I hear my bedroom door open very quietly and then the distinct sound of Poppy moving on her crutches. I’m grateful that she isn’t trying to sneak out the front door before the boys see her. They’re too busy eating so they haven’t heard her, but Adrian’s eyes narrow in on me, and he tilts his head to the side a little. He’s not stupid, and the smirk that starts to cover his face tells me he knows exactly what happened last night. The reality is he doesn’t even know the half of it.
“Where’smycoffee and muffin?” Poppy’s voice comes from behind me as she steps into view, and the boys go wild, jumping down from their stools at the counter and rushing toward her.
I scoop them both up in my arms before they crash into her with excitement. Throwing them over my shoulder, they’re bothwriggling and screaming in my ear to put them down. Which I do, back on their stools, holding them still.
“Calm down, let Poppy come over here to you and give you a hug, okay. We don’t want her to fall over now, do we?” I say calmly, and I can hear Poppy moving over here so we can settle them down straight away.
“Well, if I had known you werehere,I would have brought you some, Poppy.” Adrian’s reply is filled with questions about what happened last night.
“Going forward, always assume you need an extra coffee, black, double shot, one sugar,” I reply to him with Poppy’s coffee order as I wink at her. Then I step out of the way so she can get to the boys.
“Noted,” Adrian replies. “Sounds like this talk might be going in a different direction to what I was imagining last night.”
“Exactly,” I say, picking up my coffee and walking back to Poppy. I pull out a stool for her to sit on next to the boys and set her crutches to the side out of the way.
“Perhaps just one shot of coffee will be enough at the moment. It’s not like I’m working and need to be that alert. Plus, these two are enough to wake you up nice and early, I’m sure,” Poppy replies as I hand her my coffee to share. She takes a long sip, and I can see the enjoyment written across her face with that first dose of caffeine for the day. Sighing, she passes it back to me. “Plus, without the extra shot, then it’s the same coffee order as Landon, so if I’m not here, it won’t get wasted.” I can see the cheekiness in her eyes as she says it.
“You’ll be here,” I grunt.
“Oh, I’m going to love this push-and-shove. Bring on the popcorn, life just got interesting around here.” Adrian starts laughing and grabs another plate, cutting the last muffin in half, and pushes a plate to both Poppy and me.
“You don’t have popcorn for breakfast,” Kade pipes up, spraying food out of his mouth as he tries to talk with muffin still in there.
“No speaking with your mouth full,” Poppy quietly says to him, with her hand on his shoulder, pushing his butt back down on to the stool, reminding him to sit still while he’s eating too. Just the simple little way she handles Kade makes my heart grow.
“How come Poppy’s here in her pajamas? Did she have a sleepover?” Nash asks innocently. He’s probably been thinking for a few minutes about it and worked out he didn’t hear the front door open again after Adrian walked in.
“Yeah, Daddy, tell us, did Poppy have a sleepover?” Adrian repeats the question smugly.
I really want to tell him to fuck off, but I can’t. Instead, I put my arm around Poppy’s shoulders and look at both the boys.
“Yes, Poppy had a sleepover in my room.” They both just nod and then go back to eating their muffins like there’s nothing interesting in that answer. “Nash, Kade, I need to tell you something, and I want you to pay attention for a minute, so put down your muffins.” Kade quickly takes a huge bite so he can still be eating while I talk. This kid drives me crazy and makes me laugh at the same time. God help me when he’s a teenager.
“You know how I loved Mommy very much, and I always will.” They both nod, and I feel Poppy slip her arm behind me and wrap it around my waist, giving me a little squeeze with her hand to let me know she’s got me. “Well, I also love Poppy very much. So much that I want Poppy to be my girlfriend, and that means she will be staying over at our house lots of nights. In my room, in my bed. Is that okay with you two?” I watch as they both look between me and Poppy.
“I thought she already was your girlfriend,” Nash says as he shrugs.
“Same, kiddo,” Adrian says and holds his hand up for Nash to high-five it. I’m not sure Nash understands why but does it anyway.
“You’re such a child,” I tell Adrian when Kade starts to talk.
“Does that mean Poppy’s my new mommy?” Kade replies excitedly when he’s finally finished his mouthful, crumbs on his lips and a few smudges of chocolate at the corners of his mouth.
I feel a sharp pain in my heart at the thought of Lucinda being replaced in the boys’ lives. And with what’s happening for Poppy right now, there are all sorts of thoughts running through my head on how to answer Kade. I wasn’t expecting these hard questions so soon.
Poppy answers for me, while she’s rubbing her hand softly up and down my side. “I’ll be your special friend for now, Kade. Just like Adrian and Felix are. Someone who loves you both so much, and no matter where I live, I’ll always love you and do my best to protect you. Does that sound okay?”
“But does that mean Felix and Adrian will be having sleepovers with Dad in his bed too?” he asks, pointing at me and Adrian.
“No!” both Adrian and I shout out at the same time. Which has Poppy laughing and both the boys looking a little confused.
“Why don’t you boys go and turn on the television, and us grown-ups will be in the living room chatting.” I offer the option for them to get away from us.
“But I haven’t finished my muffin.” Nash looks at me, with at least a third of his muffin left in his hand. He’s always been a slow eater.
“That’s okay, you can take your plate over, sit on the rug, and finish your muffin in front of the television, just this once. But be careful.” I know he will be, and I’m thankful that Kade is all finished, otherwise there would be crumbs from one end of the rug to the other. Kade jumps down from his stool and isalready running toward the table in the family room. He grabs the remote, choosing a streaming service and trying to start a show before Nash even has a chance to look for something else.
“Let’s go.” I pick up my muffin and put it on Poppy’s plate so we can eat it from the one plate. I carry the plate and the coffee into the front living room away from the kids, and Poppy and Adrian follow behind me.
