Page 42 of A Place for Daydreams

Julia laughed, glad that the toddler wasn’t going to fight her about it. She made a nice bubble bath for Macey, making sure the water wasn’t too hot or too cold. She let Macey play with her bath toys for a little while before drying her off and helping her get into her pajamas.

By that point, Macey was starting to look genuinely sleepy, but Julia knew she needed to stay awake a little bit longer so that she could brush her teeth.

“Are you ready for the toothbrush song?” she asked Macey as she picked up her toothbrush and added a dollop of toothpaste to the bristles.

Macey looked confused, and Julia laughed. “You need to let me brush your teeth while I sing the toothbrush song, okay? Ready?”

Macey nodded and Julia began to sing silly lyrics about being a toothbrush and missing Macey’s teeth. Macey began to laugh as Julia brushed her teeth, but the song seemed to do the trick. By the time they were walking back to Macey’s bedroom together, hand-in-hand, both of them were still laughing a little.

“You want to hear a story before bed, Macey?” Julia asked.

“Yeah!” Macey scampered over to her little bookshelf and pulled out a couple of her favorite picture books.

Julia sat down in the rocker placed by Macey’s window and the toddler climbed into her lap. They cuddled together while Julia read a picture book about bugs starting a bakery. By the time she was finished with it, Macey was sound asleep.

Julia sat there quietly for a few moments, treasuring her time with the little girl.

I’ve been wanting this for weeks,she thought.Time for me to bond with Macey, and a chance to see if I really could be a good parent to her. I think the answer is definitely yes.

At that moment, she heard the sound of the back door opening and closing downstairs. She listened to the sound of Cooper’s footsteps as he made his way up the staircase. A moment later he appeared in the doorway of Macey’s room, and his face lit up into a big smile when he saw the two of them together.

“Hey there,” he whispered. He tiptoed forward and gave Julia a kiss. “Look at you two. Did everything go well tonight?”

“Very well,” she whispered back. “She took a bubble bath and I brushed her teeth. We read one book and then she fell sound asleep.”

Cooper gazed down at the two of them with a sweet smile on his face, clearly touched. “That’s great. That makes me really happy.”

“Me too,” she whispered. She wrapped Macey in her arms and stood up carefully. She carried the little girl over to her crib and set her down in it. She tucked the covers up around her chin and bent over to kiss her forehead.

When she turned around, she saw that Cooper was watching her with tears sparkling in his eyes. He took her into his arms and gave her a bear hug.

“Should we go downstairs?” he whispered.

She nodded, and they went back downstairs together, hand-in-hand. Once they were downstairs in the living room, he kissed her.

“Thank you for taking such good care of my daughter,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”

Julia felt tears rush into her eyes. His approval was such a relief to her, since she’d wanted him to see her as capable of taking care of Macey for so long.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, seeing her tears and holding her tightly. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” she said, laughing through her tears. “It’s just that—well, I was worried that you would never trust me as a caregiver to Macey if we ever get married. I kept trying to do things for her, and it seemed like everything I did or suggested wasn’t okay with you. I was starting to feel like I never did anything right when it came to taking care of her. I really wanted you to trust me, but you kept wanting to do everything differently from how I was trying to do it.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Cooper gave her a tight hug. “I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. I absolutely didn’t mean to. I understand what you’re saying—I did keep on doing things my own way even when you tried to help. But I didn’t mean that as any kind of a criticism to you. I’m just so used to doing things my own way.”

“I understand that.” She wiped away her last remaining tears, smiling warmly at him.

“I wish you’d told me you felt that way,” he said. “There’s room for me to change the way I parent Macey. You’re a kind, intelligent person and I think you have wonderful ideas. I would have been more willing to consider them if I’d known you were feeling this way.”

Julia nodded. “Mom said that I should talk to you about it, but I don’t know. I guess I didn’t feel ready. It feels kind of strange to be bringing up the possibility of us being married when we aren’t engaged.”

“Oh, it’s not so strange.” His eyes warmed as he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. “I think it’s smart to look ahead like that. And I want you to know that I do trust you. I hope one day we’ll be parenting together. As a team.”

Julia gazed at him, her heart leaping up in joy. “That thought makes me really happy,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he said, and the two of them shared a kiss.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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