“Five.” Reggie added another slice. “I have to eat a lot to make up for what I use in energy.”
Emily sat, enrapt.
“See, building muscle burns calories. You need the good kind of calories though.” He grinned at the pizza, soda, and cupcakes. “But sometimes you give yourself a treat. I don’t eat pizza and cupcakes all the time. And root beer is only for special occasions. For when I get to visit you.”
Emily’s eyes grew even wider. “I’m a special occasion?”
“You sure are. Frank was so excited on the way over, he kept barking at me to hurry up. Even he knows how much fun you are.”
Emily nodded. “I am.”
Maggie stifled a laugh. Her daughter. So modest.
“Just like your mom. She’s fun too.”
“She is.” Emily whispered, not so softly, “Except when she makes me clean a lot. I don’t like chores.”
“You think you have to clean a lot, you should try being a firefighter.”
“Are girls firefighters?”
“Sure are. A long time ago there were just firemen. Now there are firefighters everywhere. My friends Natalie and Lori are on D shift. And one of our lieutenants is a girl.” His grin turned naughty, and Maggie felt an unwelcome flare of jealousy that took her off guard. “She looks just like Dora the Explorer. They have the same hair and big, brown eyes. And the guys keep putting Dora stickers on her notebooks.” He chuckled. “Sue doesn’t think it’s funny, but we do. Especially when Dora dolls keep appearing all over her desk, the kitchen, the ladies’ room.”
“That’s terrible.” But Maggie had to laugh. “That poor woman.”
“I love Dora.” Emily nibbled more pizza. “I wish I looked like her.”
“You’re fine just the way you are,” Reggie said before Maggie could. “We should be who we are and not someone else.”
“Oh. That’s what Mommy says.”
“She’s right.” He smiled at Maggie. She smiled back, feeling a well of something new and deep for this man.
His eyes were so warm, so caring. That wide smile, just for her. When he looked at her, he saw her. The person she was, not someone he wanted her to be, just as he’d said to Emily. And he took his time to explain things to her daughter, not talking down to her, which she truly appreciated.
“Reggie?” Emily asked.
He turned from Maggie to smile down at her. “What’s up, princess?”
“Did you bring the baby seeds?”
***
Reggie had been expecting the question and had time to work up an answer that would hopefully satisfy the little girl. “Well, see, here’s the thing. There’s something called a growing season. Have you heard of that?”
The little girl shook her head, her eyes wide, innocent. She was such a cutie, a mini version of Maggie.
“Let’s take my dad’s tomatoes. He can’t plant them in the wintertime because they’ll die. They need warmth to grow. So he plants them in the summer.”
“But it’s summer now, Reggie. Can’t you plant them in Mommy now?”
God knew he wanted to.Nope, change that line of thinking right now.“Right. Well, no. See, when people have babies, they have a special connection. You don’t plant baby seeds with just anybody.”
“That’s true.” Maggie finally joined the conversation. He realized her daughter was too young to know where babies really came from, but he would have thought Maggie would have talked to the girl before now, especially because Emily kept bringing up seeds. “When your daddy and I were married, we were in love. And love makes baby seeds grow. And that special love made you.”
Emily’s face scrunched, a comical sign of confusion. “So you need to get Dad to plant a baby seed?”
Reggie didn’t like that idea at all. Fortunately, Maggie didn’t either. She looked as if she’d just bitten into something sour.
