The Mommy's Party

The looks Aimee got from some of the moms at the preschool days later made her want to laugh out-loud. Evidently some of the moms were divorced ones whom had their eyes on Horatio. Hearing Kyle say proudly "this is Aimee. She's my dad's girlfriend" got Aimee dirty looks.

Aimee almost wanted to stoop to the preschooler level and stick out her tongue to some of those woman.

Yes, ladies. That's right. Horatio Caine is off the market, she thought.

Kyle Caine happily showed all his artwork to Aimee and the two enjoyed finger sandwiches, cupcakes and juice. Kyle grinned when he presented her with a pencil cup he had made her for her desk at work. He had decided to decorate it with stickers from home. Aimee had told him that her favorite Cars character was Meter. And she wasn't just saying that to the boy. She had seen the cartoon before watching it with him and the rusty tow truck with the chipped tooth always made her crack up with laughter. Kyle remembered that.

"That's me," he said, pointing to the Lightning McQueen sticker, "that's daddy," he said, pointing to the Sheriff car. "And that's you," he said, pointing to the Meter sticker. "I thought you should be Sally 'cause she's pretty, too. But you said you liked Meter better so I put him there."

"I love it, Kyle. Thank you," she said, giving him a hug and kiss on the brow.

Aimee felt herself falling more for Kyle and his father by the minute.

Shortly before the party was over Horatio called his girlfriend. He wasn't going to be able to get away from the lab like he had thought, he asked her to bring Kyle by.

"That's all right," Aimee said. She didn't mind going back to the house with Kyle. She had the rest of the day off anyway. Aimee knew where the spare house key was and how to turn off the alarm system.

"We can feed the ducks when we get home!" Kyle said, excitedly. "Me and daddy never got to do that dis morning."

When the two arrived at the Caine home, they fed the ducks and played on his swing set. Kyle was his ever chatty self. He asked Aimee if she had any children and then if she had any pets. He said he'd like to have a dog but his dad told him he was too little for one but he might get him one when he was older.

Twenty-six year old Aimee had neither. But as far as parenthood, she absolutely wanted to be a mom someday. And not necessarily biologically or possibly both by adoption or having biological children. For her, truly being a parent wasn't about biology, that was only a bonus and strictly by coincidence. The woman who raised her most of her life was her aunt by marriage, her father's brother's wife. Aimee and her older brother Andrew were formerly adopted by their father's brother and his wife at ages ten and eleven after their biological parents moved them from their home to the other for years and the relatives finally demanded the two children be given some stability. The parents signed the permanent custody relinquishment papers without flinching.

More and more she could see herself calling Kyle Caine her son.

"You're really falling for him, aren't you?" Aimee's best friend Maria said when she visited her that evening. Maria still couldn't believe her best friend since childhood was involved with a man fifteen years her senior. But Horatio was an amazing man and definitely every woman's dream. Maybe age was just a number after all.

"Which one?" Aimee asked with a smile.

"Both."

"Guilty on all counts," Aimee replied.

"If you guys got married, you'd adopt Kyle?"

"In a heartbeat."

I based 5-year-old Kyle's character on my (almost) 5-year-old nephew "J", who's just as adorable!