Sixteen
Becca
Ihave about two minutes of Rosie excitedly babbling at me about a pigeon that landed “in the fountain, Mommy!” before Nate walks over with a cameraman right behind and somewhat apologetically tells me they need an interview.
I don’t mind. I’m not going to pass up on any time I can talk to Nate, even if it’s in an official capacity.
He has me switch my mic pack back on and stand in the street in front of the restaurant so they can get a nice scenic shot of me and the charming facade of the building.
“Was it a surprise seeing the girls?” he asks with a grin that tells me he already knows the answer.
I laugh. “Oh my god, the biggest surprise.The best surprise ever. I missed them so much, and I—I needed this.” I hope Nate can feel me thanking him specifically for this. And for giving me that time alone withThea—which I still haven’t fully processed.
Nate’s smile is so wide, his warm eyes so soft. “That’s great, Becca.” He pauses for a moment. “And how was it introducing your kids to Preston?”
My mouth turns dry. I know the show wants to hear how incredible it was to have my kids spend time with the man I’m falling for, and that’s true, if not about Preston. I can’t say that, obviously, though I wish I could—off camera. Alone with Nate and in his arms.
I could lie, give Nate some answers that’ll make his bosses happy and thus be great for his career, but if he is starting to feel the way for me that I do for him—could he really be?—I don’t want to hurt him.
So I do my usual, and go for truths I can say. “I’ve always been curious to see how my girls would handle meeting a guy I was dating, since they’ve never done that before. I could tellThea was a little reticent. She’s protective of me. But I thought Preston did well with them and Rosie was definitely excited to meet aTV prince.”
“Fantastic,” he says. He opens his mouth like he’s going to start another question, but then closes it, squinting off to the side. “Sounds good,” he says, and I recognize that he’s just gotten a message in his headset from another producer. He looks back at me. “Part two of the date coming right up, Becks.”
Him calling me Becks makes my knees weak, every freaking time.
“Well, part one will be hard to top,” I say.
He winks at me. “Just you wait.”
Oh god, the wink too. Now my knees aren’t just weak.They’re jelly.
Luckily he turns away before he sees the wobble in my step. When we walk back into the restaurant, I can see that my kids are being filmed interacting with Preston, and I think he really is trying his hardest to connect with them. He does that magic trick where he pretends to pull a quarter from behindThea’s ear. “See, I told you I have princely magic!”
I cringe, because I already know that’s going to go over like a ton of bricks. And yeah, she’s already giving him afor the love of god, I am ten years oldstare-down.The interpreter definitely doesn’t need to translatethat.
Even Rosie looks less than impressed. “Money doesn’t come from ears,” she informs him.Then her eyes light up. “You should say a swear word!”
Nate and I look at each other and try valiantly to keep from laughing. Preston, however, gapes a bit, and I figure I should step in and save him.
“I’m guessing you didn’t bring your swear jar with you,” I say to Rosie, and she wrinkles her nose, realizing the fatal flaw in her money-making scheme. “So you might have to wait until the next time I step on one of your Legos.”
Thea snickers and Rosie looks like she’s about to start whining, but then a few of the cameras turn to the door, as if they’ve just gotten word in their own headset mics, and Bartholomew the town-crier strides in, wearing his full jaunty regalia—feathered hat, gold breeches, and all.
“Hear ye, hear ye,” he proclaims, unrolling the scroll. “The ladiesThea and Rosie are summoned for a special task—to help a fairy godmother as she provides the Lady Becca with a gown befitting a true princess.”
Rosie squeals, jumping up and down. EvenThea looks eager. I can’t help but feel pretty excited myself. A fairy godmother?
I remember telling Nate about the most romantic thing Rob had ever done for me, one of the few days of our marriage in which I actually felt loved.The beautiful dress he’d picked out just for me, the surprise dinner at a restaurant I’d wanted to go to, but never thought he’d be willing to spend the money on.
I meet eyes with Nate. He raises his eyebrows a bit, like,I told you.
I bite my lip, wanting nothing more than to keep staring into those eyes.
“I think you’ll all really like this fairy godmother,” Preston says, reluctantly pulling my gaze away. “I picked her out special for your mom.”
I very much doubt he picked anything out—I’m pretty sure it’s always the producers. But I don’t blame him for claiming it; the princes always do, and I’m thinking the show tells them to.
“You don’t pick a fairy godmother,” Rosie points out. “She comes by magic.”
