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Alex ate quickly, heading back to his office right after breakfast, and I was once again left with Lucy.
“Alright,” I said. “You finish up there, and I’m going to throw these in the dishwasher, then we can head off to the park. How does that sound?”
“Yay!” she said loudly.
“I want you to eat more of that first, though,” I said. “You’re growing, and the only way you’re going to get big and strong is if you eat your breakfast.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “You didn’t finish yours.”
“That’s because I’m doing the dishes before we go, silly,” I said.
“But how are you going to grow?” she asked.
“There,” I said, shoving the last two bites of pancake in my mouth. “Now I’m done. Your turn.”
She put another bite in her mouth, but I could already tell she wasn’t going to finish with the rest of the cakes. I did my best to coax her to eat as much as I could, then I cleared her plate, too.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s get you dressed and let’s go!”
I helped her put on some play clothes, and together we headed outside. It was a beautiful morning, and there was a part of me that wanted to convince her to stay at the house. I would have loved the time to explore the grounds, but I knew that wasn’t the reason I was there.
I had promised to take her to the park, and that was what we were doing.
We spent the morning together, hunting for fairies in the flowers. I felt it was very important for Lucy to have an activeimagination, so when she said she wanted to play make-believe, I quicky came up with the idea of looking for fairies.
Lucy was thrilled with the idea, and by the time lunch had rolled around, she was exhausted.
“Come on,” I said with a laugh, carrying her home. “You’ve got to stay awake long enough to eat something. Then you can take a nap, alright?”
“What’s for lunch?” she asked.
“What do you want to have?”
“Pancakes,” she said.
“We had that for breakfast,” I told her. “How about macaroni and cheese?”
“Okay,” she said.
I figured that would be a fast and easy dish I could make her once we got home, and with her already nearly asleep, I could manage to get her to eat something before she went down for a nap.
Alex’s car was still in the driveway, so I knew he was still home but probably working in his office, so I didn’t bother him. I just made the box of macaroni and cheese; then I split it between the two of us before taking Lucy into her bedroom.
“Are you going to be here when I wake up again?” she asked me.
“I’ll come see you tomorrow,” I told her. “Would you like that?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Okay then, it’s a plan,” I smiled.
She lay on her bed while I read her a story, but she was sound asleep before I even reached the halfway point of the book.
I finished it anyway, just to ensure she was fully asleep before I left, then I rose and covered her with her blanket.
I lingered for a moment, looking down at her and scaring myself with how much I was growing attached to her. It was aterrible idea, I knew, to get attached like this. Especially with the attraction I felt toward her father.
My instincts were telling me I was setting myself up to get hurt in this, but my heart didn’t care.
