“Do you think it’s okay if we call and check on Lucy?” he asks as we head back downstairs.
“Yes, let’s call her. I am sure they are over at Bubba and Jen’s house by now.”
He grabs the phone off the kitchen counter and dials the number, putting it on speakerphone so we can both hear. Bubba picks up after a couple of rings.
“Luke, man. What’s up?”
“Not much, man,” Luke replies, leaning back against the island. We were calling to check on Lucy.”
“Dude, she’s good. She’s playing with Zoe. Let me get her for you. Hold on a sec.”
After a moment, Lucy’s voice comes over the phone.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, baby girl. Did you have fun today?”
“Uh huh. Is Mommy there?”
“Hi, Lucy!” I call out.
“Hi, Mommy! Are you at Daddy’s house?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Oh good, because I don’t want Daddy to be there by himself anymore. Can we stay with him, Mommy?”
I turn my head to take a look at Luke as if asking for help here, when he blurts out,
“Of course you can stay at my house, sweetheart.”
I stare at him. What?
Luke grins. “I would love that. Then I could see my two girls every day.”
“Me too, Daddy.”
“Hey, sweetheart. I wanted to ask you something,” he says.
“Okay.”
“Remember when I told you that you had a grandma and grandpa and an uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Well, they want to meet you. Do you want to go over to their house tomorrow?”
I can practically hear her bouncing up and down.
“Yes! I want to go see them, Daddy!” she says with excitement.
“Good, then Mommy and Daddy will pick you up tomorrow and we will go see them.”
“Then when we’re done, can we go to your house?”
“Yes, you can. Do you want to talk to Mommy now?”
“Well, tell her I am playing with Zoe and I have to go now. Bye.”
And with that, our little girl hangs up. Luke looks down at the now blank screen of the phone.
“Did she just hang up on me?” he says incredulously.
I laugh at the look of ‘I can’t believe she just did that’ on his face.
“Welcome to parenthood,” I tease.
Settling in for the rest of the night, we make a quick dinner of spaghetti and salad and eat outside on the deck. All through dinner I can’t seem to get the thought of us moving in with Luke out of my mind. Everything is happening so fast between the two of us. Lucy seems to be adjusting better than I thought she would and things are going great between Luke and I, but there is still so much more for us to know about each other. I decide to just talk to him and get it over with and place my hand over his.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sure. What is it?” he asks, looking at me.
“Well, when Lucy asked about staying here, you should have talked to me about it first. Things are moving so fast and although she is handling things well and I couldn’t be more proud of her, I just don’t want to confuse her. There is still so much more for us to learn about each other.”
“The way I see it, Shayne, this is the best way for the three of us to get to know each other.”
“There is so much more than that though, Luke. We have to take so much into consideration here.”
“Like what?”
“We haven’t had the chance to talk about this, but I was planning on calling the clinic and giving them my notice. I’ve decided that Lucy and I are moving here.”
“You are?” he asks, leaning back in his chair with a look of relief on his face. “When were you going to tell me about this?”
“I just made the decision the other day, Luke. I can’t split you and Lucy up.”
Kneeling down in front of me, he starts to rub his hands up and down my thighs.
“Thank you so much.”
“You don’t have to thank me for something I have dreamed about for seven years. We’re going to be a family, but I think moving in here is going just a little too fast.”
“Well, I don’t. I want my family with me.”
“I get that, Luke, but there is so much more than that.”
Standing up, he runs his hands through his hair and leans against the counter.
“I don’t see what else there is to talk about here.”
“Let me give you one example then. Where do you expect me to sleep?”
His beautiful green eyes bore into mine.
“You’re sleeping with me, of course. Now that you’re mine again I want you in my bed.”
I take a few steps to be able to stand in front of him and place my hands on my hips.