She fired the nanny, and I offered to help out until she found someone new. As far as I knew, she hadn’t found anyone yet. Not that I wanted her to. I loved her kids and it felt good to be needed.
“Estebella, are you going to puts the airplane together?”
I was sitting on the couch, bouncing Lena on my lap when Luca ran up to me with a few Legos.
“Mason really wants to be the one to build it with you, but Lena and I will watch you guys from the couch,” I said.
“Good. Lena can’ts come down ‘cause she likes to break my toys,” Luca said and went back to his room to get the rest of the box. He dumped the contents on the rug in the living room and started spreading them out.
Mason sat down next to the pile and pulled the instructions out of the box. He read the first page for a while; his forehead creased.
Ha, guess it isn’t as straightforward as he thought. This was going to be entertaining.
“Okay, bud, how about you look for this part here,” he said and pointed to a large Lego piece that looked like it would form the body of the plane.
Lena was getting grumbly, and I walked up and down the living room with her. She was almost ready for bed, but Nora always tried to get her to stay up until seven so she wouldn’t wake up too early. So far, she hadn’t had much success, and Lena’s wake-up time of five in the morning hadn’t budged.
I watched Mason gently coax Luca into putting the right pieces together, without making him feel like he wasn’t the one doing all the building. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. He was sitting next to Luca, sorting through the pile in front of them, smiling and looking carefree.
I gave Lena her bottle and she settled into my arms. She was such a good baby, and I was always reluctant to put her down once she was asleep. I loved holding her, especially when she cuddled. I’d never thought about having kids. Besides the obvious lack of a partner, I also never thought it was something I wanted. Now I cherished every moment I spent with them.
“Lena is ready for bed,” I said when she finished her bottle and got up from the couch. “Do you want to say goodnight to her before I put her down?”
Luca got up and I bent down so he could give her a sloppy kiss and a cuddle and Mason gave her a kiss on the forehead. The gesture was sweet and made my ovaries do a happy dance.
Lena was asleep as soon as her head hit the mattress. I closed her door and went back to the living room. Mason was helping Luca clean up. I stayed out of the way and listened to their easy banter.
“If I was a dragon, I fly Mommy to the Malsidives. She said if she could goes anywhere that’s where she wants to bees,” Luca said and looked at Mason expectantly.
“If I was a dragon, I would watch all the football games in the country. Because I wouldn’t have to pay entry and could fly from one place to another. Like a road trip, but in the air,” Mason said.
They noticed me standing at the edge of the hallway and living room and Luca jumped up and waved at me. “Esteballa, what would you do if you were a dragon?” Luca asked.
I walked over to him and kneeled down to his level. “I would make Rayna bake me everything she could think of and eat it all. Since I would have a big dragon stomach.” What I would really do is fly far enough away so my mom couldn’t find me. The Maldives sounded like a great idea.
Luca laughed at me and told me I was silly. We ended up chasing each other around the living room. Mason watched us, his eyes still soft. I melted a little more.
I caught Luca and tickled him. “Okay, little man, time to brush your teeth. It’s almost bedtime.”
“Can I stays up for ten more hours, please?” Luca asked when I guided him to the bathroom and got his toothbrush.
“Sorry, buddy, no can do. Your mom said you have to be in bed by seven thirty.”
“Awww, but Esteballa, I likes to stay up really wate.”
“I know you do, buddy. But not today okay?”
He sighed a long and drawn out sigh and took the toothbrush I held out to him.
“Not fair,” he grumbled and started brushing his teeth. It was more a case of brushing his lips and tongue, but it would do. After he asked a few more times—read: fifty-three more times—if he could stay up another ten hours he was finally in bed.
Mason was on one side, and I was squeezed in on the other, Luca in the middle, grinning from ear to ear. He told us we both had to read him a story and stay in the bed while doing so.
I just couldn’t say no to his crooked grin. The kid was going to be a heartbreaker when he was older. His sandy blonde hair was falling around his face in curls and his blue eyes sparked of mischief. Nora was going to have to deal with a lot of teenage drama once he started dating. I just hoped I was still around when that happened.
“Goodnight, buddy,” Mason said and did a fist bump with Luca.
I kissed Luca’s forehead and followed Mason out to the living room. We both stopped in awkward silence, unsure of how to talk to each other.
“Do you want popcorn?”
“There’s a game on tonight,” we both started talking at the same time.
“Popcorn sounds
