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I hold on to the doorframe a little tighter, trying not to melt into a puddle at the image of Drew hosting a tea party for his daughter.

Penny runs down the hallway into the kitchen, and I follow her, little Sam trailing behind us. Penny pulls open a cabinet and pulls out three white teacups and matching saucers, and then ducks back into the cabinet and digs around. She comes back up with her arms loaded up with a floral tablecloth and a little vase filled with silk flowers and carries it all to the dining table.

“Your dad got all of this for tea parties?” I ask, my voice sounding higher than usual.

“Yep!” She grins. “Oh wait! We almost forgot the dress-up clothes.” She gestures for us to follow her back down the hallway to her room.

Samantha and I follow her back to her room and she opens the trunk at the end of her bed. It’s full of princess dresses, but there’s also a black bowtie and a top hat. Penny sets those off to the side.

“We don’t need the top hat and bowtie—those are my daddy’s.”

I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat. How can Drew be affecting me this way when he isn’t even here?

Penny hands me a pink silk scarf and some elbow-length gloves. Then she finds a princess dress for Samantha and another one for herself. The girls throw them on over their play clothes. They look darling.

“Okay! I think we’re ready,” Penny announces. We head back into the dining room and Penny gets the table ready for our tea party while I grab the teapot and sandwiches from the kitchen.

With the table cloth, vase with flowers, dress-up clothes, and tea set, it's actually a pretty fancy-looking tea party. I grab my phone out of my back pocket and try to unlock it before realizing I have gloves on. I remove one and get my camera app up.

“Okay, girls… smile!” I tell them.

The girls grin and lean into each other. After I snap a picture, I pull it up to make sure it looks okay. It’s so cute. I pull up Drew’s contact and send it to him.

Sophie:Having a tea party :) I'm really looking forward to seeing you in your top hat soon.

I snicker to myself, but I have an inkling the man looks damn good in a top hat.