Clare's POV


"Willow, what's wrong?" I asked, cracking her door open.

"Who's out there with you? …Did you see my dad tonight? …Can I meet them?" she asked, glancing towards the hallway, as usual spitting out questions faster than I could answer them. I knew that she thought Eli was out there, explaining why she asked to meet him.

"Slow down please," I said with a laugh. Sitting down on the bed, I tucked a loose curl behind her ear.

"My friend, Jake, from school is in the living room. Yes, you can meet him, but put a robe on over your nightgown. And yes, I saw your father tonight. He was with his wife." I added gently, knowing how much talking about him upset her.

"Does he know about me yet?" she asked quietly. I sighed; 10 year olds shouldn't have to worry about things like that.

"No, baby. You don't want him to. He just complicates things." I said, trying to comfort her.

"Fine… But, I wanna meet this Jake guy. Is he cuteeee?" she asked, giving me her father's smirk.

"Adorable." I kissed her forehead.


Willow's POV


"Jake, this is my daughter, Willow," Mom said, sounding proud. I peeked around the corner wall to see a tall, handsome man sitting on the couch holding Scout in his arms.

"Hi," I said shyly, giving him one of my all too famous smiles.

"Willow, this is my….good friend, Jake," she said, motioning for me to join them.

"So, Willow, how old are you?" The man asked, giving me a friendly smile.

"Ten," I replied bashfully.


Jake POV


I was shocked at how much this little girl resembled her father. Except for the curls, and a few other features, she looked very much like Eli. She was clever, I'd give her that. When I asked her a question she didn't want to answer, she somehow spun the tables, so she'd be the one asking.

After a half hour or so, Clare finally pronounced it to be Willow's bedtime.

"It's after 10:00, Wil. Time for you to go to bed. You've met Jake, now hop to it!" she said.

"I'll be in in a bit to tuck you in," she added as Willow scooped Scout up into her arms and headed down the hallway she'd come from.

"Cute kid," I said, grinning.

"I'm really sorry. She was begging to meet you, and I needed to get her off of the topic of Eli," Clare said quietly.

"It's fine. I liked getting the chance to meet her," I said earnestly.

"That's a first. Most of the guys that come into this house, aside from Dave and Adam, are afraid of her," she replied with a laugh.

"They're just afraid you won't sleep with them because you learned already to wait." I responded quietly. Oh my goodness, did I just say that? Wait to go, stupid! Mention something that has to deal with sleeping with her and things are definitely going to get awkward.

"Speaking of sleep, I'm going to go tuck her in," Clare stood up. I nodded and followed her down to Willow's room. I wanted to see Super Mom in action.

Willow was already in her bed, just waiting for Clare to tuck her in. It's cute that she was ten and still wanted to be tucked in. But she seemed like a tough kid. Growing up without your father, and with just your mom probably made Clare explain to her exactly how things are. No fairy-tales, no magic. Just the cold, hard, truth.

Clare kissed her on the forehead and whispered goodnight.

"Goodnight, Willow." I waved goodbye to her, and then Clare and I walked back out to the living room.

I knew I should be going home soon, but we just kept talking. Neither one of us mentioned anything about me leaving. It wasn't even 11, but it was still a little late.

By the next time I looked at my phone to check the time, we'd made plans to have coffee tomorrow. I told her that she could bring Willow along, since she'd probably beg to come anyway...