The weekend in New York with Poe and his Kota was amazing. It was nice to get to know Kota better and see how perfect he is for Poe, but I know Poe appreciated getting to really know Clark. They cracked Kota and me up when Clark did a mini personal training session with Poe. The two of them got so serious about talking reps and meal planning. Whatever.

The best part of the weekend though was how much uninterrupted bedroom time we got. I wouldn’t trade our kids for the world, and I know Clark is just as happy as me, but starting a relationship with two kids makes it interesting. We’re so exhausted at the end of the night most days that we only get to talk about the day we just had or what the plan is for tomorrow. We haven’t had many opportunities to have long talks about our past, at least not in the kind of detail I like.

I lean my head against the window, trying to block out the mind-numbing driving music that Clark put on. “What are you thinking about, babe?” he asks.

“Right now, how much I can’t believe you’re making me listen to this music.”

“Hey, this is good old-fashioned classic rock. You need to appreciate.” I wrinkle my nose at him, but don’t protest further. He’s not wrong, but I’m in the mood for some soothing cello or piano instrumentals. He turns the music down and asks, “Are you excited to start going back into the office this week?”

“You know, I really am. I think if it was more than a couple of days a week I’d be stressed out about it. But going into the office and working more closely with my co-workers will be nice. There still isn’t really much with my job I can’t do from home, but the kids are getting bigger and adult interaction beyond the computer screen never hurt anyone. You’re sure you don’t mind getting Sydney the days I’m in the office?”

“No, it’s perfect. Plus, I kinda miss the schedule from this summer. I got to spend a lot of time with her and Todd in the afternoons while you worked. And I know Todd’s missing Sydney now that she’s in kindergarten.”

“I know, but I think you made the right decision giving Todd one more year in preschool with Ms. Sue.”

“We made the right decision. And I know we did. One thing I didn’t want was for Sydney’s whole social interaction to have to revolve around Todd.”

“Oh, Clark.”

“No, babe, it’s true. They’re so close and she’s protective of him. I couldn’t ask for a better person in his corner. She’s helped him so much. He’s come out of his shell, and he’s more open with new situations and people. I think it’s good for them both to have separate time, though. However, I do like the idea of me having concentrated time with them while you work. It’s win-win.”

“Thank you for this. I wouldn’t have even thought about it if you hadn’t suggested it.”

“I always feel bad. I get to spend time with so many different people every morning, and the most interaction you get some days is the teachers at school or if you go grocery shopping. You’re much too personable a person to be locked away in the house all the time.”

Snorting, I call his bluff. “You’re excited about me going back to work because you like when I put makeup on.”

Shrugging, and showing no remorse, he says, “You looked sexy last night. I like that color you had on your eyelids.”

“Hmm… that was one I found when Kota and I went shopping yesterday afternoon. It was fun getting to help him do his whole face.”

Clark barks out a laugh. “Yeah, when you guys walked out of our room all glammed up and ready to go, I was pretty sure Poe was ready to go, and they weren’t going to make it out of the hotel.”

Giggling, I nod my head. He’s not wrong; my cousin’s tongue was practically hanging out of the corner of his mouth.

“You know, babe, one thing we never talked about this weekend is—”

I immediately cut him off, “I hope the kids had a good weekend. They probably did, right? Spending the night and all yesterday with Amy, and then with Bernadette last night until we get home today, that even sounds fun to me.”

I close my eyes really quickly when he side-eyes me, and it’s hard not to tell him my plans going forward when I hear his resigned sigh. He’s wanted me and Sydney to move in with him after we were together for a month, but he knew I needed time. Apparently, it wasn’t just a fear of dating plaguing me, but a fear of being left behind again. The counselor that Clark convinced me to see has been wonderful helping me work through it all.

The biggest plus has been that it’s in the same office as the child therapist we found for Todd, so the two of us go to our appointment at the same time. It’s become a special time for us. He talks to me all the way there and back, plus we stop for a special snack each week that we don’t tell Clark and Sydney about. Clark does the same thing with Syd while we’re gone, finding fun things for them to go do, and then stopping for a treat. The therapist’s play-therapy style treatment plan has really helped to find his triggers for his anxiety. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that we haven’t had to see or hear from Clark’s sister since he filed the restraining order restricting her access to both of them.

As the only family member he has left, my heart breaks for him. But thankfully, between my mom’s side of the family out here on the coast, and my dad’s side along with my parents in the Midwest, I have a family already claiming them.

“What was that sigh for?” Clark asks.

I keep my eyes closed, but I allow my lips to tip up in a faint grin. “I’m happy.”

Within minutes, my favorite cello and piano player’s songs are filling the air, and Clark’s fingers lace with mine. This really is the best life.

Clark’s barely put the vehicle in park when two now five-year-olds come flying out the door at us. Sydney’s hair has gotten so long it flows behind her as she launches herself into my arms, “Daddy!”

I look over to Clark where he has Todd bent over as he blows raspberries into his neck. Sydney’s eyes follow the direction I’m looking in while she whispers in my ear, “Is it time?”

I nod against her cheek. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

“Come into the house, guys. Sydney and I need to talk to you. We’ll grab the bags out of the car later.”

As we move into the living room, I look at the two finger paintings that Clark had framed and proudly displayed in his living room. One is the first one that Sydney ever gave him, and the other was the first one Todd ever did. Clark had a meeting to go to at the gym one night for all of the contracted personal trainers and so Todd had come over to my house to play with Sydney. She said she wanted to finger paint something for Clark, so I asked Todd if he wanted a puzzle or a coloring book so he could be at the table with her. I was shocked when he asked for a plain piece of white paper and timidly dipped his fingers in the paint. I’d been a little anxious the whole time they were painting that he was going to panic at some point, but he didn’t. He ended up really getting into it and the kids had a lot of fun.

When Todd showed his father, Clark picked him up, and I’d watched tears silently slip down his face. A week later, when Sydney and I went for dinner and I saw the framed artwork, he held me while the tears poured out of mine. It was that minute I knew that today would come.

“Is everything okay, Bailey?” I smile up at him from my seat on the couch and pat the seat next to me.

I turn to Todd and say, “I didn’t get my hug hello.” As he scrambles into my lap, Sydney scrambles into Clark’s. After squeezing Todd until he laughs, I continue, “We have a question for you two?”

“Okay,” Clark says hesitantly. As if understanding the significance of the moment, Snickers settles at his feet while Penelope curls up on the back of the couch behind my head. They’re still a work in progress.

Syd goes first. “Clark, will you be my other Daddy?”

As soon as his startled eyes jump to mine, I tilt Todd’s face up to mine. “Will you be my son?”

Then Sydney says, “Todd, if you say yes, and Clark says yes, then my daddy and your daddy have ta get married so that it can be afficial.” In her excitement, she reverts back to mispronunciation.

Turning to gaze into Clark’s eyes, I say, “It’s true. The only way it would work is if we got married.” Then I hold up the ring I’ve been clutching between my fingers. “So what do you say?”

“I say yes. So much yes.”

Sydney looks at Todd. “Say yes, silly.”

He turns his head back up to meet my eyes, and says, “Yes, silly.”

Clark enfolds all three of us in his warm embrace as I hear Bernadette scream, “Yes.”

She knew I was doing it the minute we got home and had been hovering in the kitchen. Later, when she shows us the picture she took in that moment at the exact perfect angle, we know it’ll be the next thing we frame and hang on our wall. Todd is kissing my cheek as Sydney kisses Clark’s, and Clark’s lips are pressed to mine. It doesn’t get any better than that.