I grinned. “Maybe Jonah has a suggestion then?”
Jonah surprised me. “I want to hear Evie’s opinion. Is there someone else you think should be Mommy’s boyfriend?”
Evie shook her head. “What do boyfriends do?” she asked conversationally, chewing on a piece of chicken nugget.
I hesitated, my mind flashing back to all the things Jonah and I had done together. “We hold hands,” I said lamely.
Jonah, grinning, slid his hand under the table and took mine. I squeezed it back.
“And kiss,” he added.
Evie scrunched up her nose. “Eww! I don’t want you to kiss anyone but me.”
Ouch.
I swallowed a laugh and glanced at her carefully. “What do you think of Jonah being my boyfriend?”
She considered this for a moment before shrugging. “I like Jonah. As a friend for you.”
I hesitated.
Jonah, picking up on my mood, offered me an encouraging smile. “She doesn’t hate me,” he said lightly.
I understood what he meant. Evie needed time to adjust, and Jonah was willing to be patient, to let her see us together, to let her come to her own conclusions.
“And sometimes,” he added, “your mom’s boyfriend can take you to really fun places. Like an indoor play area, or on a boat, or?—”
Evie’s eyes lit up. “A boat? I’d like to find a real-life mermaid!”
I opened my mouth, already planning to suggest something more practical. “Maybe an indoor play area would be better.”
“Done,” Jonah interrupted smoothly. “A trip on my yacht to search for mermaids.”
I groaned. “There’s no way you’re getting her more involved in this mermaid business.”
Evie, however, was already high-fiving Jonah like they’d just struck gold.
“Also,” Evie continued, looking serious, “you need to learn how to braid hair and do voices for bedtime stories. Especially the unicorn.”
“I can be a unicorn,” Jonah said, puffing out his chest. “I just didn’t know it was part of the job description.”
“It is now. Also, you cannot kiss MomunlessI give permission.”
“I respect that.”
Evie giggled and brought her arms around my neck and kissed me. She turned and hooked one arm around Jonah’s shoulder. “You’re funny,” she announced to him, and I could see in Jonah’s smile that he understood this was Evie’s way of welcoming him into our little world.
57
LEXI
That night, as I tucked Evie into bed, Jonah leaned against the doorway. “Can I read her bedtime story tonight?”
Evie heard, and she nodded, smiling. I watched as he sat on the bed next to her, his legs long as they stretched out in front of him while Evie lay under the blanket. By the time he finished the book, she was fast asleep. What really tugged at my heart was when Jonah stood up and I realized that she’d been holding on to his hand all along.
The next morning, when she woke up, it seemed like she had given this matter some thought. Over breakfast, she asked me, “Mom … is Jonah going to be my dad now?”
I brushed a strand of hair off her forehead. “Sweetheart, Dylan is and will always be your dad. Jonah is someone who also loves you very much, but nothing else is changing.”
