Lucas straightened his tie for the fifth time since he had approached the door. He had never been so nervous his entire life. He wanted to make the best impression on his son, but he had no idea how to do it. Mustering up all his courage, he decided to just go with his best foot forward and hope for a good meeting. He knocked a few times and held his breath as he waited. Not long after, the door open and Scarlet stood there wearing a radiant smile and a burnt orange dress. She looked at his suit and smiled.

“Thanks for coming on time.” She said

He was even more nervous when she opened the door to let him in. He walked in and he was surprised to see the little boy standing next to his mother and giving him a curious sideways look. Scarlet stepped back and urged the little boy forward.

“Logan,” she said in a soft melodious voice, “I want you to meet Lucas, he’s an old friend of your mothers.”

Logan smiled when he heard that Lucas was her old friend. He turned to look up at Scarlet.

“Can I show him my rocks?” he asked

“Yes, sure darling” she replied, “just try not to take all night”

“Okay,” the little boy said excitedly.

To Lucas’ surprise, Logan grabbed his hand and tugged him forward. Lucas relished the feel of the little fingers tugging at his hand. He followed him to his room where Logan proceeded to unload all the rocks in his collection. Lucas was impressed, they were all perfectly polished and well organized. He reminded him of himself which was odd since they had never met. He had imagined that if he had a son, this would be the types of things they did together.

“We should have dinner,” Scarlet said standing in the doorway. “I made mac and cheese for everyone.”

“My favorite” Logan exclaimed

He jumped to his feet and ran out of the room and into the kitchen. Lucas rose to his feet at a pace much slower than the little boy. He was shocked at how old the little boy made him feel.

“You doing alright?” Scarlet asked as he approached her.

He had been doing his best to focus on his son, but he couldn’t ignore how beautiful she was tonight. He had been shocked today when she offered to let him have dinner with them. He had been even more shocked when she told him she would let him into the child’s life. It was so new to him; if it had been his family, there wouldn’t have been any forgiveness. In retrospect, he had been wrong at every step, yet still, she opened up herself to him. He knew that he would never find another woman like her but after her speech, he knew that she would never accept him again. He had broken her heart and their son was the constant reminder.

“I’m doing great,” he said, “thank you again for this. I don’t deserve this but I’m glad you did it anyway.”

She nodded and turned towards the kitchen. Together they sat down to dinner. He was quite pleased with the lively conversation Logan kept up and he knew it was because Scarlet herself was so vibrant.

“Alright, you’ve had your fun tonight Logan,” Scarlet said after dinner, “Lucas here will be helping you to get ready for bed, is that alright?”

The little boy looked up at him as if he was assessing whether or not the man could do it. With a shrug of his little shoulders, it was decided that Lucas could help them.

“Okay,” Scarlet said, “just show him how it works.”

Logan walked out of the kitchen and Lucas followed. The little boy took him to his room and began pointing to things and giving instructions. Soon enough, he had helped him into his PJs and gotten his teeth brushed. He went to tuck him in and as he was about to stand the little boy tugged at his hand.

“Are you mommy’s husband?” the little boy asked with hopeful eyes.

Lucas could hear a voice saying ‘I wish’ in the back of his mind but he held it in.

“No” he replied with much more regret than he planned to let on.

“Will you come again?” he asked

“As much as you’d like me to” he replied

“Alright,” Logan said with a wide smile, “we can become best friends.”

Lucas felt as though his heart would burst. He tucked Logan in and stood to leave. When he got to the door he turned to look down at him one more time. Back in the kitchen, Scarlet was busy with the dishes he walked over to her and took a stack of plates from the table and put them on the counter next to her.

“Do you need some help?” he asked

“No, I’m just going to put them in the dishwasher” she replied looking up at him

Her green eyes twinkled, and he wanted to say something but he wasn’t sure what it was.

“I would like to come again.” He said

“You’re always welcome here” she replied, “I think we can also schedule a few days when you can take him. Maybe introduce him to your family.”

The thought fit perfectly into his mind, he would love to have his son and he would love to show him off to the world.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked

“He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” She replied, “I have you to thank partially for that, and there’s enough love here to share.”

Lucas smiled wondering how he had let this woman out of his sights. He wanted her, he wanted all this, but he didn’t deserve it, at least not yet. He would work for her and prove that he was worthy of her love and their son’s love.