“It doesn’t matter.Just say yes, Mom.”
I glance at Magnus, wishing he’d say he can’t stay.But he’s quiet.
“It’s not that I’m saying no,” I say.
“Can I tell you something, Coop?”Magnus asks, saving me from finishing.
“Yeah, sure.”
“A grown-up who isn’t your family shouldn’t be staying in your bedroom with you.”
Coop frowns.“Why not?”
“It’s just not something good grown-ups do.If your mom is okay with it, I’ll sleep on the couch tonight while you sleep in your bed, and we can play cars in the morning.”
I’m floored by the way he explained that—looking out for my boy but not telling him anything that isn’t age-appropriate.
“He’s right,” I say.“If a grown-up tries to be alone with you in a bedroom, or anywhere else, and you feel uncomfortable, you should leave as fast as you can.”
Coop nods.I talk to my boys about stranger danger often because Jules and I were raised by an alcoholic mother who left us with people she barely knew when we were young.No one ever made us feel like we had any power in those situations.
I’m protective of my boys.I never want them to feel as scared or unsafe as I sometimes did as a kid.
“Okay, let’s do a chapter in Eli’s bed,” I say, talking to my sons.
“You can come, too,” Coop says, taking Magnus’s hand.
Magnus is a good sport, sitting on the floor beside Eli’s bed with Coop while I sit beside Eli in his bed and read the next chapter of the book we’re currently on, a Percy Jackson one.
Eli’s asleep before the end of the chapter, so I put the bookmark in and gently ease myself out of his bed.Magnus, Coop and I tiptoe back into Coop’s room, where I sit down on the edge of his bed to tuck him in.
“Did you brush your teeth?”I ask him.
He nods.
“Did you?”I give him a stern look.
“Smell my breath.”He opens his mouth and I give it a quick sniff.
“Okay.”I tuck the covers around him.“You need to go to sleep, for real.”
“I will.”
I hug him and say, “Good night, bug.I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Magnus offers him a fist bump.
“If you wake up first, come wake me up,” Coop says.
“I will.”
Once we’re out of the room and back down the hallway, I give Magnus an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry you got roped into staying all night,” I whisper.
“I don’t mind,” he whispers back.“But I do have to be at practice at eight thirty in the morning.”
