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“After dinner,” Janice said before she could ask.
Kate kissed Penny again, resisting the familiar urge to add instructions nobody needed. Her parents knew Penny’s bedtime. They knew where her pajamas were, what she liked to drink, and which story she would probably ask for if she was still awake long enough to hear one. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart.”
“Okay.” Penny had already gone back to her drawing.
Kate straightened. Was that really all there was to it? Two nights ago she had stood in the doorway with one earring in, trying not to check the time. Tonight Penny had barely looked up from her drawing, and Kate’s feet were already turning toward the hall. It made her smile.
Wes was waiting in the hall.
“All right,” she said, picking up her bag. “Pizza?”
“Pizza sounds good.”
The place Wes took her to was small and busy enough to feel comfortable without being noisy. They found a booth near the back after ordering, and by the time a large pizza arrived between them, Kate had stopped wondering whether she should have changed clothes. Wes had not dressed up either. He had showered after work, put on clean clothes, and come to ask her out. She liked that.
“So,” he said as he lifted a slice onto his plate, “what do you think the chances are of Penny getting the hot chocolate?”
“Very high,” Kate said. “Dad will give in first, while Mom pretends she’s the one holding the line. Then Penny will ask whether marshmallows count as part of the hot chocolate or something extra, and the whole thing will become a negotiation.”
“She seems happy with them.”
“She is. She always has been, but this is different. Mom and Dad usually visit us, or we go away somewhere together. She’s never had them right there every morning and every night.” Kate folded her pizza slice slightly before taking a bite. “She loves knowing she can wander outside and find Grandpa, or follow Mom into the kitchen and be given something to do.”
“She likes being useful,” Wes said.
“She likes being included. There’s a difference.” Kate thought about Penny carrying the little basket through the orchard and the absolute seriousness with which she approached any job Alan gave her. “If you tell her she’s helping, she’ll work at something for ages. If she thinks you’re only keeping her busy, she catches on surprisingly fast.”
“I’ll remember that.”
It was an ordinary thing to say, but Kate noticed it anyway. Remember it for when? She and Penny would be going home again before long. Wes did not talk about Penny as if she were an inconvenience that came attached to Kate. He listened when Kate talked about her, remembered things she had said, and seemed genuinely interested in who Penny was.
“What’s your favorite part?” he asked.
“Of being a mom?”
Wes nodded.
Kate sat back a little, because the question deserved more thought than she had expected. “I think it’s watching her become herself.” She smiled as she tried to explain. “When she was a baby, everything was about keeping her fed and getting enough sleep and wondering whether whatever she was doing was normal. Then suddenly she was this little person with opinions about everything. She notices things I would walk straight past. She asks questions I’ve never thought about in my life, and if I don’t know the answer, she assumes I can find out.”
“What sort of questions?”
“Last week she wanted to know why the moon follows our car. So I tried explaining that it only looks as if it does because it’s so far away. Then she wanted to know why it was so far away, why we couldn’t drive there, how long it would take if we tried, and whether we’d need snacks.”
“That last one sounds sensible.”
“It was probably the most sensible part of the conversation.” Kate laughed. “But I love that about her. Everything is still interesting. A funny-shaped leaf can be worth stopping for. A puddle is worth examining. She makes the world feel bigger than it did before I had her.”
She had not meant to say quite so much, but Wes was listening as if he had all evening. “There are difficult days too,” Kate added. “I don’t want to make it sound perfect. Sometimes I would give almost anything to finish a cup of coffee while it’s still hot or get through an entire phone call without somebody needing me. But even the hard parts are just part of her now.”
Wes rested his hand around his glass. “Did you always know you wanted children?”
“Yes.” Kate paused. “That part never changed. I just thought it would happen differently.”
He waited.
“I told you the other night I’d always pictured getting married first and planning everything properly. Penny arrived before any of that.” She smiled faintly. “Once I got past the panic, I stopped worrying so much about the life I thought I was supposed to have and started building the one we actually had.”
Wes nodded. “From what I’ve seen, you’ve built a pretty good life for the two of you.”
