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Lauren: No, I can’t. You’re too swoony, and now I need to see you. And the koalas. I have to see those too, the more I think about it. I can’t miss them.
Me: Who are you more excited to see? Me or the koalas?
Lauren: I mean…honestly?
Me: Wow, ouch. Haha. Don’t spare my feelings.
Lauren: You’re a tough guy. You can take it.
Me: You’re right, I can. But I would like to remind you that you can pet me, and petting the koalas is probably going to make someone at the zoo pretty mad.
Lauren: I can pet you?
Me: Anytime.
Lauren: Man, that was bad.
Me: Yeah, not my best material, but I’m trying too hard. That’s what happens when you really want to impress a woman.
Lauren: GEEZ. You’re a sleeper cell! Right when I start to get comfortable, you hit me with the charm!
Me: ;)
Lauren: Okay, you can relax. I’ll see you tomorrow to zoo it up. I’m supposed to have a light day anyway, but I’ll talk to Rebecca about covering my appointments.
Hell yes.
Me: Perfect.
But once I hit send on that message, I immediately feel inclined to send another one.
Me: So, that promotion your dad was talking about, I want you to know I really did tell him “Maybe” and that I haven’t actually decided.
I brace myself for her response, a little worried that maybe that whole conversation upset her, but she surprises me with her next text.
Lauren: Garrett, you don’t owe me any kind of explanation. It’s your career. Your decision. I mean, if I were the one who was up for a promotion, given how new all of this is between us, would you feel like you should have a say in the decision?
Me: Honestly? No, I wouldn’t. I would just want you to be open and honest with me about it, but I wouldn’t expect to have some kind of say.
Lauren: My thoughts exactly. Now I have to go. JIMMY is giving me laser eyes, and I don’t want to turn into dust.
Me: I wouldn’t want that either.
Lauren: And, Garrett?
Me: Yeah, baby?
Lauren: At the risk of embarrassing myself…I’m really starting to like you.
Me: I know what you mean. I’m really starting to like you too.
January 28th
Lauren
“Have you been around children much?” Garrett asks from the driver’s seat, glancing at me before moving his eyes back to the road.
I have a feeling this question is a segue into him prepping me for what is about to come—spending the day with his kids.
“Other than my sisters’ kids and patients?” I shake my head. “No. Is that bad?”
“No. It’s good, actually.” He smiles at me. “At least with my kids. Especially Sarah. She’s kind of a badass for a twelve-year-old, and it probably wouldn’t help you any if you tried to treat her like the twelve-year-olds you’ve met before.”
“Oh. Good. A tweenage badass. I’m so glad you’ve spawned something simple like that.”
He laughs. “Hey, I can’t help it if I have superior DNA.”
I roll my eyes. “My God, the ego.”
“Yes. And that brings me to the second child I was preparing you for. Hayden is a sweet, sweet, cocky-little-shit of a kid. His ego is ten times what I just dealt you, but somehow, he manages it without sounding like too much of a prick.”
“So…” I tilt my head to the side, scrunching up my nose at the same time. “Is this pep talk supposed to be making me feel good or bad?”
“Which one does it feel like?”
“Bad. Ish. But also good-ish. It’s very complicated.”
He smirks. “Sounds about right.”
“Great.”
“Hey, you went to medical school,” he adds. “My kids shouldn’t be anything you can’t handle. Plus, I’ll be here to keep them in line.”
“Right. Because you’re so well behaved.”
“I am, Lauren. I am.” He tosses a wink my way as he takes a right turn at a green light. “But if you’d like, I’ll try to step out of my box a little more.”
“No, no.” I hold up one hand. “Stay in the box.”
“Are you sure? I bet I’d look really sexy outside of the box. Maybe in some boxer briefs? With a tan?”
“My God.” I snort. “You have issues.”
“Yes. And you’re dating me. So, what’s that say about you?”
“I’m really not sure.” I take a deep breath and squeeze the oh shit handle in the Suburban one more time. Garrett’s driving isn’t crazy at all—it’s where we’re going that makes me feel like we’re riding on two wheels.
“And who’s with the kids now at your house? While you’re picking me up?”
“They’re by themselves,” he says matter-of-factly, and my eyebrows draw together.
“Is that normal? To leave twelve-year-olds on their own?”
Garrett laughs. “Gee, I’d never considered it.”
I roll my eyes. “Come on, I’m seriously asking, not judging. I’m…new to this.”
His face softens then, his hand reaching out to flip mine over on my leg and lace our fingers together. “Yes and no. Twelve is kind of a borderline age with a lot of qualifications. If it were just Hayden, I’d say he needed supervision. But Sarah is there, and she’s just about more adult than most of the adults I know, so she’ll keep him in line. That said, it’s still a lot of responsibility for a twelve-year-old not only to be in charge of her own well-being, but also her brother’s. So I would only venture out with them home alone for very short bursts of time. Like, say, this. By the time we get back to the house, I’ll have only been gone for a half hour, forty-five minutes, tops.”
