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“And make sure you shower too! You’ve got paint all over you!”
“Okay!”
Nova pokes one eye open and studies me. “You’re a natural.”
“At what? Nagging?” I ask, pushing the water at her so she can take another sip.
She sits up and allows me to set the glass at her lips. After a few swallows, she pulls back and I set the glass on the coffee table.
“At being a father,” she says.
“Maybe because I am one. Officially. Biologically. All the ‘lys’”
She goes still.
I fish the paternity test out of my back pocket and show it to her. “I got the results today.”
She rolls her eyes. “I knew a long time ago. He has your intelligence. And your good looks.” She ducks after admitting that.
I laugh and rub her leg. “Does he?”
“No, I take it back. He probably got his looks from his mom.”
I bark out another laugh.
Nova smiles sweetly. “I told you not to waste money on that thing. It would have been better spent on Rowan’s bedroom.”
“I do plan to renovate his room soon,” I assure her.
“Do you… feel any different?” Nova asks. “Now that you have proof that he’s yours?”
I rub circles on her leg. “No. Actually, I…” I notice a shadow in the mouth of the hallway. It looks suspiciously like a tall, gangly, eleven-year-old boy.
“You what?” Nova prods.
Aware that Rowan is eavesdropping, I speak from the heart, “He’s not as bad as I thought he’d be. I enjoy having him around. In fact, I’d be kind of bummed if he had to leave. Who else would blow up my kitchen with flour and banana peels?”
Nova laughs.
I hear a chuckle from the hallway too.
“So you’re happy?” Nova asks.
“I am.” I notice the shadow disappear. Turning to Nova again, I lean closer. “But you know what would make me even happier?”
“What?”
“Go out on a date with me tomorrow.”
She tugs her bottom lip into her mouth and chews nervously.
I wait for her, holding my breath until…
“Okay,” she agrees.
Finally.
“But no wine.”
