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Chapter Three

What has my son gotten me into?

I have asked myself this question at least a hundred times today. Except now the adult police officer who Max has decided is his friend will be here any minute. And I am not even close to being ready. Max has requested my homemade chicken pot pie, so my jeans and sweatshirt are covered in flour. I'm a messy cook, but I love it. Except now I don't have time to change what I'm wearing. Why do I even care how I look?

Because that cop is amazingly good-looking, I think wryly. It was hard to ignore the instant attraction I felt when I looked into his chocolate eyes. I was already breathless from looking frantically for Max when I'd realized he'd wandered off. Looking at that policeman felt like a sucker punch to my gut. I know I'm not the only one who felt the attraction- he stumbled over his words so adorably every time he spoke to me. I smiled to myself while I slid the pie into the oven and set a timer. I will say that Max took an obvious shine to him, and that's unusual. It does mean that he can't be that bad…Max seems to wear people's patience thin very quickly but Officer Clearwater seemed perfectly happy to accept his invitation to dinner.

Just like that, there's a knock at the door. I hear little footsteps pounding down the stairs and Max arrives, looking at me breathlessly. "He's here." He runs down the hall towards the door, calling, "You have to let him in!"

I shake my head incredulously. Max is…excited to see him? That is beyond shocking to me. I wipe my hands on my jeans and follow him to the front door. I gape as soon as I opened it. I remember he is tall, but he's going to have to stoop just to get inside the house. My heart sputters and picks up to double-time when I see him. He's wearing a tight black t-shirt that hugs his muscled torso tightly and paired it with a dark wash pair of jeans that clung to him in all of the right places. Good lord he is toned, I think appreciatively. Massive biceps poke out of his sleeves. I realize he's smiling sheepishly, waiting for me to say something. I feel my face flushing. "Officer Clearwater," I murmur. "Thank you for coming. Come on in."

He rubs his neck. "Thanks, but please, call me Seth." He saunters into the house and crouches down so he is at Max's level. "Hey Max!"

I do a double take when I see Max reaching for Seth's hand. "Come on. I have to show you my room."

He pulls Seth down the hall and up the stairs. It is such a cute sight, seeing little Max dragging such a big man around. I follow them upstairs and into Max's room. We're still in boxes, so all that is set up is his bed, desk, and toy box. He rushes to the toy box and begins pulling plastic animals out. "This is a komodo dragon," he says, handing it to Seth, "they can poison your blood if one bites you." He pulls out another. "And this is an alligator snapping turtle. They live in Florida but one time I saw one at the zoo."

Seth is chuckling and I shake my head while Max digs for more toys. "Max sweetie, I think he's seen enough of your toys."

"I really don't mind," Seth claims, smiling at me with perfectly white teeth. His attention turns back to Max thankfully, because I feel the blush rising on my cheeks again. "So you like animals, huh Max?"

Max nods solemnly and leads Seth to his desk. There, he has a small model of an elephant skeleton he hasn't finished building. "I'm going to be a zoologist when I grow up." He looks at Seth, and I see excitement in his eyes. "Do you want to watch Planet Earth with me?" he asks eagerly.

I open my mouth to protest but Seth is too quick. "Sure!"

Max goes bounding down the stairs to set up the DVD. I laugh softly at him and face Seth. I gasp at his closeness; I come face to face with chest as he towers over me. "You have no idea what you got roped into," I laugh breathily.

"I really don't mind." His voice has dropped huskily while he looks down at me.

I have got to get in control of my hormones. I step aside, pressing myself against the doorframe. "Well, Earth awaits you then."

I seem to have broken the spell for both of us. He gives his head a small shake and bounds down the stairs after Max. I take a minute while I'm alone upstairs. What is wrong with me? It's not like I haven't dated a man since Max was born. I've gone on quite a few dates, a few of them overnight dates. It's just that none of them worked out for various reasons. Some bailed as soon as I revealed I had a son. Others…well I just couldn't imagine them meshing well with Max. But still, I'm behaving like a teenage girl with a crush. This is ridiculous. "Get your head on straight, girl," I murmur to myself.

The boys are glued to the TV when I come down. As I pass in front of it to go to the kitchen Seth gives me a wink and my heart jumps again. So much for getting my head on straight. I stay by myself in the kitchen until the timer goes off. "Boys! Dinner is ready," I call to them.

As soon as I plop of a serving of the pie onto Max's plate he asks, "Can I watch dinner in the living room?" I know he wants to finish his show.

I run my hand over his hair. "Just don't get crumbs all over the place, okay?" He carefully walks out, balancing his plate and a glass of milk. Soon I hear the documentary back on. I smile warmly at Seth while I scoop him some food. "Thank you for coming tonight. It really means a lot…to both of us."

He shrugs happily. "I'm having a good time too. Max is a sweet kid." He has a seat at our kitchen table and I take one across from him.

"Well, he's just laying on the charm for you," I joke. "Really though, it's tough for him. To make friends. This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I told him to invite someone over for dinner but hey, it's a start, right?"

He cocks his head and looks at me, while shoveling my chicken pot pie in his mouth. "Why's that?" he questions with his mouth full of food.

I poke my head out so I can see what Max is doing in our living room. His eyes are glued to the TV while he slowly chews. "Max has Asperger's Syndrome," I explain in a hushed voice. "So socializing…well, it doesn't come easy for him. He'd rather be by himself. That contributes partially to his obsession with animals and zoology as well. And to the fact that he doesn't really like to be touched. And a lot of other quirks." I eye him curiously. "Although he doesn't seem to mind grabbing your hand. I was shocked when I saw that."

He rubs his neck and chuckles. "Well, I'm good with kids."

I shake my head. "Well I'm his mother and he still doesn't like any kind of affection from me. Although we're working on that. Or we were. We had an amazing behavioral therapist back in Illinois named Amy. She worked with him on his socialization skills, etiquette, physicality…she really was great. I'm going to have to find him one here. It's really important that Max has consistency in his life, you know?" He nods and I laugh nervously. "Well, now that I've vented about my problems…" I trail off.

"I like hearing about it. You two seem like a good pair." His smile at me is dazzling and I feel like I have to work to breathe in and out each time.

Running my hand through my hair, I continue. "We're best buddies, definitely. But like I was saying, I wish he could get to know some kids his own age. He needs to learn how important friendship is. Not that he's learning from example over here," I nervously babble. "Trying to set up my store opening and take care of Max doesn't really give me a lot of time to meet people." Wow, TMI Andy.

"Wow, a store, huh? What kind of store?"

I smile. I love talking about the store to anyone that'll listen. "It's a boutique, actually. I'm calling it Wanderlust and it's going to have all kinds of merchandise. Clothing, jewelry, knick-knacks people can give as little gifts…once I'm a bit more established I'd really like to work with some of the local businesses to add their merchandise to my store, maybe even fill the whole place with local items."

I can tell Seth is listening to everything I say about the store. He nods his head while I speak and asks all sorts of questions about it. During this he's not only gotten up for a second massive helping of my pot pie, but also a third, which pretty much ends the idea of leftovers. After awhile I stretch out my arms. "I'm sorry," I murmur. "I've done all the talking tonight. And about work of all things," I laugh.

Seth rests his elbows on the table and leans forward. "It's no biggie," he insists. "I like hearing you talk about it. I can tell you have a big passion for what you're doing," he adds with admiration.

I blush. "Yes, I really do love it. It's been my dream since I was in college. It had to wait a few more years than planned, but it's totally worth it." I take a peek at the clock. It's late- I didn't realize so much time has passed. "Max!" I call into the living room. He trudges in with his empty plate. I can tell from his heavy eyelids that he's sleepy. "Say bye to Seth honey. Then go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll be up there to say goodnight in a couple of minutes, okay?"

Max doesn't move. "We all have to do the dance," he states.

Oh god. I shake my head. "Max, no. We'll do it once he leaves, okay?"

Max is insistent. "He's been here all night. He has to do it. He has to!" With that he's sprinting up the stairs.

I laugh nervously while I bury my head in my hands. "I…I have another favor to ask of you."

"You want me to do the dance." Seth intones. "The dance. Whatever that is," he chuckles.

I peek at him through my eyes. "Every night, we do the goodnight dance." He's just looking at me, his smile growing. "You know, to wind us down? Max can get really antsy when he knows it's time for bed, so once he's done getting ready he picks a song off of my iPhone and we dance and then it's time to sleep." He's still just staring with the smile. I blush. "And…you think we're crazy. I think we're crazy. We are crazy. Oh god, you really don't have to do it, I-,"

"Andy, stop." I freeze midsentence. "I think that's great." He stands. "So, let's do this dance. And, sorry when I make you both jealous with my dancing skills," he adds with a wink.

I'm not even sure what to say. "Oh…okay then." I stand up too. "Let's go dance."

He follows me up the stairs to Max's room, where he is waiting patiently in his robot pajamas. I smile. "Okay baby, what are you in the mood for?" I pull a speaker out from under his desk and plug my phone in.

Max contemplates for a minute. "AC/DC!" he exclaims.

I nod and press play. "Good choice." I don't even look at Seth- I know if I do I'll be too embarrassed to dance. The beat to Thunder begins and Max and I nod our heads along with it. The music gets louder and the dancing starts.

Max is jumping up and down, waving his arms around. I jump with him and shake my hips, laughing. This is my favorite thing to do with Max. He dances and he doesn't care what's going on in the world. It's just me and him, completely being ourselves together. And now Seth is with us. I glance at him and he's rocking an air guitar, playing the solo. I'm laughing harder now at how ridiculous he looks. Suddenly he's grabbed my hands and we're spinning, faster and faster until everything is a blur. I cry out as I hold onto Seth tighter and shut my eyes. If I let go I know I'll fall.

And then the song is over. The spinning stops and I almost topple over trying to get to the speaker to turn it off. We're all breathless and even Max is laughing with us. He danced with us, I can't help but think giddily. "That. Was. The best dance we've ever done," Max huffs.

I beam at him. "You know what Max? I think it was too." I glance at Seth and this time I'm the one winking.

I don't even have to coax Max into bed. He climbs in without question, pulling the covers up to his chin. "Goodnight Mommy. Goodnight Seth."

Seth pats Max on the head. "Goodnight, buddy. Thanks for inviting me tonight. I hope I get to see you and your Mom soon," he adds, slyly glancing at me.

I give Max a quick kiss on the top of his head. I know he doesn't like that but I can't help it. "Goodnight honey."

I flip his light off as Seth and I leave the room. We make our way downstairs silently, and once we're at the front door I face him.

Seth clears his throat. "Andy, dinner was amazing. Seriously, you are an awesome cook."

"Well I could tell you liked it," I laugh. "You pretty much cleaned me out."

He grins and pats his flat stomach. "What can I say, I have an appetite." He clears his throat again and his expression turns more serious. "Thanks for having me here, Andy. And…about you what you said earlier, about you and Max needing to meet people?" I nod, feeling a little embarrassed about all of my venting earlier. He continues. "A bunch of us are having our monthly bonfire at First Beach this Saturday. On the reservation? I think it'd be really great if you could come." His expression turns sheepish. "I have to drive right by here after work Saturday. I could pick you and Max up on my way?"

Is this supposed to be a date? I hesitate, biting my lip. If he does mean it as a date, it makes me nervous. Even with how well tonight went, I don't like having Max around men I have an interest in. It makes it hard for him when he becomes used to people and then they leave. And I am definitely interested in Seth. After tonight there's no denying it. And if history is any indication none of the men who I date want to deal with Max. But, on the other hand…Seth already seems different. He met Max before he even met me, and he doesn't seem to have a problem dealing with the eccentricities he's seen so far with him. Seth is waiting for an answer, and something in me says I should give this a chance. Besides, I think to myself, it may be that you just want it to be a date. He may not even mean it that way.

I smile. "We'd love to go with you."