"Is he here yet?" Amber asked as she sat down on the bench next to Kate, Starbucks in hand.

"Oh, honey," Jen said from the other end of the bench. "You'll know when he's here."

Kate nodded enthusiastically, sipping her own Starbucks. "Oh, yes. You will know right away."

Amber leaned back on the bench, keeping an eye on her daughter on the swings and the entrance of the playground. Jen and Kate had told her about Hot Dad, as they called him, who came every day to pick his son up from school and always brought his daughter with him in her stroller. It had been pretty cold for the last few weeks, so they hadn't been able to see if he was wearing a wedding ring because he was wearing gloves, but today was much warmer. They would finally get to see if Hot Dad was single and ready to mingle.

"How have you never seen him before?" Jen asked.

Amber shrugged. "I don't usually pick up Carol here. It's been too cold for the playground, so I just get her from the front door. Plus, I've only been here for a month or so." After the divorce, she moved to London in January, so she hadn't been there during the warmer weather in the fall. "How come you never knew if he was married or not?"

"Well," Kate started, "as you know, I don't live very far away, so Braden and Olivia always walked home. I came to pick Braden up once when it was cold and saw Hot Dad, and I've done it every day since."

Jen pointed to a little boy at the top of the slide and said, "That's his son."

Amber squinted up at him. He was a cute kid, but her daughter was obviously cuter. He had blond hair and, from what she could make out, blue eyes. From how adorable the kid was, she could tell that Hot Dad was really living up to his name. Just as she looked back towards the entrance to see if Hot Dad was there yet, a man walked in pushing a stroller. The little girl in the stroller had blonde hair like her brother and brown eyes, but looked nothing like the man who was pushing it. He had the most beautiful combination of black hair and blue eyes she had ever seen, and his face made it even more beautiful.

"Oh. My. Gosh," was all she said.

"I told you," Kate said, elbowing her in the ribs.

Amber stared in shock as Hot Dad sat down on the bench about ten feet away from theirs and positioned the stroller in front of himself so he could take the little girl out and put her on his lap. She kicked her little booted feet against his legs until he gave her a Cheerio from the container he took out of his pocket.

"He's beautiful," Amber said. "You told me he was hot, but I never imagined this."

"Words cannot describe that man," Jen whispered. "And, look at his ring finger."

It was empty. There was no wedding ring, engagement ring, or any kind of ring that would signify that he was taken.

Amber stared at him for another minute, then made up her mind. "I'm going to go talk to him."

"I totally would, but I don't think Rob would be happy," Jen said. "Go get him, girl!"

Amber got up and went over to Hot Dad's bench. He didn't notice her at first, but she cleared her throat and said, "Is this your daughter?"

He looked up and smiled. "Yeah, she is."

"She's adorable. I bet her mom is so happy to have a little girl like her."

"Her mom isn't in the picture," Hot Dad said. "I know I'm happy, though."

"I see," Amber said. "Can I sit down?" Now that it was confirmed that he was single, she was a woman on a mission.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"You know," she said, sitting as close to him as she could possibly get without being weird, "I think that every kid should have a mom and a dad who are really invested in their lives. My ex and I recently divorced, and I'd rather not have my daughter grow up with a father who lives hours away."

"I wouldn't want that either," Hot Dad said. "Well, I should probably get going. It was nice meeting you." He put the little girl back in the stroller and strapped her in, then shouted, "Jamie! Time to go!" The boy looked up from where he was drawing in the sand and immediately came running over screaming, "DADDY!"

Hot Dad picked him up once he made sure his coat was buttoned and he had his backpack, then left without another word. Amber sat on the bench, staring after them. She had a feeling this would all work out in her favor.

.

Jem opened the front door to see Will standing in the living room with Jamie on his shoulders and looking very confused. As soon as he heard Jem come in, he turned to him and said, "I can't find Jamie anywhere, Jem. Have you seen him?"

Jem looked up at Jamie, who put a finger on his lips to try and keep Jem quiet. He shrugged and said, "I haven't seen him. Have you tried looking at his school? Maybe he didn't realize school was over."

"Oh well," Will said, shrugging as much as he could with a 3 stone child on his shoulders. "I guess we'll just leave him there. He must love school if he's still there."

"No!" Jamie shrieked, kicking his feet against Will's chest. "I'm not at school! I'm right here, Daddy!"

Will reached up and tickled Jamie, then went over to the couch so Jamie could get down safely. Once he was back on solid ground, Jamie ran over to Jem and almost climbed up him so he could give him a hug and a kiss, then ran upstairs.

"How was your day?" Jem asked as Will replaced the pillow that Jamie had knocked off the couch.

"It was good. I think some woman tried to flirt with me when I was picking up Jamie, though," Will said.

"I don't blame her," Jem said, laughing. "Did she not notice the wedding ring?"

"I wasn't wearing it. I took a shower and then Grace was being extremely clingy so I completely forgot about it until we were already halfway to school."

Jem sat down on the couch and Will sat down next to him. "You should probably tell her before she gets too invested."

"Or…" Will started. Jem knew exactly where this was going. "We could show her instead."

Jem shrugged. "I don't have work next Friday."

"Perfect," Will said, rubbing his hands together maniacally.

Jem rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch. Just as Will put his arm around his shoulders, they heard the telltale thumps of their son coming down the stairs. After seven years of living with him, they knew what was coming, so they immediately moved apart slightly in preparation. Sure enough, Jamie plopped himself down on the couch between them, crossing his legs and steepling his hands like a little businessman.

"So," he said very matter-of-factly, "I've decided what I want for Christmas."

Will and Jem both looked down at him, and then at each other. "Jamie, its February," Will said.

"I know, Daddy. Duh."

Jem disguised his laugh as clearing his throat and said, "Well, what is it?"

"I want a pet."

Will looked at Jem and shrugged. "What kind of pet?"

"A duck."

Will looked horrified, like he thought that Jamie had been taken by faeries and replaced with a changeling. Jamie looked up at Will and laughed at the look on his face, then said, "I'm kidding, daddy. I just want Legos." He pushed himself off the couch and ran back towards the stairs, stopping halfway to say, "I think Grace is awake."

"I'll get her," Jem said. Will still looked slightly disgusted. "I think you need some time to recover."

He left Will on the couch and went upstairs. He could see Jamie in his room across the hall from Grace's room, playing with his Spider-Man action figure. Jem opened Grace's door to see the two-year-old standing in her crib with one hand holding the railing and the other rubbing her eyes. When she saw him, the slightly grumpy look on her face disappeared and was replaced with a huge smile. She stopped rubbing her eyes and reached out one little hand for him while shouting, "Papa! Papa!"

Jem went over to her and lifted her out of her crib. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed as tight as she could, then gave him a very slobbery kiss on the cheek. He wiped as much of it off as he could with his shoulder, then asked her, "Did you have fun with daddy today?"

"Yeah!" she screeched in his ear. Even though she had just woken up from her nap, she was very energetic. "We play!"

"What did you play?"

"Dress-up Church!"

Jem laughed as he imagined the perpetually grumpy cat dressed up in a frilly pink dress and bows. "I bet he wasn't too happy about that."

Grace shook her head and stuck her bottom lip out. "No, he sad. But it funny!"

Jem gave her a quick kiss and set her down on the carpet. She immediately ran over to her Barbie dollhouse, which Will had spent six hours trying to build on Christmas Eve until he finally let Jem help him. Jem left her room and went back downstairs, closing the gate at the top of the stairs behind him. He knew she would stay in her room, but it didn't hurt to be safe. She also hadn't figured out how to open it yet, so it was still somewhat easy to keep her in one place.

Will wasn't on the couch where Jem had left him, so he went into the kitchen and found Will stirring something in a pot in the stove. From the smell of it, Will was making macaroni and cheese again. He called it his specialty, but it was actually the only thing he could make without a chance of burning it.

"So," Jem said, leaning against the wall next to the laundry room door. "I heard Church got dressed up today."

Will didn't turn around, but he said, "He wasn't a fan of it. There's pictures on my phone." He pointed to where his phone was sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

Jem sat down on one of the stools and scrolled through the pictures while Will made dinner. There were a few of Church dressed in a frilly pink dress, as he'd imagined, and a couple of him dressed up and sitting in Grace's stroller. "How did you get him to do this?"

"I may have given him some treats," Will said. He turned around and leaned against the counter next to the stove. "He wasn't happy but he went along with it. The worst he did was hiss at me."

"I'm not surprised," Jem said. "You did dress him up in a frilly pink dress."

"Oh, that wasn't me. That was all Grace. He hates me but he loves her."

Jem turned around and looked at the cat lounging lazily in the beam of sun on the dining room table. Church absolutely hated Will, but he loved Jem and the kids. They weren't exactly sure why Church hated Will, but they were used to it by then.

The sound of tiny running feet came from above, and then they heard Grace screech, "Daddeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Papaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Jem looked over to Will, who was struggling to hold in his laughter, and said, "She got that from you." Will did have a very annoying habit of standing at the top or bottom of the stairs and calling for Jem or Jamie without actually coming to find them.

"I know, and I'm proud of it," Will said. He pointed to the pot on the stove and said, "I'll see what she wants. Make sure that doesn't boil over."

Once Will rescued Grace's teddy bear from where she had somehow flung it into her crib, he came downstairs and finished making their dinner while Jem made sure that the kids washed their hands. Grace discovered during dinner that if she dropped her sippy-cup on the floor on purpose only a few minutes after accidentally dropping it, Daddy was not going to pick it up again. Jamie spent the entire dinner telling them all the facts he learned about space that day. Will and Jem listened intently and asked him all of the easy questions they could think of, even though they already knew the answers.

After dinner, Jem and Jamie did the dishes while Will gave Grace a bath. Both he and Jem ended up covered in water and bubbles, but for completely different reasons. After Grace's bath, they switched and Jem got Grace into bed while Will took care of Jamie.

Finally, both of the kids were in bed and (hopefully) asleep, and Will and Jem could collapse on the couch and not have to worry about Grace screeching for them in ten minutes. Jem turned on the TV to some game show and turned the volume down low. Will shifted so his head was in Jem's lap and his legs were hanging over the armrest. After a few minutes, Jem heard snoring and looked down to see Will fast asleep. Jem didn't blame him. He had to work all day, but Will was the one who had to run after Grace all day and take care of both kids when Jamie got out of school. Jem had spent enough days home from work with the kids while Will was at book signings or meetings with his publisher to know that it was absolutely exhausting.

Jem turned the TV off and put his feet up on the coffee table as carefully as possible so Will wouldn't wake up. He gently ran his fingers through Will's hair and smiled. Next Friday was going to be pretty interesting.

.

Over the next week and a half, Amber came over to talk to Will every day that he came to pick up Jamie. She asked him questions about the kids and the house and his past and his family and everything she could possibly think of. Will knew she was flirting with him, but he made sure that his end of their interaction was purely friendly.

She had asked what he did for a living, so he truthfully told her that he was an author. He never mentioned his last name, though, because knowing that would lead her straight to his Wikipedia page where it clearly stated that he was married. All she knew was that his name was Will, he was an author, and he had two kids, and that was all she was going to know until Friday.

.

Amber took her spot on the bench next to Jen and Kate with her coffee and looked over towards Will's usual bench. He wasn't there, but she easily spotted Jamie on the monkey bars with some of his friends.

"How's Hot Dad doing?" Kate asked. She knew his name was really Will, but she still called him Hot Dad because he really lived up to the name.

"He's fine," Amber said. She leaned over towards them and whispered, "I think I might ask him out today."

Kate and Jem squealed and quickly put their hands over their mouths to silence themselves. "You're seriously going to ask him out?" Jen whispered loudly. "You. Are going. To ask out. Hot Dad."

"I am!" Amber said. "And I just know he's going to say yes. I feel like this could be the start of a lifelong romance."

"I can't wait- He's here!" Kate said.

Amber turned around quickly and saw Will walking in with Lucie's stroller and someone new. The person had a somewhat Asian look to him and was holding Lucie, who seemed to know him really well as she had one hand fisted in his jacket and her head leaning against his chest.

"Oh, wow…" Jen whispered. "Ask me if his friend is single and tell me. He is hot."

Amber took a deep breath and got up from the bench. Jen and Kate whispered "Good luck" as she made her way over to the two men.

"Hey!" Will said as she came over. "I was just going to come over to talk to you."

"Oh, really? Amber asked, blushing. "Great minds think alike, I guess. Who's your friend here?"

Will turned to the other man and said, "Jem, this is Amber. Amber, this is Jem. My husband."

Amber stood there in shock for what felt like hours. All this time, she had been completely enamored by Will, and he had been married. He must not have been wearing his wedding ring the first day she had seen him, and it had been glove weather for the past week and a half. She was embarrassed and somewhat mad, but she also knew it was her fault. She had never actually asked if he was single or not and had just assumed he was.

"Oh, um…" she said. "Well, it was nice to meet you." She quickly turned around and hurried back to the bench.

"So?" Kate asked when she sat down. "Did he say yes?"

"Is his friend single?" Jen asked her.

Amber leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. "That's not his friend. That's his husband."

Jen and Kate's mouths dropped open in shock. They both looked up in time to see Will lean forward and kiss Jem with Grace in between them.