Page 340 of Safe With You

“The real question.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“It was somewhere in there.”

She shook her head, still smiling.

I got up and carried her lunch bag back to the counter.

“Put your sock on.”

“You didn’t answer.”

“You have one sock on.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with Miss Luna.”

“It has everything to do with us leaving this house on time.”

“Daddy.”

“Sock.”

She let out a dramatic sigh but finally reached for it.

I turned back to the counter before she could see me smile.

The question followed me anyway.

Not the first one. I knew the answer to that.

Luna wasn’t replacing Elena. She never could, and I’d never wanted her to. Mila loving Luna didn’t take anything away from the mother she lost, just like the life we were building now didn’t erase the one we had before.

There was room for both.

The second question should’ve been easier.

Is she your girlfriend?

I knew what Luna was to me.

I knew what it meant when I reached for my phone because something happened and she was the person I wanted to tell. I knew what it meant when Mila asked if Luna was coming before I’d even told her what we were doing. I knew what it meant when I was standing in Luna’s kitchen or she was sitting on my couch and neither one of us acted like there was somewhere else we were supposed to be.

I knew what it meant when I kissed her, when I woke up thinking about her, when she called and I answered without checking what I was doing first.

I knew what we were doing.

Apparently, I’d just never asked what we were calling it.

“Daddy?”

I glanced over my shoulder.

Both socks were finally on.

“What?”

“You’re taking too long.”