Christian announces that he’s going back to bed but will join in the snowman-making later.
“You don’t have to entertain my child,” I tell Carter.
“It’s a snow day, Kenna.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Haven’t you ever had a real snow day before?” His head shakes as if he’s having to explain something to a toddler. “That’s what you do. Play games. Eat soup. Build snowmen. And”—he glances around to make sure we’re alone—“participate in nocturnal activities.”
I point my finger at him. “You’re incorrigible.”
He shrugs. “What if the power goes out? We’ll have to dosomethingto keep us warm.”
My eyes widen. “You think the power will go out?”
“Probably not,” he says with a sigh, as if he’s sad about it. “They buried all the power lines in my neighborhood two years ago. It has barely even flickered since then.”
Amelia returns with a huge grin splitting her face. Her arms are piled with Candy Land, Hungry Hippos, and Connect 4.
I top off my coffee and sit across the table from Carter, who helps Amelia set up the first game, a peaceful, satisfied grin on his face the entire time.
~ ~ ~
“I’ll bet two more inches have fallen since this morning,” Bug says, bringing over a snowman head that will complete our fourth and largest snowman.
We’ve been outside for an hour, building one after the other.
“Should we do another one?” I ask. There are, after all, five of us here.
Bug stands back, admiring the quartet of Frostys. “Nah, I think this is perfect.”
Glances are shared between everyone except Amelia, who’s blissfully happy in her little snow baby bubble. To everyone else, though, it’s no mystery what these four silly, sloshy, discombobulated mounds of snow represent. There are two larger ones, a medium-sized one, and a small one. It doesn’t take a genius to understand it. I wasn’t even aware until now that we were building a… family.
Carter gets the tape measure out of his pocket and leans down, sticking it into the snow. He catches my gaze and his lips twitch into a grin. “Just under six.”
“The daddy Frosty needs arms,” Amelia declares. She looks from the largest snowman to Carter. “Can you be my daddy?”
While I’m mortified she asked, Carter looks like he’s never been more honored in his life. He finds me frozen in place, unsure of what to say, and conveys a look that saysI got this, then he falls to his knees and smiles. “Wow, pumpkin. That’s a really special thing to ask. It makes me feel good in here.” He puts a hand over his heart. “And I sure do care a lot about you, too. But becoming a dad to anyone is complicated. Can we be friends? You know, just for now? Maybe even best friends.”
Amelia scrunches her nose and thinks on it. She shakes her head. “But Bug is my best friend.”
Carter chuckles. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. You can have more than one best friend.”
“I can?”
“Sure.”
“So Christian can be my best friend too? And you too?”
“Absolutely.”
Her face lights up and she hugs him, eyes squeezed tightly.
Emotions overwhelm me, and I need to move. Fast. “I’m… gonna go look for arm sticks.”
I beeline for the trees along his back property line. My chest is tight. My throat practically closing. I can’t breathe. It’s toomuch to process. My daughter just asked the man I may be in love with to be her father. And the way he handled it… He didn’t push her off on me. Didn’t freak out and get all weird. Didn’t upset her by saying it’s not possible. He approached it with the same grace and charm he’s displayed since the day we met.
“You okay?”
