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Max frowns. “Duke! That’s too easy!”
“Hey, you never said I had to make the clues hard.”
Max blows out a breath of air, her eyes narrowed. “You can do better. Try again.”
“What was the answer?” I challenge.
“A puck,” she groans. “A first grader could’ve figured that one out.”
“Fine,” I say. “New, harder clues. Ummm…” I think for a second and decide on a riddle. If she wants a harder clue, she’ll get it. “It belongs to you,” I say, and Max leans closer, “but other people use it more than you do. What is it?”
She scrunches her nose. “Huh?”
“It’s a riddle, baby,” Lila says, looking over at me. “And I know the answer.”
“No!” Max whines. “I don’t know it.”
“You don’t have to know every answer,” Lila says as she spells NAME on her plate with noodles and holds it up for Max to see.
Max’s eyebrows raise. “Name? I don’t get it.”
“It belongs to you,” Lila repeats, “but other people use it more than you do. It’s your name.”
“Oh,” Max says, eyes wide and mouth open. Then, she taps me on the arm. “Good one, Duke. But you cheated.”
I snicker. “How did I cheat? I gave you clues?”
“You’re supposed to describe it.”
“Next time, you should spell out the rules.”
“Duke likes breaking the rules,” Lila says with a bright smile. “One point for Mommy. You can go next,” she says to Max.
“Are we ever going to eat?” I lean in to say the words under my breath. “Because I’m starving.”
She tips her head toward the stove. “Yeah, I have more on the burner. This is just for fun.”
“Let me guess,” I say, “this game was Ted’s idea.”
Lila chuckles. “No, it was mine. I couldn’t get her to eat macaroni when she was younger. So, I told her it was a game.”
We play a few more rounds of Mac and Clues before we eat our dinner. Max wins because we let her. She announces her victory by taking a lap around the kitchen, and then runs into the living room, begging to watch the movie. After I help Lila clean up, we join Max on the couch. Max jumps on top of us, forcing us to different ends of the sofa. She lounges across both of our laps and kicks me with her shoes. I strip them off, and she wiggles her toes.
I love nights like these, hanging out with two of my favorite girls. Max is growing on me, and with each day that passes, I’m slowly falling in love with Lila. With both of them. I never thought I would find someone who allows me to be myself, someone who understands why I am this way. Lila isn’t afraid to get close to me. She hasn’t run yet. Still, my fear is there, brewing at the surface.
I promised Max we would watch Aquaman together because she loves sea animals. With the lights dimmed, we watch the movie like we’re a family. I haven’t done this since Kat and the twins were younger, and I miss it.
We get halfway into the movie before Max taps me on the arm. Her blonde hair is fanned out around her head on Lila’s lap.
“Did you know that sea otters hold hands while they sleep?”
I shake my head. “No, I didn’t.”
“They hold hands, so they don’t drift away from each other.”
“Aww,” Lila says.
I tilt my head to the side to look at Lila. She has no idea I’m watching her as she watches the movie. I can’t wait for our sessions to end, so I can make this official, so I can announce to the world I’m with her. I’ve never wanted anything more.
