Hudson brushed his hands together. "Now, show me all your presents. I want to see everything."
Ayla grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the tree where most of her presents still were.
My heart stuttered over the sight of Ayla holding another man's hand.
Gus didn't want the pressure of having to perform, as he called it. The expectation of getting the right present or creating the perfect holiday.
But Hudson was here, and he was holding my daughter's hand. I wasn't sure I was going to survive this evening. I was going to fall head over heels for him. He wasn't giving me a fighting chance.
Ayla knelt on the floor, and Hudson sat cross-legged next to her. She went through the presents one by one, saying whether itwas a surprise or she'd asked for it. Hudson asked questions, and she patiently answered each one.
I was impressed that he cared enough to be here. He didn't have to spend time with my daughter. We'd only just met. I'd thought I'd date a man, and then when I was ready, he'd meet my daughter.
Instead, everything was out of order. I hadn't expected Hudson.
"Can we play this one?" Hudson pointed at Scrabble.
"You want to play, Mom?"
"Of course," I said, sliding off the couch.
We set it up, explaining the rules that we remembered from when we were kids.
"This game was Aspen's favorite, but we never wanted to play it with her."
Ayla frowned. "Why didn't you want to play it?"
"It's a stupid sibling thing. When you have a brother or sister you want to make them as miserable as possible."
She made a face. "That sounds awful."
"And we gave our sister the hardest time because she was the only girl. But she gave it back to us just as hard. She pulled pranks on us and never failed to get us blamed for everything. It was never her fault."
Her nose wrinkled. "Maybe I don't want a sibling."
"I don't recommend five."
She nodded seriously. "Yeah, that's a lot."
I loved that they were bonding. That Hudson was taking his time to get to know Ayla and letting her know him.
We played several rounds of the game, helping out Ayla when she got stuck. When she yawned, I said, "I think it's time for bed. You were up early."
"But Hudson's here."
And I wanted him to myself. But I couldn't tell her that. "You'll have plenty of time to play tomorrow."
"Ugh. Fine. But can Hudson read me another story?"
"Sure. If he wants to." There was something about sharing her bed last night and reading the classic tale that felt a lot like we were a family. I shouldn't get too attached to that idea.
"I want to," Hudson said.
It shouldn't surprise me when he wanted to be with us, but it was still jarring. It was going to take some getting used to.
"It won't take me long to get ready. I'm already in my pj's." Ayla ran upstairs.
I should have told her to change into another set, but I wasn't going to push her tonight.
