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I raised my brows. “What am I going to be called?”
Aiden got a wicked smile on his face. “Daddy’s girlfriend.”
Laughing, I shook my head and looked back at Hadley. “I’m still going to be doing everything I did before, sweetheart.”
“I think we should make French toast to celebrate the bestest day.”
Aiden and I both laughed.
“How about we do pizza night?”
Gasping, Hadley asked, “Will you stay and make them with us?”
“I sure will.”
Pumping her fist, she shouted, “Yes! Pizza night!”
Pizza night was a total success, and by the time I’d popped some popcorn and made some hot chocolate to bring to the family room, Hadley was fast asleep.
“She’s out like a light. You should have seen how hard she was fighting to keep her eyes open.”
I set the tray down on the coffee table. “Poor little thing. It was a busy day.”
Aiden nodded. He lifted Hadley’s head off his lap and moved her so she’d be more comfortable on the sofa. I sat down next to him and handed him a cup of hot chocolate before grabbing mine.
“Let’s toast,” he said.
Smiling, I asked, “To?”
“Us. You, me, Hadley, and the future.”
“I’ll toast to that.”
We clinked the mugs together, and I took a sip. “Gosh, that tastes so good. Hadley doesn’t know what she’s missing.”
Aiden set his mug down after taking a drink. “You look like you’re suddenly deep in thought.”
Drawing my legs to my chest, I rested my chin on my knees. “Since we’re together now, I don’t feel right taking money from you any longer. I might have to find a part-time job though. I can’t live in the apartment rent free. I mean, I want to take care of Hadley, but I can’tnotmake money.”
“I’ve already been thinking about that. The other day, Hadley sat down at the piano in her youth class at church and started to play. I still can’t believe how fast she’s catching on. Becca Larson—she’s the Sunday school teacher—asked me who was giving Hadley lessons. I told her it was you, that you were classically trained. Doug, who’s Becca’s husband, is the conductor of the Rocky Mountain Symphony. And he mentioned he needs a pianist…”
“Go on,” I said as my heart started to hammer in my chest.
“He also said that he needs a piano teacher—who’s classically trained. I told him I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested, but?—”
“Yes!” I cried out, then slapped my hand over my mouth. “Aiden, that would be a dream come true!”
“He said he’d work around your schedule as much as he could, but they mostly practice during the day anyway, when Hadley’s in school. He also said if you were interested, you could start as soon as possible.” He smiled widely. “I bet if you gave him a call right now, he’d be happy to talk to you.”
I could hardly hold back my tears as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a business card.
“Aiden, this is truly the bestest day of my life!”
Laughing, he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me softly before leaning his forehead to mine. “I love you, Emma.”
Feeling my tears slip free, I cupped his face in my hand. “I love you too.”
The room was dark until a spotlight hit me and the piano. With a deep breath, I started the beginning notes of “Carol of the Bells” as the light slowly grew to encompass the entire orchestra. It wasn’t long before I was completely lost in the music.
