My cousin Olive asking Sydney to be her flower girl thrilled my daughter. The excuse to get out of the house for the weekend and drive to Baltimore has me excited. My daughter is babbling away from the back of the car, cracking me up with her exuberant rambles. “And then, Dad, I went and sat wit him ‘cause he’s my friend. And the boys are mean to him ‘cause they’re dumb. They make fun ‘cause he doesn’t like to get dirty. He cries. But that’s ‘kay, right, Dad? You always tell me ta be myself no matter what, right, Dad?”

“That’s right, Syd.”

“He doesn’t talk that much, either. But I tell him that’s ‘kay with me ‘cause I don’t mind talkin’ for both of us. And I like his laugh. He only laughs and smiles at me. So I told Darren if he makes Todd feel bad then he can’t hang out with me anymore, and he got mad. But I don’t care ‘cause he was making fun of Todd for crying, and it made Todd feel dumb. It’s not ‘kay to make someone feel dumb, right, Dad?”

“No, it’s not. That’s nice you’re sticking up for you new friend, honey. Is he new to your class? Ms. Sue didn’t say anything about any new students.”

“Noooo, Dad. You know Todd. His daddy is the one you’re always staring at. The one who wears pajamas to the school.”

Thankful that no one else is with us, I choose to ignore her keen observation of my staring and say, “Honey, he’s not wearing pajamas, those are workout clothes.”

When I hear the rustling of her playing with her dolls stop, I glance into the rearview mirror to the back seat where her head is tilted as she regards me quizzically. “You wear those kinda clothes to sleep. If you’re spposed to sexercise in them, why do you wear them?”

Even without witnesses to this conversation, my cheeks flood with heat because sex is exactly what I think of when I see Mr. Hottie at the school. “Well, they’re comfortable, I guess. And since I work from home, I don’t really have to get dressed up.”

“Ohhhh, so you stare at Todd’s dad ‘cause he doesn’t get dressed up, either. That makes sense. I thought maybe ya liked him.”

“What?” I ask, my voice squeaky to my own ears.

“Ya know, he’s a boy and you like boys, right? So I thought maybe ya liked him. He’s not bad lookin’ for a dad. And Grandma says ya need ta date, so I thought that would be cool if you were always staring ‘cause ya like him, ‘cause then I’d be Todd’s sister and no one would pick on him anymore ‘cause I wouldn’t let them. Oh well.”

“Uh, honey. First of all, I don’t stare at your friend Todd’s dad,” I say.

Hearing her sweet giggles, I glance into the rearview mirror, again. She has her hand up covering her mouth while she shakes her flame red hair from side to side. “Daddy, yer silly. You always stare at him. You must really like his clothes.”

Praying that it’s only her nosiness that’s caused her to notice and that none of the teachers, and heaven forbid, Mr. Hottie have noticed, I say, “And second of all, even if I did go on a date with him, that wouldn’t automatically make you Todd’s sister. I’d have to marry him for that and people don’t get married right away. They have to date and get to know each other first. Then after a while, if they fall in love, then maybe someday they’ll get married. But it doesn’t happen right away, Syd.”

“Oh. Well, someday I’m gonna get married and have tons of kids, and we’re gonna live with you ‘cause I don’t want ya to get lonely when I’m all grow’d up. So I guess it’s ‘kay if ya don’t want to date like Grandma says.”

Choking back a laugh, I say, “Thank you for your permission, honey. And when you’re all grown up, I promise, I’ll be okay if you’d like to not live with me.” She changes the conversation back to something else that happened at school this last week as she bounces her dolls in her lap.

The ceremony was beautiful. Olive outdid herself, and Sydney played the part of the perfect flower girl, right down to resembling a mini-princess in her rose gold dress. My cousin going to the trouble of picking a dress that would complement my daughter’s hair so perfectly was extremely sweet of her, and one of the many reasons why she and her brother are my favorite cousins.

Speaking of her brother, watching my cousin, Poe, with his new boyfriend, Dakota—or Kota for short— has made this day even better. I have to admit I was slightly shocked when Poe introduced his boyfriend, as opposed to a girlfriend, but it only took a couple of minutes with the two of them to see how perfect they are for each other. Even Poe letting Kota call him Edgar is endearing. As kids, I only ever called him by his real name to tease him. It’s cute to watch him light up every time Kota says it.

“Your daughter is really something else,” Kota says to me.

The kids at the wedding have all congregated in one corner of the dance floor and are getting their groove on. It’s hysterical to watch them jerk around with no rhythm at all, but the innocence of youth keeps them from caring. They’re just having a great time being able to be rowdy and play. “She’s precocious, that’s for sure.”

“I notice that all the kids seem to follow her around wherever she goes. That one little boy was glued to her earlier for lunch, and he hasn’t left her side since the reception started.”

“Even though she’s young herself, she’s like the pied piper with other kids. I’ve seen kids three times her age follow her lead.” Shaking my head, I smile as I watch her twirl a little boy around. He’s cracking up like crazy as she spins him around and around until he falls on the floor dizzy. All the kids start jumping up and down for their turn, so my daughter grabs the hand of the next one and starts twirling her.

“You’re doing a good job with her, Bailey. She’s more self-confident at four than I am now. She’s incredible,” Poe says.

“Thanks. She’s my pride and joy.” I turn away from the kids to look back at Poe and Kota. “You two make an exceptionally handsome couple, in case you don’t know.”

Poe beams at me as Kota pinkens, a smile splitting across his face. “Thanks,” says Poe. “It’s new, but… I think it’s good.”

Kota burrows into Poe’s side and leans up to give him another kiss on the cheek before wiping the lipstick off his face. “It’s really good.” Poe smiles down at him and kisses him on the tip of his nose. Okay, they’re really too cute.

Poe eyes me for a second, making me nervous with how solemn his face becomes. “Bailey, I’ve been thinking about the idea Kota gave you earlier to call Valentine’s Inc. for a date. I think it would be good for you to get back out there.” As I go to reply, he rushes ahead, “I’m not saying you have to date seriously, but it wouldn’t hurt to test the waters a little. It’s been a long time since Rick passed away. And listen, I know you two had an epic love and you miss him, but you’re still a young guy with your whole life ahead of you.”

Four or five months ago, this type of conversation would have pissed me off and I would’ve balked immediately. However, my attraction to Mr. Hottie has made me realize that maybe I am ready to move on. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m sorry,” says Kota. “I didn’t realize that you’d lost your husband. I guess with the ring I should’ve known you weren’t single on purpose. I hope I didn’t speak out of turn telling you about Valentine’s Inc.”

“No, not at all. Actually, Rick and I never had a chance to get married before he died. I’ve been thinking recently that it’s time to, I don’t know… think about it, at least. Remember Vaughn?” I ask Poe.

“Of course, I remember Vaughn. That was Bailey’s high school sweetheart, Kota,” he says looking down at his boyfriend. “Have you heard from him?”

“Yeah. We talk a lot. Well, actually, I talk to his boyfriend, Julian, now more than I talk to him.”

“He finally found someone, huh? Good for him. It’s nice you two are back in contact. I know it hurt you when he didn’t want to at least remain friends when you both left for college,” Poe says.

The smile pops on my face thinking back to the day Vaughn finally called me after years of no communication. I was sad to hear how badly he was struggling, but as one of the most important people in my teen years, it was nice to reconnect. Especially since Rick had died a couple of years before that. Having Vaughn back in my life helped to fill a piece of my broken heart. “Yeah, it was tough. He’s such a good guy, and a great person to have on your side. Julian’s lucky to have him, and thankfully, he knows it. Anyway, Vaughn and Julian have been bugging me a lot about getting out there.”

Kota nods. “I agree. You don’t have to go looking for your next great love, but get out and do grown-up things. You never know what you could stumble on until you try.”

Kota and Poe exchange a secretive smile that makes me suspect they know about Valentine’s Inc. a little more personally than they’re letting on, but I don’t push. It really doesn’t matter how they met. After kissing Kota on the tip of his nose again, Poe says, “It’ll be good for Sydney, too, for you to date. She needs to see you having healthy adult relationships. She won’t be home forever, Bailey. One day she’s going to grow up.”

“I know.” The thought makes me sad until I think of the car ride. “You know, I don’t think she’d have a problem with me dating.” I go on to tell them about our conversation on the car ride here, leaving out the parts of me staring at Mr. Hottie, but giving us all a good chuckle as I explain that she thought workout clothes were pajamas, and then proceeded to ask why I wear them if I’m not sexercising in them.

“Hmm,” Kota says, winking at me. “I think your daughter’s on to something.”

I spend the rest of the night watching the various couples dancing and snuggling. There’s nothing like a wedding to make me feel how alone I really am now. Even my daughter, at only four years old, has the one little boy who hasn’t left her side all night. Poe and Kota can’t take their eyes, or their hands, off each other. Maybe I should think about contacting Valentine’s Inc.