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My hand goes to my chest, and my eyes well up.
Part of me is instantly sad that Kristen isn’t here, that she’ll never have a moment like this with Krew again. But the other part of me is filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for Meg, that Krew gets to dance and sing in the kitchen withsomeone.
This feels like it could be the opening scene to the rest of our life.
I stand there watching them as the song plays out until Krew notices me.
“Dad! Mrs. Johnson is spelling my name with the pancakes!”
I push off the doorframe and walk to them as Meg turns the speaker down.
“It smells good in here.”
My eyes catch hers, and I wonder if things are going to be awkward. I want to come up behind her as she cooks and wrap my arms around her waist. That’s what Iwantto do, but this is new territory. Dating with a seven-year-old is so different than anything I’ve ever done, especially since we’re doing it in secret.
“We thought you might be hungry after work,” she says. Her smile is timid, but it’s there. I’m going to take that as a good sign.
I mess up Krew’s hair and turn to Meg.
Do I give her a kiss on the cheek?
Pat her head?
What’s protocol here?
She’s at my house in the morning, making pancakes with my son. She stayed over last night. Although everything about the sleepover was completely innocent, it still happened.
My expression must give me away, because she holds her hand up, motioning for a high five.
A high five?
I raise my brows as my hand hits against hers. “Miss Johnson, good morning.”
“Good morning.”
Krew grins between us. “I can’t wait to tell the class that Mrs. Johnson had a sleepover at my house.”
We both let out a nervous laugh. “Actually, bud, we probably shouldn’t tell anyone.”
His brows dip down. “Why?”
Why?
Crap. This is one of those parenting moments where I wish I could poll the audience, see how everyone else thinks I should respond.
“Remember how I told the class about privacy?” Meg says. “And how every teacher has her school life and her outside-of-school life?”
Krew nods.
“Well, this is my outside-of-school life. I don’t talk about my outside-of-school life because I like having some privacy.”
Good answer.
I don’t need to poll the audience after all.
Meg is like Kristen. She’s got it all figured out.
“And I only slept over because my car was broken,” she adds. “I don’t want other kids in the class to think that they can invite me for sleepovers. If they did, I would have to say no, and then they would feel bad.”
