Page 14 of Falling Together

Approximately forty-five minutes and one-and-a-half tantrums later, they made it to the pool. After laying their stuff at their usual spot, Nolan immediately started running toward the pool.

“Slow down!” Erin yelled as she walked after him. She was way too tired to run at this point, so she was relieved when he actually listened.

As she followed Nolan into the shallow end of the pool, Erin’s mind drifted back to a few weeks earlier when they went there with Blair. Even though the water was frigid, Erin’s body was heating up, which absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that she was thinking about Blair in a bikini.Definitely not.

She was just so… okay, she was hot. There was no point in denying it. Erin hated herself for the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about it, though. She shouldn’t be lusting after Nolan’s much younger babysitter.

“Mommy! Throw me!”

Erin’s eyes darted to Nolan as her mind snapped back to the current moment. “Throw you?”

He nodded excitedly, a wide grin on his face as his head bobbed up and down. “Bear throws me.”

“I’m not as strong as Blair, sweetie.” Erin’s mouth watered as she thought about Blair’s toned arms with muscles that became very apparent any time she picked up Nolan.Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

“Please! Please! Please!” Nolan reached his arms up as he jumped up and down in front of her.

Even though she wasn’t surehowshe was going to do it, she couldn’t say no to him, especially when he actually remembered to say please. “Fine. I’ll try my best.”

“Yay!”

She picked Nolan up and awkwardly tossed him into the water. He skimmed the water and landed barely beyond her grasp.

Nolan’s eyebrows were furrowed when he turned around to stare at Erin. “Bear throws better.”

Erin shrugged. “I told you I’m not as strong as her. You can do that when she brings you to the pool.”

“When she bring me next?”

“I don’t know. Probably the next time she watches you after you spend special time with Mommy this weekend.”

Honestly, Erin wished Blair was the one with him right now. Erin had mentioned watching him on Fridays in the initial text she sent to Blair, but since Blair never said anything about it, Erin felt uncomfortable bringing it up again. She clearly wasn’t interested, and Erin was just thankful she had her for four days a week. She could hopefully find a way to figure out how to make Fridays work. This was the first time trying to work from home with Nolan. It had to get easier, right?

It certainly didn’t feel easy when they left the pool three hours later, and Erin was completely exhausted. Luckily, if all of the yawning Nolan was doing on the walk home was any indication, he was also tired. Maybe she could convince him to take a nap and she could finally get some work done.

Unfortunately, as soon as they walked into the house, Nolan ran to the couch and jumped up and down on it, “What now, Mommy?”

“Well, first, you’re going to stop jumping on the couch. Remember what happened the last time you did that?”

Nolan squinted his eyes and dramatically rubbed his head. “I hurt myself.”

“You did. So, is it a good idea to do it again?”

“I’ll be careful,” Nolan said as he continued to jump. His eyes closed and he honestly looked like he might fall asleep mid-air.

Erin gently grabbed ahold of his arm to stop him. “I have a better idea. You’re clearly tired. Why don’t you take a nap?”

“No!” Nolan yelled so loud it made Erin jump. “I’m a big boy. I don’t nap.”

Erin was about to give up completely when an idea popped into her head.Brilliant. She smiled.Absolutely brilliant.“How ’bout we go to the store and get a treat?”

Nolan’s eyes lit up. “Cupcakes?”

Erin shrugged. “Sure. Why not?” She really hoped this plan worked, or else she still wouldn’t have any work done, but would have a kid hopped up on sugar.

“Yay!” Nolan hopped off of the couch and ran toward the door. When he saw Erin grab her computer, he tilted his head at her and scrunched up his nose. “Why do you need computer?”

“I just don’t want to leave it at the house by itself,” Erin lied. “It might get lonely.”

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