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Nia
Slider arrives to pick up the keys about ten minutes later. Like Jared, he’s a big guy—all his friends are—and he fills the space when he steps into the living room. I notice his eyes slide between me and Jared, curiosity there. I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but I grasp Jared’s hand and he pulls me closer to his side.
Slider doesn’t say anything, but I can see the satisfaction in his expression as he takes us both in.
“I’m meeting the guy at the apartment first, then we’ll head down and do the store. I’ll bring the new keys back and give you a walkthrough of your security system when he’s done,” Slider tells me.
“You guys are just… wow. This is more than I expected, thank you.”
He makes a grunt sound, which I assume means don’t mention it, then takes off with both sets of my keys. I probably should feel a little weird about handing over the keys to all my worldly possessions to a guy I’ve had maybe three interactions with, but I trust Slider. I trust him because Jared does.
When he’s gone, Jared wraps a hand around my waist. “What do you want to do? Go for lunch?”
“Why don’t we go and get Coop and the three of us go for food.”
I say it slowly, a little uncertain if I’m overstepping the mark here, but this family I’m stepping into isn’t just Jared, it’s Cooper too.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to impose on him if you’re not ready for us to properly meet yet.”
“I want you to impose.” And he genuinely sounds pleased that I want to spend time with his son as well. I’m glad he didn’t shoot the suggestion down, but I would have understood if he had. I’d understand if he wanted to wait and make sure things were going to work out between us before bringing his kid into the equation. Most people would want to be careful when their kids are involved.
The fact he doesn’t shoot me down tells me he’s serious about us, that he’s thinking long term. That thought makes the butterflies in my stomach take flight.
“Okay then, let’s go and get Cooper.”
We finish getting ready for the day and head over to his mom’s. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about meeting her. It’s always daunting meeting someone’s parents and Jared seems close to his mom.
She lives in a small one-story home with a neatly kept garden and an SUV parked on the driveway. As we pass it, I see a car seat in the back—for Coop, no doubt.
“Does your mom have other grandkids?” I ask as we approach the front door.
“My sister’s got two girls, but she’s in Fort Lauderdale, so we only see them on holidays and special occasions.”
“So, Coop gets the full grandma treatment.”
He snorts, running a hand through his hair. “You could say that. My mom probably spoils him too much. So do Robyn’s parents when they have him. The kid’s going to be ruined by the time he’s five.”
“He deserves it.”
“I worry they go overboard sometimes.”
“They love him,” I counter.
“Yeah,” he says, “they do.” He pushes the front door open and steps into the house, hollering a, “Mom, it’s me.”
There’s a whooping sound from within the bowels of the house then the sound of footsteps moving at speed. Coop rounds the corner of the hallway and barrels into his dad’s legs.
“Hey, kid.” Jared ruffles his hair and then picks him up. He tickles his side. “Have you been good for Grandma?”
“Yes! Daddy, stop!” He giggles and shrieks.
Jared stops and kisses his son’s head. “Missed you, buddy.”
“Missed you too.” Then his gaze slides past his father to me, and I feel the weight of that little boy stare keenly. “Nee Nee! Why you at Grandma’s house?” His words bumble together, as if some of them don’t fit his mouth properly quite yet.
I glance at Jared, unsure how to broach this. We probably should have discussed it before.
