Connor arrived at the gym twenty minutes early. He was pacing in front of the door, nervously rehearsing all of the things he wanted to cover with Neve at lunch. In one hand was a pink, pony-covered plastic water bottle that he had just bought for Ivy. He filled it with ice water and wanted to give it to her before her dance class. In the other hand was a notepad that he had scribbled questions he wanted to remember to ask. He’d just bought the notebook that morning, but already it was half full. When he felt frustrated by his lack of any kind of fathering knowledge, he would pause and fill a page with sketches and doodles.

When Neve’s car pulled in to the parking lot, he spotted them and waved. He walked over to meet them. Ivy scrambled to get out of the car, rushing her mother to help unbuckle her seatbelt. Once freed, she hopped down from the backseat and hugged Connor. Her dark hair was pulled up into a bun and she had a sparkly pink headband on.

Connor hugged her back tightly and presented the water bottle. Her little face lit up as she took the bottle in her hands. She showed it to her mother who was busy pulling her dance bag from the car.

Connor looked up at Neve and explained, “I guess she probably already has a water bottle. I just thought she would like it.”

Neve was still stuffing items from her car trunk and filling the gym bag when she answered, “It’s fine.”

Once Neve had collected all of Ivy’s items into the bag, she shut the trunk and the three walked into the gym. Connor and Neve said goodbye to Ivy and walked back out to Connor’s car to head to lunch.

After a few minutes of each saying they didn’t care and asking the other what they wanted to eat, Connor pulled his car up to a small sandwich shop not far from the gym. They walked inside, ordered their food and sat down at a table in front of the little deli.

Neve eyed the notebook that Connor sat on the table next to his food. He noticed her stare and explained, “I didn’t know where to start so I just wrote down some questions I wanted to remember.” He slid the pad over to her. He hoped letting her read it for herself would make her feel that he was being transparent about everything.

Neve opened the pad and was instantly amused at how haphazardly he had scribbled everything on the many pages. A smile formed on her face, and then a giggle that she tried to smother as she perused through the hastily scribbled bullets.

She found questions like, ‘does she have any allergies?’, ‘holidays together, alternating?’ and ‘copies of baby pictures’. Neve was relieved to see that the writings seemed more like the work of a nervous new father than that of a calculating ex-lover.

She pushed the notepad back and began, “Well, it seems like you have a lot of questions.”

Connor sighed and replied, “I do. I really don’t even know where to begin.”

Neve giggled at the sight of him being so unsure. Connor, who had always been so sure of himself, so cocky, so utterly confident. She decided to take mercy on him and began reciting things like Ivy’s allergy to pollen, that she still hadn’t learned to swim completely but she could tie her shoes. She rambled on about those sorts of things for several minutes.

Connor listened intently as if there would be a test on the information. He concentrated hard and tried to commit all of it to memory. When Neve ran out of things to say, she asked, “So, what else?”

Connor looked up, holding her stare, and softly answered, “I’ve thought a lot about the living situation.”

The sentence made Neve’s heart stop. Every muscle in her body tensed and she waited for him to continue. Connor went on, “I want to be closer. What do you think about me getting a place here in town?”

Neve was relieved that he was discussing moving himself closer and not relocating Ivy to him – even part time.

She stuttered out the reply, “That’s totally up to you. I think she would like to have you close by.” As a disclaimer, she finished the thought, “With school, her friends and her pediatrician here, she certainly can’t move to the city with you.”

Connor seemed to recognize the veiled warning and tried to reassure, “You’re right. I told you - I don’t want to take her away or upset your life here. I want to be here to be a part of it.”

Neve reflexively snapped out, “You’ve said other things before that didn’t come true. I want to be sure that you don’t forget where I stand on this.” After she spoke, she looked down at her plate and took a few small bites from her sandwich. She wanted to apologize for her outburst, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. He had to understand where she was coming from on this.

Connor seemed to be a little angered by the jab but his logical mind kept control of his reaction. He calmly replied, “You’re right. I let you down completely. Even if you don’t trust me not to hurt you, please at least believe that I would never hurt her.”

Neve sensed the sincerity in his words and conceded, “I’m at least thankful for that.”

Connor looked down at his plate. He seemed too tense to eat and instead just tapped the table with his thumb. Her gaze was drawn to his hands, so strong and capable. That was what she’d always thought about him, always loved about him. He continued, “You’ve done an amazing job with her. Really, I can see that you both have everything you need but I’d still like to help. What do you think would be a fair contribution from me?”

Neve dropped her sandwich on her plate and bit her lip. She cut him with sharp eyes and hesitantly asked, “Money? How much money do I want? If that’s what you’re saying, I don’t want your money, Connor. Because you’re right, I have provided for the two of us just fine. I don’t need a dime.”

Connor still looked down and parried, “That’s not how I meant it.”

“Then what did you mean?” she slashed with her words.

Connor took a deep breath and looked all around, anywhere but into her harsh glare. He continued, “I just mean that you deserve to have someone help even if you don’t need it. Even if you have everything you need, you deserve to have more options that come with that help. If I can give some and it just makes things a little simpler and allows you to take a break that you’ve completely earned the right to, I want to do that. I want to be what I should have been this whole time.”

Neve hated that he was being so rational. She hated how well he had explained his position. She resented that the very reason that he could sit there so earnestly offering her things that she secretly wanted was because he had abandoned her and gone off to live a wonderfully successful life.

She felt her scorn muted by his humility but still couldn’t completely resign herself to letting him save the day, so she answered, “Connor, that’s nice of you but I don’t need it. If you want to be closer, then get a place here. You can see her as much as you want, and you can shower her with all the presents you need to feel better. Do whatever you want to do.”

Connor seemed to recognize that they had reached an impasse on the subject. He changed the subject. “I also meant what I said last night. I still need your help learning what to do with her. If I got a place here tomorrow, I can’t imagine feeling ready to have her alone for very long. What should I do?”

Neve’s emotions were growing. He was being so open about the fact that he didn’t have any answers. She put all of this aside and accepted that he was being as amiable as possible. She softened her expression and offered, “Connor, no one knows how to be a parent. You just learn with time. Keep coming around and you will get more comfortable. Besides, the hard part is over. At least at her age she tells you what she wants. She’s a good kid too - she’ll take it easy on you.”

Connor laughed nervously and agreed, “She really is. Thank you.”

Neve looked down at the time on her phone and said they should get going to pick her up. Connor cleared their trays from the table and they got in his car to go to the gym.

When they pulled up to the gym, all of the dance class girls were lined up outside the door. The teacher was standing in front of the whole class except for Ivy and one other girl. The other two girls were off to the side being talked to by a tall, professional-looking man who was kneeling in front of them.

Neve knew it was Mark instantly. He was the dad of one of the girls in Ivy’s class. He was referred to as the ‘hot dad’ by most of the moms she knew. His wife had left him a few years ago and Neve had always liked his carefree, easy smile and attitude. They’d gone on a few dates – dinner, movie, into the city. She didn’t know why they’d never gotten more serious. It just…hadn’t happened.

Mark looked up and saw Neve and gave her a sexy grin. “There she is.”

Neve cocked her head. “Was someone looking for me, Mark?”

He laughed. “Not really. Jessica was just asking if Ivy could come over. I figured you were on your way and we should wait with Ivy until you got here. Do you want to grab pizza again? My treat.”

“It’s always your treat,” she responded teasingly. Mark had never let her pay before and likely never would. Suddenly, she remembered Connor standing next to her. She looked up at him. While Mark was tall, Connor was taller. And though Mark worked out, Connor still looked like a beast in comparison to Mark’s swimmer physique.

Distracted, she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, her knee-high boots getting caught on the lip. She started to pitch forward and felt two sets of hands on her. Mark had reached forward to grab her left arm, while Connor had leaned in to grab her around the waist.

“I have her,” Connor said through clenched teeth. She was surprised at the controlled hostility that he was showing and when she looked at him, noticed how he gazed at Mark with an intensity she hadn’t seen in a long time. Connor was standing tall, showing off his size and his cheeks flushed with some kind of emotion.

“Thanks,” she murmured to both of them. Mark removed his hands, but Connor held onto her a little longer. “No pizza tonight. Thanks though.”

“No problem,” answered Mark uneasily. “Another time. Maybe next week?”

“No.”

Connor’s voice was low, serious, and surprising. She looked up at him, her mouth pursed. She looked back at Mark with an apologetic smile. “We’ll see.”

She could feel Connor looking at her, but she just continued to smile at Mark. “We should get going.” She grabbed Ivy’s hand in her own and they turned to head back to the car. Unable to help herself, she murmured to the man beside her, “Same old Connor, huh?”

Instead of Connor responding, Mark heard this and queried, “Connor? Connor Bush from school?”

Connor just wanted to get out of here and remove Neve from Mark’s vicinity. He didn’t like the way Mark was looking at her like she was his and he definitely didn’t like the idea of the two of them having little dinner dates without him being in town. Connor didn’t recognize the man from school, but he growled, “That’s right. I’m Connor Bush.”

Mark grinned and explained, “Sorry man, I didn’t recognize you. I was a few grades older, but my brother was the same age as you and Neve.”

Connor still had a suspicious expression and asked, “Who’s your brother?”

“David Martin,” the man answered as he stuck his hand out to shake.

Connor’s mind blazed with memories of David Martin. David was the complete opposite of Connor. He was class president, a star football player and came from a well-off family. On the playground when they were much younger, he used to torment Connor for his obviously cheap clothes and call him names for being poor.

All that resentment flared inside of Connor’s chest and bypassed his logical mind. Connor took an aggressive step closer. An inch from the man’s face, he growled, “Your brother David was an asshole. And I bet you’re on the same path. Stay away from Neve and Ivy.”

Connor heard Neve gasp his name. He turned to see her infuriated gaze trained on him. His heart stopped, and all of his rage was replaced with regret. Neve grabbed Ivy’s hand, saying, “We have to go. Don’t come by today.”

He watched them drive off, his heart aching and bruised. He hadn’t meant to upset her, but he’d taken one look at Mark and seen that he’d been replaced by this man. And every cell in him had screamed to protect what was his own.