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"Let's get you a stool, shall we?" Lucas reached for the stool he'd insisted on buying the day before. Of all the things we'd gotten to childproof the house and make it more comfortable for Claire, a stool wasn't even something I'd thought about.
And here he was, already using it.
It was like he was born for this job.
He lifted her onto the stool, and as he helped her pour the batter, he glanced at me with an excited grin and a thumbs up. "Told you we'd need this," he whispered.
I couldn't help but chuckle. Sitting back, I shook my head.
This had to be a dream, right?
My life had never been this easy. Why should it start getting good now? Beyond good. Great, even. I didn't believe in Karma, so it couldn't have been that. Not that I was any beacon of wholesome piousness or anything. I'd broken enough laws in my hacking missions that there was more than one jail cell I'd been lucky enough to avoid.
But still, I'd long ago accepted that my life would be subpar and that it would only be a good life if I could raise Claire to have everything she needed to never feel like she wasn't enough.
"Just like that," Lucas said, showing Claire how to slide the spatula under the pancake.
As Claire flipped it into the air, the pancake landed perfectly in the center of the pan.
I clapped at the landing. "Nicely done!"
Claire looked back at me, beaming. "Mommy, I did it!" She glanced up at Lucas. "Did I do good?"
The pride that filled Lucas's face made my heart melt. It was the way I looked at Claire when she accomplished something for the first time. It was the proud approval of a parent realizing they can teach their child something.
Lucas ruffled her hair. "You did great."
I pushed up from the chair and met them at the stove. "Amazing!"
Claire grinned. "Mommy, can we stay here longer?"
I glanced up at Lucas as he licked pancake batter off his finger. "Yeah, mommy, can you stay here longer?"
My cheeks flushed red as I grabbed a plate and slid Claire's pancake onto it. "Go eat your breakfast."
Claire looked up at Lucas. "Can I eat at the coffee table, Lucas?"
"Sure," Lucas said.
Claire grinned. "Lucas is more fun than you, you know."
My jaw dropped. "Ouch."
Shrugging, Claire took her plate. "It's true."
Lucas couldn't hide the smile on his face. "Guess I'm more fun."
I gave him a playful slap on the arm. "This is your fault."
As Claire plopped on the couch, her back to us, Lucas wrapped his arms around my waist, cradling me to his chest as he kissed my neck. "You know what else is fun?"
My stomach fluttered as he sucked on my ear. "You're so bad."
"Mommy?"
I slid away from Lucas before Claire turned around. Moving here was one thing—she was beyond ecstatic to live in an apartment with air conditioning that worked—but she'd never seen me with a man before, and that was something we needed to move slowly into.
"Yeah, honey?"
