Alexis was smarter than they gave her credit for, which was saying a lot, because they knew she was really smart. She may only be six, but she could see what was going on.

Exhibit A: They spent an awful lot of time with Kate. Which was fine, really, she loved Kate. And she loved Carrie. And before she knew it, Wednesday night dinners turned into meetings at the park after school for so-called "play dates" with Carrie. Then they had random movie nights on at least one weekend day, but usually both, where they would all watch some sort of family movie, usually involving music. That turned into Alexis and her Daddy meeting Kate and Carrie for coffee (or cocoa in Alexis' case) and doughnuts before school. Alexis didn't mind these changes, she really didn't. But they were enough to get her to really pay attention, and that is when the little girl had really started to notice things.

Exhibit B: They were closer. Kate and her Dad were closer than ever, from the way that they cuddled on the couch, Kate resting her head on his shoulder, her Daddy wrapping his arm around her back, holding her there. Sometimes he even rubbed her shoulder or her back while they sat. That and at dinner, they sat closer and closer to each other, and sometimes, their hands touched. And it took her Daddy longer to give Kate coffee than it took to give Alexis her cocoa, because neither one of them wanted to let go of the other one's hand when they met around the beverage. At first, Alexis had found this annoying. Sometimes she wanted to cuddle with him too! But she soon learned that there were some advantages to this. Like, they told each other things. Kate taught her Daddy all about how to wash Alexis' hair without getting soapy water in her eyes. That was great, because now he was a pro, and it was one less thing that Alexis had to worry about teaching him. She had learned that this worked both ways. On one Wednesday, when a boy had made fun of her hair earlier at school, she had hidden upstairs, sulking in her room. Kate knocked on the door, a hairbrush, squirt bottle, and elastics in her hand. She had sat on the bed behind Alexis, stroking her hair, brushing out the snarls, and commenting on how beautiful and long it was. When she leaned forward, Kate's breath tickled her ear, and Alexis couldn't help but giggle. "Can I braid it?" Alexis nodded at her request, and Kate quickly did her long red hair in two pretty French braids, tied with yellow elastics. She sprayed her hair with the spray bottle, and came around to face the younger girl. "If you sleep in these, tomorrow morning, when you take them out, your hair will be nice and wavy. I used to do it all the time when I was little." She had hugged Alexis and coaxed her downstairs, and the next day, no one made fun of her hair. eventually, Alexis learned that Kate was happy to share her Daddy during the movies.

Exhibit C: They were happier. This meant everyone, including herself. She couldn't remember life before Kate and Carrie had been introduced to her, and she didn't want to. She had a dream, a nightmare really, where Kate had left her for LA like her Mom and never came back, and Alexis had woken with tears in her blue eyes. She told Kate all about it the next day. Kate assured her this would never happen, that she would never leave her, and that she liked New York too much to ever live that far away. She then wrapped Alexis in a huge hug, one that made her feel safe and secure. It used to be only her Daddy that could hug her and make her feel safe, but she figured he must have taught Kate how to do that like she taught him all about her hair. She liked it. She liked that Kate smiled and laughed a lot more, and that she had joined in on their massive game of laser tag (and was sort of kicking their butts). She loved that her dad was excited to wake up every morning, waiting by the door to go to the coffee shop before Alexis had even put on her shoes. She liked celebrating the little things, like ice cream sundaes when Carrie finally took her first steps. Everyone was happier, and Alexis didn't want to go back.

Exhibit D: She caught them kissing. They didn't see her, and they didn't know she saw. They were supposed to be cooking dinner. But while the water was boiling, Kate had wrapped her arms around her Daddy's neck, and he had placed his hands on her hips, and they pushed themselves close together, like when Belle and the Beast kiss. She had run to tell Gram, who turned to look, and then turned back, hiding a smile behind her hand. She brought a finger to her lips. "Shhh. Let them have their moment, sweetheart." Alexis nodded, a grin on her own face, and sat down to try and have a tea party with Carrie.

All of this had led her to a conclusion. And part of her wanted to leave it alone, let it figure itself out. But as they all sat around the table, she couldn't help it anymore. "Kate?" she called out to the woman across the table from her.

Kate turned and looked at her, a smile on her face. "Yes, Lex, what can I do for you?"

"Are you my Dad's new girlfriend?"

Alexis watched as Kate dropped her fork, and looked at her Daddy for help.

Grams tapped her hand. "I said to let them be, not ambush the poor girl!" But that was confusing, because Alexis had let them have their moment, and now it was over. And Alexis just really wanted to know.

"Um, well, Lex," Kate stammered, her face red, "It's complicated." She copped out.

"But why is it complicated?" She asked, throwing herself back in her chair, exasperated.

"Alexis, don't whine." Her Daddy's firm voice scolded, and she rolled her eyes because she didn't wine. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Fine." She agreed, returning to her meal. When daddy use his voice like that, she knew there was no arguing. But she wanted to talk about it now.

She saw them talking after dinner while they cleaned up. They weren't as close as they had been when they were cooking, and Kate looked nervous. Alexis wanted to see them kiss again.

When he talk to her in that night, he tried to avoid the question, pretending it had never happened. But she was six, and big now, and new all his tricks. "Daddy, is Kate your girlfriend?"

He sighed. "She is right, pumpkin, it's complicated."

"Well why did you kiss her?"

He sat at the foot of her bed. "You saw that?"

Alexis nodded. "Uh huh! And you told me that we only kissed family and girlfriends or boyfriends on the lips. And that I can't have a girlfriend or boyfriend until I'm 40."

He smiled at her. "That's right. I'm glad you remembered that." He sighed. "I want Kate to be my girlfriend, if that's okay with you. I'm supposed to go talk to her about it on Friday night. You and Carrie will hang out here with Grams while I go on a real date with Kate."

Alexis grinned and kick her feet, unable to contain her excitement in her head anymore. "Does Kate want you to be her boyfriend?"

He shrugged. "I think so."

"Yay!" She set up and hugged him. "I think it will be great."

She felt his chest rumble with laughter underneath her head. "I'm happy to hear it. But nothing is for sure yet."

How could I be sure? They both wanted to be boyfriend and girlfriend, so they should just do it! Grown-ups are so confusing. She laid down in bed. "Okay." She sighed, tired of the conversation, but excited for the future. "Love you."

He leaned down and kissed her hair. "Love you too."

A/N: I try to stick with a point of view for one complete chapter before I change. I usually default to Kate, but I like to switch things up. I thought it would be interesting to see things from Alexis' point of view!

I'm glad you all liked the little poem last time! I wrote this whole poem as a senior in high school for my AP psych class about toys in the classroom coming alive. My teacher loved it, and told me I should try to get it published as a children's book, but when my first computer crashed I lost it... :(