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“No, don’t ‘hey’ me!” The ten-year-old blond narrowed his blue eyes at Lexi and shook his finger in her direction. “Meanie!”
“Manners!” Mia yelled from the next room.
“You didn’t bother to tell me we were having a sleepover last night.”
“You were already asleep, bud. Your sister was fussy, so I was helping Mom.”
“Don’t care. Shoulda woke me up.” Zander was actually upset with her; she could see it in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, peanut. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“Uh-huh, how?”
“Well, how about we go to the park for a little while?” Lexi asked, running her fingers through her tousled hair and glancing at Mia who eyed her from across the kitchen. “It’ll be fun, just you and me.” It’s easier to avoid Mia’s too-early-inquisition this way.
“Let’s go!”
*
It didn’t take Zander much work to get Lexi to agree to ice cream cones on the way back from the park. It would be long gone before they got to the house and Mia would never know. “ Aunt Lexi?”
Lexi could only smile at hearing him say ‘Ant’ still, just like when he was younger. She secretly hoped he would always call her that. “Yeah, Zan?”
“Are you and Uncle Noah going to have a fancy white party like Mom and Nolan?” Zander calling Noah Uncle wasn’t new, but it hit Lexi harder after she rejected his decoration. Her relationship’s didn’t just effect her alone the way it did when she was in her twenties. The relationship she had with Noah was tangled, leaving everyone’s heart on the line.
“I dunno, kiddo, grownup stuff is complicated.”
“I guess.” He didn’t seem convinced.
“You know how you go to school to learn stuff? It takes practice to be good at something.”
“Yeah, my math teacher always says practice makes perfect.”
“Yeah, something like that. I'm not finished learning.” Lexi kissed Zander’s forehead.
His brow furrowed, and he glanced at her nervously. “ Aunt Lex? There’s something else…”
“Peanut.”
“What do I call Mister Nolan?”
“Whatcha mean, Zan?”
“Well, with the new sister, do I call him Dad? Or Daddy? Like mamma does?”
Lexi choked on her water, her eyes wide. She pressed her forearm against her mouth, hiding her expression. “Wh?” She coughed, then schooled her features. It took everything inside her not to crack too much.
“What?” Coughing and sputtering she put herself together, laughing and cleaning up the mess. Her breathing returned to normal, then she did her best to school her features and not draw more attention.
“I know I wasn't supposed to snoop. I wasn't, promise!” He held his hands up in scouts honor. “I left my iPad when we were watching movies. I went to get it and Mamma was teasing him.”
“Oh, really.”
“Yep! I don't think Nolan likes the belt Mamma got him. He said he was in a hurry to take it off and give it back to her.”
Mia would be mortified. She wasn’t ready to have that conversation with him yet. Or maybe ever.
“Oh, kid, we can’t be snooping and eavesdropping on adults.”
