“Caleb, the Grinch is green,” Wyatt says, baffled but amused.
“This isn’t the Grinch, Daddy,” Caleb giggles.
“He’s not the Grinch?” Wyatt leans in, eyes twinkling. “He looks like the Grinch.”
“He’s the abominable snowman! That’s why he’s white!”
I can’t help it—I laugh at the look on Wyatt’s face. “He’s right,” I murmur. “He does look like the abominable snowman.”
Wyatt shoots me a mock glare. “Traitor,” he jokes good-naturedly.
“Nu uh, Daddy! She’s Gwen!”
That makes me and Wyatt both grin at one another. The house feels warm, golden. Safe. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in my life, but never had until Wyatt came into my life. I’ve been trying to go slow with him—or as slow as Wyatt will let me. Yet,every moment I’m with him, my mind and heart insist that I stop holding back. I want to give this man everything that I am. I want to be a part of Wyatt and his son’s lives.
Before I do something stupid—like tell Wyatt that in front of Caleb—the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it,” Wyatt says, still smiling as he puts the icing down, leans over and kisses my forehead, and then, ruffles his son's hair. With one final look at me—a look filled with the same hunger I’m feeling—he heads toward the foyer.
The second he’s gone, I grab two icing markers and wiggle them at Caleb. “Blue eyes or green eyes for the Abominable Not-Grinch?”
His little hand reaches confidently for the green marker. “Green, ’cause it’s Dad’s favorite color.”
“It is?” I ask, surprised.
“Yep! Don’t you know that?”
I look down at him, my eyes soft. “Well, your daddy and I just started seeing one another. I haven’t learned everything about him yet.”
Caleb hums thoughtfully, piping two giant green circles—easily too big for the cookie’s face. “When you learn everything about him, will you get married?”
My entire body feels as if I’ve been plunged into the ocean in Antarctica. “Oh,” I breathe. “Um … well, we’re dating, so when you do that, you get to know each other and take it day by day. You enjoy time together. That’s all.”
Caleb frowns. “Adults are weird. Things are simpler when you’re my age.”
“You know what? That’s kind of fair,” I giggle.
He keeps decorating, his tongue poking out in concentration. “Why don’t I tell you all about my daddy?” he says, very matter-of-factly. “Then, you guys can get married and go to the doctor and get me a baby brother.”
I blink—struck speechless. Then, I try to get my breath and rapidly blink again. “Wow. Okay. That’s … a plan.” I swallow. “But things don’t always work like that. Sometimes you have to take your time. If I’d rushed things, maybe I wouldn’t have met you—and then we wouldn’t be decorating cookies together. You know?”
He pauses, tiny shoulders lifting and falling with a sigh too heavy for someone so small. “Do you think if you and Daddy get married?” he asks, his words barely audible.
“Caleb—”
“If you do, do you think you might want me to be with you guys?”
The way Caleb asks—small, unsure, like he’s bracing for a blow—hits me harder than anything ever has. He stares down at his cookie, making the eyes even bigger, maybe so he doesn’t have to look up. He seems folded in on himself, like he’s trying to make his heart smaller so it hurts less. I gently lift his chin with my fingertips.
“Caleb,” I whisper, “I’m new here, but there is one thing I definitely know.”
His eyes—wet, worried—search mine. “What’s that?”
“That your daddy loves you more than anything or anyone in this world.”
“Even you?” he asks.
“A lot more than me.”
“He does?”
