She’d sensed some resistance from him about it, and he’d asked her more than once why she was going on a date with a stranger when she could go on one with Dylan. If anything, her son’s attitude confirmed she’d have to keep any dating she did casual. She didn’t want her children to get attached to anyone who would, by necessity, have to move on.
“I told you already. I’m going out to dinner with a man from work.” Rae picked up the diaper bag, now filled only with a change of clothes for both children. Beth had finally figured out potty training. Diapers were one thing Rae wouldn’t miss. “Come on you two.”
“I don’t want you to go with him. I want you to come withus.” Preston stood in the middle of the living room still holding his box, his eyes narrowed, and his little jaw clenched.
In many ways, he was an amenable child, a little rule-keeper in fact. Too often she had to chide him for tattling on Beth. All the time. When he felt strongly about something and dug in his heels, he could turn surprisingly stubborn. It seemed this was going to be one of those times.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you want me to go on a date?” She knelt beside her sweet son, so they were on eye level.
“Why don’t you go on a date with Dillie?”
“Because we’re friends. We do things together all the time, but sometimes we do things with other people. I told you this is a date. It’s different from what I do with Dylan.”
“Tricia said you should marry him.”
It seemed Rae needed to have a word with her babysitter about putting ideas like this into Preston’s head. Then Rae paused, wondering whathimTricia had been referring to. It couldn’t be Jason, could it? Preston had been complaining about the date for a couple of days.
“Jason is a nice guy at work who likes to date a lot of different women. He doesn’t have girlfriends, so don’t worry that I’ll marry him.”
“Why don’t you marry Dillie?” Preston asked, his little face grave. “Don’t you love him?”
“Yes, I love him. As a friend.” Rae rose, wishing it was still the truth. “Now let’s get you over to Jayden’s so you two can start having fun.”
“I want you to marry Dillie,” her son muttered as she guided him toward the door.
* * *
Ever since Ameliahad gotten them to sign up for eRapport, Dylan had tried to mentally prepare himself for the time when Rae would date someone else. He’d even accepted it might be Jason. Dylan still wasn’t able to resign himself that her first solo date was going to be with the Asian Romeo.
Standing in his doorway holding Beth and with the Littles at his side, Dylan watched Rae make her way down the stairs. Was that an extra skip to her step? Did the thought of going out with Lee excite her? The thought turned Dylan’s stomach. Why couldn’t she see how good they were together? They were already almost a family.
The only thing that made him feel a little better was she’d refused to let the guy pick her up here. The last thing he wanted to deal with was Lee showing up on the landing outside of Dylan and Rae’s two apartments.
He had no idea where Lee was taking her for dinner. It was probably just as well though, otherwise he might have been tempted to take the children there to spy on her.
“Are we going to get pizza?” Preston asked.
“Yes, little bud,” Dylan said, watching until Rae was out of sight.
“And play games,” Jayden said.
“Yes, both.” Dylan picked up Beth. “Let’s get you guys to the car so I can buckle you up.”
He and Rae had transported each other’s kids so often they’d both invested in their own car seats for the threesome. As he walked to the car, each of the Littles clung to one of his belt hoops, something Amelia had suggested to him early on. Beth had her thumb in her mouth and held his ear with her other hand.
It was one of the most precious things he’d ever experienced, this little girl using his ear like a security blanket. He loved these three children. What if Rae married one of those guys from the dating site, and her new husband didn’t treat her kids right?
Dylan wouldn’t think about it. As much as he might wish they were his children, they weren’t. He had to trust that Rae wouldn’t allow herself to be swept away by a loser.
Once he had the children buckled into their car seats, he drove to the gaming center. It was busy, and he hoped he hadn’t taken on more than he could handle. Hewasoutnumbered, three to one, after all, and little Beth had a way of taking off if he glanced away even for a second. They’d lined up to order their pizza, when two familiar faces walked in the door. He sighed in relief.
“Auntie Amelia,” the Littles cried while Beth stretched out her arms to them, her little fingers wiggling.
Grinning, his coworker took the little girl and snuggled her close. It brought home again to Dylan how hungry Beth was for a grandmother figure in her life. Rae’s mother had died when she was a teen, and Mike’s parents lived out of state, so Beth didn’t have a grandmother who lived close by. Once again, he felt grateful for this loving couple who’d stepped up to fill that role for Rae’s kids and Jayden.
“This isn’t where I imagined you two would go on a Friday night date night,” Dylan said to her husband, Micah.
“Of course, it isn’t,” the large man said, using his long beard to tickle Beth’s cheek and making her giggle. “But when I heard Rae was going out and you had babysitting duty, I thought we should come help you out. We raised four children, so I understand what it’s like. Even good kids this age are a lot to handle. We decided to brave the awful pizza and come have some fun with the children.” He leaned closer to Dylan and lowered his voice, “It’s hard on Amelia having most of the grandkids living out of state, so getting to tend these three helps fill her need.”
