“True.” He shrugged.
“Was the library fun, at least?”
“The lecture was surprisingly good, considering the fireman looked like he was about to pass out when he started.”
“I used to be that way. But after being traumatized by dealing with a classroom full of seven-year-olds, I got over public speaking fast.”
“And then you had Emily.”
“Yep. The cure for all that ails you.”
The cure returned to the living room in last year’s Halloween ninja costume, carrying her bear and throwing stars made of tinfoil.
“I need nunchucks, Mag-Mom.”
Maggie refrained from rolling her eyes. At least Mag-Mom was better than Margaret-Mother—what Emily had taken to calling her last month. With any luck, Maggie would become “Mommy” once more. “Nunchucks? What for?”
“To hunt down the assassins after me and my new friend, Reggie.”
“The scared, hunky fireman,” Doug murmured.
“So Reggie was nice?”
Emily nodded. “And pretty. He thinks I’m pretty too. I bet if I asked nicely, he’d give me a baby brother.”
Doug choked.
Maggie just stared at her daughter with wide eyes. “A baby brother? I thought you wanted a turtle.”
“I did, but Sherry has a baby brother, and she said he smiles at her all the time.”
“Probably just gas,” Doug said.
“Maybe.” Emily narrowed her eyes on her mother. “But Sherry said he looks like her mom and dad and kinda like her. My brother would be an EMT ninja who has fire dog stickers.” That said, Emily did somersaults down the hallway with Brownie the bear, making explosion noises.
“EMT ninja? Stickers?”
Doug grinned. “Reggie, the hunky fireman, is an EMT, and he gave out stickers at the end of his speech. She’s right. Any baby you had would be a ninja and fight boo-boos. A win-win. Let’s schedule that tour of Station 44.”
“Oh boy. Let’s not. The last time Emily wanted to set me up with someone, Mr. Nelson’s wife was not amused.”
Doug laughed. “No, but Benny and I were. And hey, now you get extra fries with your order at the deli when Mr. Nelson waits on you.”
They didn’t eat there when she saw Mrs. Nelson at the counter, however.
Maggie sighed. “I’d better go make Emily some paper towel nunchucks before she orders the real thing off Amazon.”
“Can I just say how happy I am to spend time with that beautiful child, watching her grow and learn? And that Benny and I can give her back at a moment’s notice?”
“No, you can’t say that.”
“Die, evil fire lord,” Emily screeched from her room and gave an almost maniacal laugh. “You are thwarted again. This time, my dagger will spear your heart.”
Doug looked at Maggie. “Your six-year-old knows the word ‘thwarted,’ and her dagger is ‘spearing’ someone’s heart. Yep, I’m ecstatic to leave that little girl with her mommy.” He danced out the door with a wide grin.
“Thwartedby a six-year-old, her poopy uncle, and a pretty, if scared, fireman,” Maggie muttered and went in search of her craft bin, praying she had something to satisfy her brainy, beautiful, tiny terror.
Chapter Two
