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“Thought about it briefly, but I’m not cut out to work in a kitchen. I don’t think I’d survive.”
“Why not?”
I rolled the dough out into lines. “I don’t know. Chefs are all kinds of pretentious. They can be really mean and rude.”
I felt his smile against my shoulder. “Collin’s a chef.”
“Exactly,” I said, and we both laughed. Collin was definitely full of himself and didn’t seem to care about who he offended with his words or actions.
Liam clucked his tongue, his mouth near my ear as he landed a smack on my backside. “You’re sassy today.”
“Because you won’t leave me alone. I’m trying to do something nice for you, and you’re disturbing me.”
He rubbed his palm over my butt. “It would be really nice if you took your clothes off right now.”
I sighed, half turning to him. “You can have fifteen minutes now, or you can wait like a good little boy and get hours later.”
“Good little boy,” he muttered with one last swat. “I’ll give you good little boy later.”
“Looking forward to it,” I said with a cheeky smile in his direction as he ducked out of his kitchen, finally leaving me to get the gnocchi finished before Finn woke up.
Which wasn’t very long.
I’d boiled all the gnocchi and placed them aside for now so I could get Finn situated. I promised he could help make the cupcakes, and since he really liked the mixer, I wasn’t going to deprive him of his favorite part. I set him up on a chair and let him have at it while I took some photos and videos. Then, together, we scooped the batter into the tray and put them in the oven.
We headed to the living room to play while the cupcakes baked, and I caught up with my mom, chatting about her upcoming trip to Sedona, as Finn created a racetrack for his Hot Wheels that involved jumping over dinosaurs. When the timer dinged, I removed the cupcakes from the oven and hung up with my mom, knowing I’d have to give Finn my full attention to make sure he didn’t make a mess.
We frosted the cupcakes together, and I took more pictures, especially when he curled his lips between his teeth in concentration, exactly like his dad. Too cute.
“These look great, Finnie. Want to go watch TV so I can finish dinner?”
He scooted away, and I popped sausage and broccoli rabe into a pan to fry up with the gnocchi. I’d just finished cleaning everything up when Liam strolled into the kitchen, stretching his neck side to side. “Smells so good in here.”
I reached up to rub at the muscles in his shoulders and neck, knowing he always got tense when he sat for too long, and he thanked me with a kiss long enough to make my toes curl.
We ate at the dining room table because I’d tied balloons to the back of Liam’s chair to Finn’s utter delight, and when we finished, I slid the tray of cupcakes in front of the birthday boy with the thick 3 and 7 candles lit up. Finn and I sang to him, and I filmed a video of him blowing out his candles then biting into a cupcake Finn handed to him.
It felt right, all of us here together. Like I was meant to be here. Like I was meant to be a part of Liam and Finn’s family. And when Liam gazed up at me with sparkling eyes, I brushed my thumb over the corner of his mouth, swiping a bit of blue icing off his lip. I stuck it in my mouth, and he winked playfully at me before turning to grab Finn, tickling his sides.
Without fully thinking it through, I edited the video to the few seconds of Liam smiling and winking at me after I wiped his mouth, added some music, and posted it to my TikTok. I wasn’t active on it by any means, but I mostly posted outfits of the day and, more recently, clips fromHairsprayrehearsals and the blinking lights of the Christmas tree with Mariah singing over it. I posted the short clip of the #HotProfessor and then pocketed my cell phone to enjoy one of the cupcakes Finn had overloaded with sprinkles.
It wasn’t until after Finn was bathed, brushed, and in bed with his dad that I kissed his head and made my way to Liam’s bedroom, checking my cell phone.
As I sat on the bed, I replied to a text from Taylor about getting together with her on the weekend then checked my other notifications.
Thehundredsof notifications.
“Oh my god,” I whispered to myself, scrolling through the comments.
That daddy, though!
Yes, Zaddy!
Find someone who looks at you the way the hot professor looks at whoever’s taking this video.
Going to stand in traffic.
Hot Professor strikes again!
