In a perfect world, we’d do that every morning for the rest of our lives.
But it’s not a perfect world.
So I stay frozen in place.
“Dad dropped Jonah off already,” I say. “He had to meet with the vet.”
“Everything okay?”
“It’s being handled. Jonah fell back asleep here, by some miracle.”
She opens the fridge, surveys it for a moment, and then shestarts pulling things out. Buttermilk. Eggs. The blueberries Jonah likes. She ties her robe tighter, pushes her sleeves up, finds the mixing bowl without having to look.
It’s her home too now, after all.
“It’s Sunday,” she says, “so I assume Jonah will want pancakes.”
“You don’t have to do all that,” I tell her. “I can take care of it.”
Giving me an impish look, she starts sifting the flour into the bowl. “You just work on that coffee. You look like you need it. Rough night?”
There’s a glimmer in her eyes I don’t know how to read.
“You could say that,” I grunt.
“Hell of a hangover, huh?”
Not from the liquor.
From her, in my veins.
I watch her and drink my coffee and don't say anything I shouldn't.
“You look fresh as a fucking daisy,” I tell her.
She tosses me a grin. “I slept great. Even if I had to spend the night playing all by my lonesome.”
My cock jumps, suddenly extremely interested in hearing more about all that.
This woman is going to take a decade off my life.
The thunder of small feet on the stairs announces Jonah about thirty seconds before he materializes in the doorway. He's in his dinosaur pajamas, hair going in seven directions, glasses crooked on his face.
He yawns. “Dad, I’m hungry.”
I get up to give him a hug and kiss the top of his head, like I do every morning. “Sadie’s got you covered, bud.”
He takes one look at Sadie at the stove and starts running again, like she's been gone a year and he's just been reunitedwith his favorite person. He runs at her full tilt and she catches him, laughing, setting him on the counter with an exaggerated noise of effort.
“Holy cow, you’re huge,” she says breathlessly. “You grew overnight.”
“Yup,” he says proudly.
She straightens his glasses. “How about some blueberry buttermilk pancakes?”
“Dinosaur ones,” he says immediately. “Can you do a T-rex?”
She eyes the batter dubiously. “I can attempt a T-rex. Might come out looking like the asteroid hit him already.”
