel

Mornings with Felicity are always a storm of glitter and toast crumbs, but today, her enthusiasm feels amplified, as if she’s been waiting all night to ask me something that’s been brewing in her little mind.

"Daddy," she says, holding up her orange juice like a royal decree, "are you going to see Miss Mia again?"

The question lands mid-sip of my coffee, and I nearly choke. "Why do you ask that, princess?"

She looks at me as if I just asked why the sky is blue. "Because she’s fun. And she made you laugh."

I sit across from her, carefully placing my mug on the table. "You liked Miss Mia, huh?"

Felicity nods so vigorously her curls bounce. "She’s the best. She plays pretend. And she didn’t get mad when I spilled my juice on her pants. And she made you smile like this—" She scrunches her face into a dramatic grin that makes me laugh despite myself.

"Felicity, Miss Mia is very busy. We’re lucky we got to spend time with her last weekend." While I hope I get to spend any amount of time with Mia that she agrees to, I also know that kids easily get attached, a lot easier than adults. So, if the time comesthat Mia decides she doesn’t want anything more than what it is right now, I don’t want Felicity’s heart getting crushed in the process.

"But," she says, drawing out the word as her brow furrows, "if she’s not busy, maybe she can come over? Or be my other mommy?"

Her words stop me cold. I stare at her, trying to process how her little mind jumped from ice cream in the park to the idea of Mia joining our family. "Princess," I begin carefully, crouching beside her so we’re eye level, "it doesn’t work that way."

"Why not?" she presses, her voice rising with a hint of frustration. "You said I could have two mommies."

"That’s… not exactly what I meant," I say, running a hand through my hair. "Miss Mia is a friend. And sometimes grown-ups need time to figure out their friendships."

Felicity crosses her arms, her lips pursed in a pout that could rival any closing argument. "I still think she’d be the best mommy."

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s not that Felicity’s attachment to Mia surprises me—it’s the way her innocent words poke at something I haven’t admitted to myself. Something I’m not sure I’m ready to face.

"Tell you what," I say, straightening up and ruffling her curls, "how about we focus on today? You’ve got preschool, and I’ve got work, and we’ll see what happens with Miss Mia, okay?"

She doesn’t look convinced, but she nods. "Okay. But if you see her, tell her I said hi and tell her Pebbles says hi too."

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