”Can I bring my blanket?”

”May I bring my blanket. And sure, but just your little one. Hannah’s mom will have blankets, pillows, and a mattress for you to sleep on, remember?” Natalie had busied herself with gathering a day's’ worth of clothes and a night's’ worth of pyjamas for Norah while the little girl went through her various items of significance.

Norah scrunched up her nose and put the larger blanket back down on her bed. ”Oh, okay,” she nodded. Instead, she traded it out for the smaller blanket that she often slept with. It had become something of a security item for her, and she would likely need it in the new situation that she was going to be in.

Norah was going for her first ever sleepover. It was a new experience for both her and her parents, one of whom was having a very difficult time being okay with her daughter growing up. She forced herself to keep folding the articles of clothing that she had picked out rather than obsessing about the little details that scared her.

”Don’t forget your teddy,” Natalie reminded the girl with a nod of her head. Norah made a squee of excitement and hugged her teddy bear close. The worst thing ever would be to forget it at home. Even more than the blanket, the bear was something that she couldn’t sleep without.

There was a knock at the door behind them, which Natalie had told Nate that she would leave open for him, so she didn’t move from her spot on the floor. ”That’s probably your dad. Why don’t you go say hi?”

Norah nodded excitedly and bounded out of the room to greet her father. With the various items packed up in a little backpack, Natalie stood up and followed her out to see Nate in for the momentous occasion. She was far less enthusiastic than her daughter, though. She wanted time to move slowly, and Nate arriving meant that they were getting closer to the inevitable.

”How are you, Nate?” Natalie greeted cordially as she stepped into the room and put the backpack down on the front table. Norah had attached herself to Nate’s leg and was chattering away at him happily, excited to see her father again.

Nate had honest to goodness butterflies. He was already growing used to the feeling of fatherhood, but there was something different about catching a milestone of Norah’s childhood. He missed so many; first steps, first words, first day of school. Knowing he was going to be there to see her off to her first slumber party might seem small compared to the other life-defining moments, but it was a first for him and he was thrilled.

Of course, the moment would have been nothing without Natalie. She really came through for Nate, letting him into her world enough to share a family moment. Dropping off Norah meant meeting Nat’s friend, which was a rare moment of the cold lawyer exposing something private and humanizing. She understood what the offer meant to Nate and he understood what she was doing for him. He brought one of the higher-end bottles of wine from his collection as a gift of gratitude.

Nate knocked on the door and waited patiently until he heard the knob turning. He was greeted not by Natalie, but instead, his daughter. As with every time he saw Norah, his slate grey eyes lit up as her own matching eyes looked up to him. ”Hi Dad!”

As was becoming customary, Nate picked Norah up into a big hug, spinning her around once before placing her gently back on her feet. ”Hey there, sweet pea! You excited for tonight?”

Norah nodded enthusiastically, squeezing the teddy bear in her arms. ”I’m really excited! Mommy is just helping make sure I’m ready.”

The thought made Nate smile, because he knew what Natalie was actually doing. If he had figured out anything about the woman by that point, he was certain she was trying to stave off thoughts of their daughter going off to college and getting married and all the other things that came with Norah growing up. ”Why don’t we go see your mom then?”

Norah smiled and wrapped around Nate’s leg. ”Okay!”

”You’re not going to let go, are you?” he asked, chuckling at his daughter’s affectionate nature.

”Nope!”

”Fair.” Still laughing, Nate took large steps toward Norah’s bedroom, with the young, giggling girl slowing him down slightly as he pulled her along for the ride.

He made it to the room where Natalie was folding and packing away Norah’s clothes. He smiled warmly at his co-parent, who must have been having quite a night getting ready to drop her daughter off. ”Evening, Nat. Do you think this little one is excited enough about her sleepover?”

Norah had become very attached to her father in the months that she’d known him. Little comments about ‘what daddy would think’ had become commonplace in their lives, and Natalie was still adjusting to how excited she got when she found out that she was visiting him. It was strange to have to share her with another person, and there were definitely parts that she didn’t like, but there were also parts that she loved about it. And, of all the men that could have been Norah’s father, she was glad that it had ended up being Nate. Even if he had shown up six years late.

Things had changed between them, though. That night in the LIE had shown her something that she had been denying since he’d come back in the picture, but still, she buried it. They needed to act like nothing was different and continue the way that they had been going, so that was what she was going to do. Even if she still pictured that night more often than she cared to admit.

”More than a little excited, I would say,” Natalie mused. Norah had been talking about the sleepover nonstop for the past week. Usually, there were things that would distract her from exciting times, but she had her heart set on that evening. There was nothing that Natalie could do to quell the enthusiasm. ”What do you think? Are you excited, Norah?” 

The girl nodded with a huge smile from her spot on her father’s leg. ”Can we go now? Can we go now?” There was so much eagerness for one tiny body. Natalie gave her a tight smile and then looked back at Nate with a heavy sigh. 

She nodded and hefted the backpack back up from the table. ”Are you sure that you’ve had enough to eat? Do you have everything that you need for tonight?” Natalie’s heart was beating a little too fast as she did a mental check for the things that they needed to do that evening. As far as she could remember, Nate was the last thing that they needed before they left.

”I’m sure! We did it aaaaaall, mum,” Norah said, stretching out the ‘all’ as she hung her head back to exaggerate the concept. Her long brown hair hung almost to the ground. ”Are you going to come with us, daddy?” She looked up at him with hopeful eyes to hear his answer.

Things had definitely changed, whether they chose to deny it or not. Nate and Natalie made a decision to bring sex back into the delicate relationship they shared. They had notorious sexual chemistry, and it was not as though they had never been involved in the past—Norah was the evidence of that. The problem was realizing how delicate a situation they shared. There was a child in their lives, and they had committed to giving Norah two parents. They were supposed to be professional, cordial parents who looked out for the girl’s best interest.

Sex complicated everything it came into contact with. Sex brought things dangerously close to feelings, and Nate was learning neither he nor Natalie was as cold or unfeeling as they acted when they argued. Even without feelings, it could be awkward adjusting to a world where they were involved, even if it was just physical. Things could get weird or messy, and if they turned south, how would they explain the divide to Norah?

They had not talked about the incident, but Nate was sure he knew the page they were both on; deny, deny, deny. Sex happened and they were going to bury it in the past where the encounter would go forgotten. (Surely he would stop fantasizing about the LIE eventually, right?) They were just friendly co-parents who knew better than to risk a good thing and put Norah’s happiness on the line.

Focusing on Norah made things easier. Nate might have had a bias, but he was pretty sure she was the best child on Earth. She was teeming with excitement, enthusiastically convincing her parents they should leave for the sleepover as soon as humanly possible.

Nat, on the other end of the spectrum, was scanning through a mental checklist, making sure they were ready to leave at all. As Nate expected, Nat was nervous. It was interesting to see on her. Just like in the LIE, after that thing that they were ignoring, she was showing signs of genuine vulnerability. The best versions of both of them came out around Norah, even if most of the world never saw those sides.

Norah asked if Nate was coming along, and he beamed at how expectantly she looked up at him. ”Of course, Norah. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” It was the truth. If the New York Judiciary called him and told him they would end his probation if he came down to the courthouse immediately, he would have answered in a way that likely would have added more time onto his sentence.

”Yay!” Norah released her tight grip on Nate’s leg to run back to Natalie, giving her a big hug of her own. ”Mommy, thank you for letting daddy come, too!” Nate smirked; even his daughter was smart enough to know that Mommy was the boss.

Norah started gathering up her things so they could get ready to leave, giving Nate a moment to have an aside with Natalie. ”You holding up okay, Nat?” He held out the bottle that he carried in, offering it as a gift. ”I thought you could use this tonight.” Nate was still unsure how the former-single-mother would fare having the empty, quiet apartment to herself for the night.

The minutes were slipping away, and with each passing tick of the clock, they drew closer to when they needed to walk Norah over. Afraid that it would all happen too early and they would arrive unprepared, Natalie had begun to make her way through a mental checklist. She needed to be sure that everything was alright before they went over. Everything.

While she was distracted, her mind running a mile a minute, and her thumb resting gently on her bottom lip, Norah had moved on to a different topic. She was busy making sure that her dad was definitely coming along with them, even though that was something that Natalie had been explaining for most of the evening. She always had to be sure that the information she was being fed was as accurate as possible. That, she’d gotten from her mother.

The brunette had been a little distracted when she was suddenly hugged. Not that she minded, of course - in fact, it was something that she desperately needed in that moment. She scooped the girl up and held her close in her arms. ”You’re welcome, love. You know that I want you two to be close, right? So any time spent together is good for you.”

”Okay, thank you,” Norah nodded, squeezed Natalie quickly, and ignored any deeper meaning that her mother was trying to impress upon her.

With a sigh, Natalie placed Norah back down on the floor and gently put a hand on her back, guiding her toward the door. ”Why don’t you go get your jacket and then we can look into leaving.”

With their daughter gathering her things together, Natalie and Nate could have a moment to really talk. She took the bottle that he handed her and eyed it carefully. It definitely wasn’t a cheap bottle of wine. It reminded her of the one that she’d been drinking from that night in the LIE…

”I’m… getting through,” Natalie admitted, distracting herself. ”It’s strange, and I’m sure it’s only going to get stranger, but thanks for this. I’m sure it’ll help.” With a nod, she turned and set it down on the kitchen counter for later, when it would definitely be opened. It was a nice gesture.

A second later, Norah bounded back toward them with her jacket on and her things gathered. Natalie took the backpack that she’d packed earlier and slung it over her shoulder. ”Are you all set, girly girl?” The moment had come.

Norah nodded enthusiastically. ”Yes!”

Nate was glad to see the wine was well-received. He had made note of the type of wine she was drinking during their meeting at the LIE, and while he was not certain of the brand or year, he had enough of an eye for wine to approximate the style. He assumed it would be her taste, because if they were in the LIE, why bother picking a wine she did not enjoy from Devon’s impressive selection. After all, besides business, the LIE was becoming a place to partake in things one might enjoy.

The impression he received from Nat was that they were on the same page with ignoring what happened during their last face-to-face meeting. She was back to being cordial and friendly with him, accepting the bottle and the gesture it represented. Things were still more open between them, as Nat admitted that she was handling Norah’s new step toward growing up as well as she could. Nate did not believe they would just close back up after sharing a moment of vulnerability. It would be interesting seeing how that openness would affect their dynamic moving forward.

Speaking of moving forward, Norah enthusiastically rejoined her parents in her jacket, ready to get going to Hannah’s house. Nate motioned to grab the backpack, but Nat beat him to it. He considered offering to take it, but the last thing he needed was Nat thinking he was patronizing her. Instead, he picked his daughter up off the floor and grinned, ”Well, if we’re ready, then onward to Hannah’s house!”

---

They were taking Natalie’s car to Allison’s house. Nate was sitting in the passenger’s seat, glancing back over his shoulder to Norah, who was buckled up in the backseat, bouncing around excitedly. She probably had no clue how big a moment this was; she was just over the moon getting to hang out with her friend Hannah for the night.

All Nate wanted to do was be supportive of his daughter’s big night. ”So Norah, your first sleepover! Do you and Hannah have any big plans for the night?” How did two six-year-olds plan out a sleepover? Did they just follow their whims wherever they led them?

Conversation was going to be kept short, because even with the hell of New York City streets, the drive to Allison’s was not a long one. They would be handing over possession of their daughter a lot sooner than either of them was probably ready for.

Natalie was an environmentalist. Yes, they had a car and lived in New York city, but she made herself feel a little less bad about it by buying an electric car and only using it when they were going somewhere that would take more than thirty minutes to walk to. Or, they used it on big occasions like that one, where Norah got to feel special about going out.

They backed out of the driveway, Natalie in the driver’s seat, Nate in the passenger’s, and Norah strapped into a car seat in the back. They looked like a little family going for an outing somewhere.

As they pulled out of the parking garage, Nate made conversation with his daughter. Natalie tried her best to keep her face straight and herself out of the situation, but it made her happier than she would have thought it would. Seeing them together, conversing like that… it made her realize that she wanted it to be a very permanent thing. She never wanted Norah to have to go without a father figure again.

”Hannah said that she has a new doll that she’s going to show me!” Norah announced excitedly from the back seat. She’d been talking Natalie’s ear off about it since she’d first heard the news, so she didn’t mind someone else getting the spiel. ”It has pink hair, and it can move!”

Norah chattered for most of short drive, while Natalie remained silent. She was fine taking in the situation while her thoughts travelled. If only she could have made the moments stretch on for forever and replayed them over and over. Unfortunately, everything had to come to an end, and they did eventually drive up to Hannah’s apartment building. 

Natalie parked the car in the guest’s parking in the little parking garage and the shut off the engine. ”Now, Norah. Are you absolutely sure that you’re ready? We can still turn around and go home - Hannah will understand, I’m sure,” she said. It might have been more for herself than Norah, but she had to say it.

”I’m ready!”

”Alright,” Natalie nodded, suppressing a sad sigh. Norah was ready, whether she was or not. With that, she stepped out of the car, unbuckled her and set her down on the pavement, then began to gather her things from the trunk.

The drive was short but active, with Norah more than happy to engage her father in excited conversation. Nate was happy to help his daughter get excited for her night over her friend’s home. It was endearing to be around her; adults were so jaded and hard to impress. It was nice to see someone genuinely over the moon for something as small as time with a friend. He was glad she could have a happy childhood and a zest for life, and thankful to Nat for putting her in that position.

When they arrived at Allison’s apartment’s parking garage, Nate returned his attention to Natalie, who had been noticeably quiet on the drive over. He had his suspicions and they were affirmed when Natalie gave her daughter one final out from her plans. Considering how enthusiastic Norah was about her night, it was plain to see she felt ready for her sleepover adventure. Natalie was the one with apprehensions.

Norah, of course, assured her mother she was ready, and the family left the car. Natalie helped Norah out of the car, so Nate was the first one to reach the trunk. He was already pulling out Norah’s backpack when Natalie came to gather Norah’s things. Nate looped an arm through one of the straps of the backpack before he approached Natalie.

Obscured from Norah’s sight by the car, Nate rested a hand on Natalie’s shoulder. ”She’s gonna be alright, Nat. So will you.” He smiled and gestured to step away, before he caught himself, looking to add one last hushed comment. ”Oh, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand girls. A doll that moves sounds terrifying.” It did not help that one of Nate’s only experiences with “moving dolls” resulted in him getting impaled and triggering a mutation growth.

Nate let Natalie lead Norah by the hand while he handled their daughter’s belongings. As big a day as it was for everyone, he recognized Natalie could use a few more moments of closeness before letting their girl grow up. Nate loved Norah, but he was just getting used to her being a constant part of his life. Natalie had seen the girl every day of her life, watching her grow up from a baby to an infant to a child. It was proving to be harder for her to let go, and it was understandable. The best thing Nate could do to support his co-parent was to let her savor those last important moments.

The elevator-ride was too quick, and before they knew it, they were in front of Allison’s apartment door. ”Norah, would you like to do the honors?” Nate asked, gesturing toward the door.

Norah nodded excitedly and swiftly knocked on the door a few times more than necessary, and they waited in anticipation for the door to open for her.

Nate had beaten her to the trunk of the car, meaning that they had a fleeting moment of understanding between the two of them while Norah was distracted with something in the door of the car. It was clear that Natalie was a little upset about all that was going on, and Nate, like almost any other adult person, was able to pick up on it. He offered her a few reassuring words, and then a comment that made her grin, despite herself.

Moving dolls. To many people, they would seem like a terrible idea, but to six-year-old girls, one of whom’s mother could craft nightmares from thin air, were drawn to the idea. An inanimate friend that could move like a semi-real person. It was a dream come true. ”Yes, well, don’t say that too loud. I got her one as a back-to-school gift, and you know how she listens to everything you say.”

That last bit was actually a bit frustrating. The novelty of him being her dad gave him a little bit more pull when it came to things like bedtimes and saying no to things. It also made her extremely impressionable, too. Whatever her dad wanted, she wanted soon after.

With the little girl’s things gathered in Nate’s arms and the car locked safely behind them, the trio walked toward the elevator that would bring them up toward the apartments they were aiming for. Norah excitedly pushed the button for the three of them, and the luxurious elevator took off. It was clear as soon as they had left the parking garage that Natalie’s friend was well-off as well.

All too soon, they had reached the apartment that Hannah’s family lived in. Natalie could feel her heart racing, and she wanted to pick Norah up and take her back home where she could dote on her for the next forever. She knew she couldn’t do that, though, so she instead let Norah knock on the door and waited quietly for someone to answer.

The door creaked open to reveal a little blonde girl holding a doll with pink hair. Her face lit up when she saw who it was, and she rushed forward to give Norah a hug. The two girl grinned and chattered away, escaping quickly into the apartment. They had raced around a tall blonde woman, who essentially looked like an older version of her daughter. 

“Natalie!” Allison greeted enthusiastically as she took long-legged strides toward them. “Come in, come in. You must be Nathaniel,” she said as she surveyed the woman’s companion. As they stepped inside, she gave Natalie a knowing look behind Nate’s back.

Nate was unsure of what to expect because he had never seen a child off to her first sleepover. Or any sleepover. Fatherhood was quickly becoming a long string of firsts; first hug, first trip to the park, first time tucking Norah into bed. It had been particularly impactful to see his daughter using a nightlight, remembering how vital they once were when Nate grew up as a child with a fear of the dark. He loved finding the little ways Norah took after him, even after all the years he missed.

The door opened to reveal a little blond girl roughly Norah’s height who immediately wrapped his daughter up into a tight hug. Norah’s excitement was matched by Hannah’s, and suddenly, it was like the rest of the world did not matter. Nate was happy to know she had a friendship like that, even at a young age. He wanted Norah’s childhood to have all the laughing and companionship his own lacked.

The girls quickly went off in their own direction, disappearing into the apartment, leaving behind three parents in their wake. Allison, (or at least Nate assumed that was who the blonde woman was,) invited Natalie and Nate into the apartment warmly. She greeted her friend enthusiastically, and followed with a warm introduction to Nate. He offered his hand and responded in kind, matching her warmth with his Southern charm. ”I certainly am, though Nate is just fine. And you must be Allison!” Nate wanted to make a good impression; thankfully, a lifetime of conning people helped him excel at just that.

Nate followed Natalie into the apartment, missing Allison’s silent look to his co-parent as he acclimated to the space. It should have been easy to guess any friend of Natalie’s was going to be well-off. His opinion of the woman was softening as she exposed more of her humanity, but Nat could still be a bit of an elitist. The apartment was large and exquisitely furnished, leaving him to wonder what Hannah’s parents did for work, not that he was going to probe into those questions just yet. They were still in the introductory stage of conversation, and no one wanted to talk about work so early in a conversation. ”I wanted to thank you for tonight. Norah’s been bouncing off the walls in excitement for tonight. Besides, it’s nice to meet a friend of Nat’s.” He was curious to see what it took for a woman to be a part of Nat’s life.

Even barefoot, Allison was taller than Natalie in heels. She embraced the woman in a large hug before they continued on into the heart of the apartment behind Nate. She chuckled when he replied to her greeting, stepping in front of him to beat him into the main room. She was the epitome of all hostesses. “Oo, a southerner! How charming! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nate,” she corrected easily. There was nothing malicious about how she said it, mostly because there wasn’t a malicious bone in Allison’s body. “Now, please. You can put Norah’s things down in the hallway there - we’ll deal with it later. For now, sit, sit!”

Natalie removed her shoes and made her way into the apartment that she’d been to many times, taking a seat in the living like Allison had told them to. She flattened her dress as she took a seat on the leather loveseat and crossed her legs. ”Thanks so much for the welcome, Allison, but we probably shouldn’t stay long,” Natalie said, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice. She was sure that if they stayed there too long, she would either end up taking Norah home with her or sleeping there too.

Allison had retreated to the kitchen while her guests were in the living room, but she was still listening in. There was a sudden sound of clinking plates being put away. She reappeared in the doorway with two glasses of red wine. “No, of course not. I understand. Busy, busy Nat as always. Just… have a glass of wine, at least?”

Natalie paused and glanced at Nate briefly. She knew for a fact that he had nowhere to be, and she felt bad for just leaving like that. ”Sure, but just one,” she agreed for the both of them. Allison nodded happily and set the two glasses down on the coffee table. Natalie reached for her own and took a sip while she waited for Allison to return with another glass. The sound of giggling girls could be heard in the other room.

When the blonde returned, she took a seat in an armchair across the room and took a large sip of her wine. “Tom should be home soon. Long day of meetings for him, sorry. But anyway, it’s lovely to meet you, Nate. You look a lot like your daughter. Or, rather, she looks a lot like you.”

When Nate was a conman, he often shuffled through different accents to either fit in or stand out, but he always enjoyed when he could relax and just speak in his Carolinian Southern accent. As a default accent he was now living with, there were some benefits. Northerners, and particularly New Yorkers, seemed to have an appreciation for the Southern accent that sometimes bordered on insulting. It was a novelty, and people loved novel things. It did make it even easier to make a positive, memorable first impression, at least.

Nate complied with Allison’s suggestion to place Norah’s bag down and followed Natalie’s lead, removing his shoes. They were in her element, so he was ready to follow her example whenever possible. They sat down, but Natalie was already cautioning her friend that they were not planning on lingering. He could get behind that plan, even if he was curious about her friend.

Fortunately, Allison was able to find a small Achilles heel, offering at least one glass of wine to chat over. Natalie gave Nate a look, but he just smiled and shrugged. He had already decided to let her make the decisions, and the plan took a surprising amount of pressure off his shoulders.

Natalie buckled, and the glasses were handed out to the guests. Nate took a sip while Allison ducked back into the kitchen. Norah and Hannah could be heard playing and having the best of times, which warmed his heart quicker than his sip of red wine.

Once the parents were gathered, Allison apologized for her husband’s absence, which already answered a question: Natalie’s friends were not just single women or single mothers. He initially pictured her as the head of a pack of cougars strolling into PTA meetings and turning heads. The idea that she had friends living the nuclear family lifestyle was so much more normal than he was giving her credit for.

”She’s got my eyes,” he admitted with a proud grin, ”but lucky for her, she seems to really take after Nat. And Hannah’s the spittin’ image of you, Allison.” It was sweet to see the parallels of two women being friends and having mini-versions of themselves who were just as close.

Nate gestured between Allison and Natalie with his wine glass. ”So you two seem like you’ve been friends for a while. I’m guessing Norah and Hannah have known each other since they were in diapers?” It was a conversational question that helped him probe for some information on how Natalie developed friendships, (or relationships with people in general.)

Allison grinned widely and sunk back into the couch as she shot a look toward where the girls were playing. Squeals of laughter could be heard through the door, which was propped open just in case. “I do have a mini-me, don’t I?” she agreed with a grin as she sipped her wine again. “Nat and I actually took the girls to high tea once and we dressed up in matching outfits. It was rather adorable, if I do say so myself.”

Natalie smiled a little at the memory but wiped it off her face as soon as she realized that Nate was there. The lines between that version of herself and the one that she’d tried to keep him accustomed to were quickly blurring and disintegrating altogether. Hell, there was hardly any part of her life that was a secret to him anymore, and she couldn’t say that about anyone else. Even Allison only knew that side of her, since she’d never been allowed to see her at work, and she wasn’t about to tell her about Haven. Somehow, Nate had infiltrated all three of the largest areas of her life.

>>”So you two seem like you’ve been friends for a while. I’m guessing Norah and Hannah have known each other since they were in diapers?”

The brunette shook her head. ”No, I was still in school when Norah was born and Allison and Tom were living in Amsterdam back then,” she explained. A nod from the blonde across the room verified her explanation of the events. ”We actually met when they were both in kindergarten. PTA meetings.”

Allison laughed heartily in a way that only she could pull off without it being fake. “Natalie sure knows how to fight for something she wants, huh? We both wanted all day kindergarten, so that was what we got. We bonded over coffee meetings, mostly, and then it evolved. The forced friendship between the girls has really taken off by now, huh?”

Natalie nodded with a smile. ”It sure sounds like it.” In the very least, it sounded like Norah was going to be having a good time without her there. That would hopefully make it easier to step out that door and leave her behind for the night. 

Nate was a fan of Allison, who was much more forthcoming with sentimental memories than Natalie could sometimes be. She was pleased to be reminded of the resemblance between her and her daughter. Nate understood the feeling; it was a special feeling to look at a child and know, undeniably, that they are a piece of you.

It was the kind of feeling that encouraged the sharing of adorable memories. Allison offered one where her and Natalie attended high tea, (which sounded very much like a Natalie activity,) with their daughters dressed to match them. Nate’s eyes darted to Nat so he could watch a pleasant smile form on her face before vanishing. He made up for it with a wide smile of his own, because it was the kind of story he was there for in the first place. ”That’s just darling. I would have paid plenty to see that.” How much exactly? All. He would pay all the money to see Natalie and Norah in matching dresses as the former sipped tea and the latter munched on a tart. (Or whatever the gluten-free, crumbly organic equivalent might be.)

Nate overestimated how long Allison and Natalie knew each other. He knew it had been unlikely that they were friends since Norah’s birth; Natalie had been in Chicago at the time, so unless Allison followed her to New York, the odds were better they met a few years down the line.

Natalie was the one to correct him. In typical parent-friend fashion, the two women met through the PTA when Norah and Hannah entered Kindergarten. Nate did the mental math, realizing Norah was preparing for her return to school as a second-grader, meaning the children and their parents had been friends for almost two years.

More telling was the news that they bonded over strong-arming the PTA to follow their will. Nate chuckled and took a sip of his wine. ”That definitely sounds like the Nat I know.” He looked back to Natalie, smiling warmly. It was good to see her forceful will and dedication could be turned and focused for their daughter’s benefit.

Nate listened into the chatter and giggling from the other room, glad to know Nat had put Norah in the position to have strong friendships. She was a smart little girl, but she was also incredibly warm and outgoing, and all those traits deserved to be nurtured. ”Nothing sounds forced about that. Those two sound thick as thieves.” He almost laughed when he realized the irony of him using a comment like that, but controlled himself; it was one of those jokes you did not want to have to explain.

Not many people got to see Natalie in full mom mode, where she was dressing Norah up like herself and taking her out on day trips with friends. That rare experience was for few people and few people only to see, so when Allison told Nate about the day, it made her a little uneasy. When he claimed that he would have paid to see it, it made her even more so. He seemed to be the one person that was in every area of her life, and it was beginning to feel like there was nothing left to hide from him. As strange as it was for someone, Natalie hid stuff from everyone. There was at least one area of her life that was hidden from each person she met. Including Norah.

Even on the odd occasion when she was dating someone, they rarely were privy to her whole life. It rarely got that serious, and she’d made the decision early on to not introduce Norah to anyone she met unless it did.

She wasn’t dating Nate, of course. Things were just… well, she wasn’t sure what was going on between them, but they were sure as hell doing a great job of ignoring it all. Maybe it would just always be that way with them; pretending not to have anything going on while they did their best for Norah.

Thankfully, the conversation steered in a different direction when the subject of she and Allison’s friendship came up. It felt like they’d been friends forever, but really, it had only been about two years since she’d met the gorgeous blonde. They’d built a strong connection during that period, and it was hard to imagine living life without having her as a friend. The strangest part of that realization was the thought that it was beginning to be like that with Nate. Her life would not be the same without him.

It was true, though. Neither her nor Norah would be able to survive without Nate. Though, it was clear from the giggles in the other room that Norah would be just fine that night. That thought made Natalie look down at her wine glass and take another sip.

She finished it in one go. She hadn’t meant to do that. ”We should likely go, huh? Busy day tomorrow and all.” She’d lied. She just didn’t want to sit on Allison’s nice couch and cry.

“Oh, yes! Of course! I understand completely.” Allison stood and nodded understandingly, collecting the glass from Natalie’s hand. “I suppose I’ll see… you tomorrow morning, then.” She’d looked between the two parents briefly, as if trying to decide whether or not she would see the both of them the next day.