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Like the fact that the time they’d spent together in the last day and a half—which had been the best day and a half he could remember—had made him understand exactly how hard it would be to go days, weeks, months without getting to see Ash in person.

And the fact that he couldn’t expect Ash to travel down here every time they wanted to be together. It would have to go both ways. Which would mean he’d have to either earn some money, somehow, without really being able to have a job, or he’d have to ask his parents to let him borrow it. The former didn’t seem realistic, given his responsibilities and commitment to taking care of his mom, and the latter didn’t seem reasonable, at least not for any sort of long-term arrangement.

He guessed he and Ash should talk about it, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to broach the subject today. Maybe—

“Shh, shh, Cass sweep?” The adorable voice came from right on the other side of his bedroom door, and Cass closed his eyes and smiled. “Cass sweep?”

“I dunno,” came Ash’s voice, also muffled through the door. “Let’s find out, huh?”

“Da!”

“Shh, shh, quiet, remember? Cass’s parents are still sleeping.”

“Ohhhh, shh! Shh! Da, shh!”

Cass laughed to himself and set his phone on his nightstand just as he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

“Cass? Cass, sweep? In?”

He grinned and then said, “Hi, Bri! I’m awake. Yes, you can come in.”

Without any hesitation at all, the door opened, and Bri pushed her way in, her face lit up with the widest grin. She still wore the same onesie she’d had on the night before—light blue and pink, decorated with little multicolored jellyfish—and she held her blue octopus stuffie in one hand as she toddled across the room.

“Cass! Up! Up!”

“Shh, Bri, quiet voices, remember,” Ash said, but he, too, looked bright and happy, his deep blue eyes smiling. He shut the door behind him as Bri reached the bed, her arms outstretched.

“Up, pwease, up!”

Laughing, Cass pushed himself over to the edge of the bed and reached down to pick her up. She squealed with delight as he lifted her up high over his head. “Good morning, Bri!”

“Cass good!” She giggled again, even as Cass lowered her back to the bed. “Cass sweep?”

“I was sleeping, but now I’m awake, just like you,” he said, smiling. She laughed and then crawled out of his lap and over to the window, where she pushed the curtains out of the way.

“Day! Day, up! Go!”

“Oh, are we going somewhere?” Cass arched his eyebrows in question and looked up at Ash, who sort of shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“She’s decided we’re going hiking,” Ash explained.

“Out! Out!” Bri jumped up and down at the window but then plopped down on her bum, laughing. “Boom. I faww.”

Cass snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Well, the girl has spoken. I guess we have to go out now.”

“We don’t have to,” Ash chided. “She doesn’t always have to get what she wants.”

“Oh, I know,” Cass agreed, twisting and reaching over to Bri. He lifted her back up and set her down on the floor in front of him. She grinned.

“Out?”

“Only if Uncle Ash agrees. I was thinking we could go on a walk—”

“Go! Go! Out!”

Cass pursed his lips to hold back another laugh, and he glanced at Ash, who still looked skeptical. He winked. “I was thinking,” he repeated, “we could go on a walk with my mom this morning. She loves to get out of the house, and it looks like it’s nice and sunny. There’s a playground a couple of blocks from here. How does that sound?”

He was asking Bri as much as he was asking Ash, though Bri’s response—happy squealing, jumping up and down, and grabbing Cass’s hand to try to pull him off the bed—was much more amusing than Ash’s simple nod in agreement.