Maddie abandons the unicorn and climbs onto her knees on the chair. “Can I help?”
Natalie crouches immediately so they’re eye level. No hesitation. No sigh. “You can roll one more meatball. Clean hands?”
Maddie flashes her palms like she’s presenting evidence in court. “Washed twice.”
I lean against the counter and watch.
Natalie doesn’t flinch when sauce splatters onto the front of her shirt. She laughs. Maddie laughs harder. A streak of red lands on my forearm.
“See?” Natalie says, pointing the spoon at me. “They’re nervous. That one jumped when Maddie dropped it.”
“I stand corrected,” I say.
Maddie carefully presses another lopsided meatball together and drops it into the pan. “This one’s mine.”
“Then you have to eat it,” I say.
She gasps. “I'm going to.”
Natalie wipes her hands and walks to the sink, bumping lightly into me as she turns. My hand lifts automatically to steady her waist. She doesn’t react like it’s foreign. She just shifts and keeps moving.
Too natural.
I didn’t expect comfort to feel like this. I expected tension. I expected awkward.
Instead, I’m watching my wife argue with my daughter about the correct shape of pasta.
“You can’t discriminate against elbows,” Natalie says.
“I like the twisty ones better,” Maddie insists.
“Then we make both,” Natalie decides. “Marriage means compromise.”
Maddie squints at her. “You just got married yesterday.”
“I’m a fast learner.”
I laugh before I can stop myself.
Maddie points at me. “Dad, you have to set the table. That’s your job.”
“Oh, is it?”
“Yes. Married dads do that.”
Natalie bites back a grin. “She’s not wrong.”
I grab plates. Forks. Napkins. The small domestic rhythm settles in like muscle memory.
At the table, Maddie insists on saying a prayer that involves thanking God for sparkly dresses, Daisy, and Natalie marrying Dad. The last one makes Natalie blink and me swallow hard.
“And too bad Jenna’s out tonight,” Maddie adds quickly. “She’s missing the meatballs.”
“She’ll get leftovers,” Natalie says warmly. “We’ll save her some so she can try them tomorrow.”
Dinner becomes chaotic in the best way.
Maddie drops her fork. Daisy materializes under the table like she’s been summoned. Maddie "accidentally" lets a meatball roll off her plate. Daisy inhales it before I can react.
