“Thanks.” I catch myself folding my hands over his baby in my belly—his baby!Why does my brain insist on thinking in those terms?—and force my arms to my side.
Lily jumps up and down. “We’re ready!”
“Awesome,” Zack responds.
“This is Ruffles,” Lily says. “And this is my friend Alicia.”
Alicia shyly hangs back. Zack squats down to her height and holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ruffles.”
She giggles. “I’m Alicia!”
“Oh! I got confused.”
Both girls laugh.
Lily cocks her head at him. “Did you really?”
“Why, yes,” Zack says.
“He’s teasing,” I clarify.
“Alicia, he has his hand out so you can shake it. Like this,” Lily says. She grabs Zack’s fingers and gives a vigorous demonstration.
To my surprise, Alicia steps up and pumps his hand up and down. She’s usually very reticent around strangers.
“Does Ruffles know how to shake?” Zack says.
“No, but she can high-five,” Lily says. She sticks out her hand, and Ruffles taps her palm with a paw.
“Wow. That’s awesome! Did you teach her that trick?”
“No. Auntie Quinn did. She teached Ruffles to sit an’ speak an’ lie down an’ stay an’ go in an’ out the doggy door an’ to fetch her ball. Wanna see?”
“Sure!”
The girls race off to get the dog’s ball, and Zack straightens.
“You did an impressive job getting Alicia to warm up to you,” I say.
He lifts his shoulders. “I’ve had a little practice with my sister’s kids and my wife’s sister’s kids. I only see them once or twice a year, so they always start out acting shy.”
The girls bound back into the entryway. “Fetch, Ruffles!” Lily says.
She tosses the ball into the living room, and Ruffles gamely retrieves it. The girls take turns demonstrating the floppy-haired dog’s fetching prowess. Zack watches, appearing suitably impressed.
After about the seventh or eighth round, I decide to call a halt. “Who wants to go to the zoo?”
“I do! I do!” Both girls raise their hands and jump up and down.
“Okay, then. Does anyone need to use the potty before we go?” I ask. Brooke taught me the importance of asking that question. Both girls shake their heads no.
“We’d better take my car,” I tell Zack. “It has two safety seats in the back.”
We all traipse out to the driveway. Lily and Alicia pile into the back and climb into their seats. I fasten Alicia’s five-point harness while Zack fastens Lily’s.
I check Lily’s seat belt when I go around the car. “It’s not that I don’t think you did it correctly,” I say apologetically as I climb into the driver’s seat. “It’s just that Brooke told me I always needed to check, so—”
He lifts his hands. “Hey, I’m happy to be with someone who knows what they’re doing.”
