THEO
“Hurry and get those pajamas on, bug,” I said as I lifted Charlotte out of the tub and wrapped her in her hooded unicorn towel. “I’m going to go downstairs and pop some popcorn for our movie.”
“Otay!” she said the moment I set her down, darting down the hallway in a streak of pink towel and wet curls.
I chuckled and grabbed another towel to wipe the stray puddles off the floor before heading downstairs.
Nora was sitting at the kitchen island when I walked in, looking down at her phone.
“Hey,” she said, glancing up when she heard my footsteps.
“Hey.”
I pulled the stovetop popper from the cabinet and measured out a scoop of kernels before pouring them into the pan with a drizzle of oil.
“Sorry about earlier, by the way,” I said, turning to Nora after switching the stove to medium-high heat. “My mother-in-law can be a little intense when she’s meeting someone new.”
“It’s okay,” she said, giving me a knowing smile. “She cares about Charlotte. It makes sense she’d want to make sure she’s with someone safe.”
“That’s still no excuse for the third degree.”
“Eh.” She shrugged lightly. “I survived.”
Charlotte came racing down the stairs a minute later in her pink floral pajamas. “Is the popcorn ready?”
“Almost,” I said. “Wanna help me stir it?”
“Yes!” she said, grabbing her little kitchen stool, knowing the routine well.
Once the popcorn was ready and we’d seasoned it with a few sprays of oil and our favorite ranch popcorn seasoning, I grabbed the big bowl and led the way down to the theater room.
“Have you been in here before?” I asked, glancing back at Nora as I flipped on the light.
“Not officially,” she said, stepping inside and taking in the large room with its four levels of oversized couches that stepped down toward a massive screen on the far wall.
“I peeked my head in here when some guys were playing video games during your surprise birthday party. But Charlotte and I usually watch our afternoon movie upstairs since using a projector is a little out of my wheelhouse.”
“There is a bit of a learning curve,” I agreed as I set the popcorn on the small table between the middle row of seats.
“It’s really nice, though,” she said, glancing around at the old movie posters lining the walls. “Who needs to go to a theater when you’ve got this?”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said, stepping over to the cabinet at the back of the room to grab the remote that controlled the projector.
The machine hummed to life overhead.
“Alisha and I always imagined this being a fun hangout spot for our kids when they were teenagers.”
“You definitely have the setup for the party house,” Nora said with a smile. “That’s something I always wanted for my future kids, too. A place where they can hang out with their friends, but I’m still close enough to make sure they stay out of trouble.”
“That’s always been my hope, too,” I said with a chuckle, liking that we shared the same instinct there.
“Were you a troublemaker when you were a teenager?” she asked, leaning casually against the back of one of the couches in the top row.
“I might have had a bit of a rebellious streak.” I felt a half smile tug at my mouth as I thought back to those years.
“Really?” she asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “What kind of things did you do?” Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Was Daddy Theo a bad boy at one point?”
I laughed quietly, noticing she’d used that nickname again.
“I don’t know if I qualify for the official title of bad boy,” I said as I scrolled through the streaming menu, looking for Tangled. “But I might have snuck out to see a girlfriend once or twice. Borrowing my parents’ car at the same time.”
“Oh wow,” Nora said dryly. “What a rebel.”
“You know it.”
I pulled up the movie and got it queued.
“What about you?” I asked. “Got a dark and torrid past I should know about?”
She pretended to think about it for a moment. Then a mischievous smile crept across her face. “Well… I did have a sleepover at a friend’s house once when her parents weren’t home.”
I frowned slightly. “Wait. What’s so bad about that? Were you not allowed to have sleepovers?” I was already on the fence about what I was going to do when Charlotte got old enough to start asking for them.
“The bad part,” Nora said, “is that my parents assumed there were adults there.” She paused for effect. “But nope. We were completely unchaperoned the whole time.”
My eyebrows lifted.
“And,” she added with a smirk, “we even snuck out at midnight to drive to the gas station a few blocks away and buy slushies.”
“What a bad, bad girl you were.” I laughed.
“What can I say?” She shrugged innocently. “I like living life on the edge.”
“I can see that.” I shook my head, amused. “Should I be concerned that such a rule breaker is in charge of my three-year-old all day?”
“Maybe,” she said with a small shrug. “But that was when I was seventeen.” She paused. “So… like five years ago.”
She’d been seventeen only five years ago?
Geez.
She really was so much younger than me.
“Nora!” Charlotte called from the couch in the center of the room where she’d planted herself. “You sit here!” She patted the cushion beside her enthusiastically.
Nora glanced back at me with an apologetic smile before making her way over to sit beside Charlotte.
Once the movie was ready to go, I stepped down to the row the girls were sitting on, hesitating for a moment as I decided which seat to take.
The couch was big enough for four people, so there was still space for me to squeeze in beside Nora.
It had been an interesting twenty-four hours with lots of emotional ups and downs. And while I was sure to have a million setbacks in moving through my grief and trying to find the second great love of my life… sitting next to Nora suddenly sounded like the nicest spot in the room.
But before I could sit down, Charlotte looked over at me and patted the cushion on the other side of her. “Daddy, you sit here!”
Because, of course, she wanted to be in the middle.
And since I had a weakness for that little girl, I chuckled and dropped onto the cushion beside her.
The movie started, and before long Charlotte was happily munching popcorn and singing along with the opening song.
As we watched Rapunzel and Flynn Rider go on their quest to see the floating lanterns, I found myself glancing over at Nora every few minutes—just to catch her reaction to the various moments.
And while Charlotte and I had always enjoyed our daddy-daughter movie nights, having Nora there somehow made the whole evening even better.
Like something small but important that had been missing had quietly slipped back into place.
Eventually, the movie ended, and we headed upstairs.
And just like I’d warned Nora earlier, when I told Charlotte it was time to brush her teeth and head to bed, my little girl turned to Nora with the most hopeful of looks in her green eyes as she asked, “Will you wead me my book?”
“Oh honey,” I said, stepping in automatically. “I’m sure Nora has things she wants to do tonight. How about I read to you?”
“I actually don’t mind,” Nora said, stepping closer. “Unless you prefer to read to her, of course. I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
“Are you sure?” I looked down at her, not wanting her to be guilted into something she didn’t actually want to do when she was technically off the clock.
“I’d love to,” she said. Then looking down at Charlotte, she added, “We still need to read that new bunny book, don’t we?”
“Uh huh,” Charlotte said, nodding enthusiastically.
“Ok, well, if you really don’t mind, then that would be great.”
So after helping Charlotte brush her teeth, I got her settled into bed while Nora pulled the picture book from the little bookshelf in the corner.
“Should I sit next to you while I read this?” Nora asked Charlotte when she stepped up beside the bed.
“Uh huh,” Charlotte said, scooting over just enough to make room for Nora.
Taking that as my cue, I slipped out of the room to give them a little space, stopping just outside the doorway and leaning against the frame so I could still watch.
“There once was a little brown bunny who lived in a burrow with her papa…” Nora read from the first page.
As the story continued, Charlotte settled comfortably against her. And there was just something about the way Nora’s voice softened as she turned each page that made my chest feel warm.
Because she looked like she genuinely loved being there.
When the story ended, Nora closed the book and smiled at Charlotte.
“Goodnight, Charlotte,” Nora said softly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night night,” Charlotte said sleepily.
Nora stood and stepped past me through the doorway. As she did, her arm brushed lightly against mine. The contact lasted only a second, but it was long enough for a quick spark of warmth to shoot up my arm.
And when she glanced at me, the little spark in her eyes had me wondering if she’d felt it, too.
Was Nora as ultra-aware of me as I was becoming with her?
Was there something brewing between us that I’d been oblivious to until recently?
But before I could think too much about that, I knew I still had one more part of the bedtime routine to finish.
So, stepping fully into the room, I tucked Charlotte’s blanket more snugly around her shoulders and leaned closer to whisper, “Sleep well, bug,” before kissing her gently on the forehead.
“Can you sing my song?” she asked drowsily, yawning.
Tonight?
With Nora close by to overhear it?
I glanced toward the doorway, checking to see if we had an audience. But when I didn’t see Nora standing there, I cleared my throat and started singing Charlotte’s usual lullaby as quietly as I could manage.
By the time I finished, Charlotte’s eyes were completely closed. “Sleep well,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I love you.” Then I slipped out of the room and pulled the door halfway closed behind me.
When I turned around, I spotted Nora a few feet away, quickly tiptoeing toward her room like she was trying not to be seen.