"Daddy? Daddy I can't sleep."

Adam cracked his eyes open and found Ben standing beside the bed, his hair sticking up and his hands clasped in front of him.

"What?"

"I can't sleep. I'm distressed."

"Buddy, can't you just go back downstairs and try?"

"I been tryin'!" Ben whined. "I just need to talk to you!"

"Alright, okay, we'll go downstairs."

He moved to get up and Lindsay grunted unhappily in her sleep.

"I'll be back in a while babe. Go to sleep."

She sighed and rolled over and Adam stood up, taking Ben by the hand and leading him downstairs to the living room.

"Alright buddy, want to tell me what's going on?"

"You know how Dumbledore said that one thing 'bout feelin' loves keen sting?"

"Yes."

"Well, today I feeled it."

"What happened?"

"There is this girl in Dunner's class. She is very beautiful and smart and funny. Her name is Charlotte and I really have a crush on her. And she liked me too. And we decided that we would have our desserts together under the slide at lunch recess. But she never showed up. I waited and waited and I looked for her and she never showed up to eat dessert with me. And I just feel real bad about myself and I can't sleep. I want to know what I did wrong."

"Maybe she was at home sick today."

"Nah, Dunner said she was in class."

"Well maybe she forgot."

"Maybe. But daddy my heart still hurts even if all that stuff did happen!"

"I'm sorry buddy."

"I really liked her. She's just so nice. She likes dinosaurs like I do and she told me all about a book that her and her daddy are reading together. She's so sweet. Like candy and stuff. And sometimes when she smiles at me, I get a funny feeling in my tummy and I just want to hug her."

"You've got it bad buddy."

"What's that mean?"

"It means you're twitterpated."

"Oh! Yep, I think so. I tried to talk to Dunner 'bout this and he just said he doesn't like girls yet and let's talk about baseball instead."

"Well that's not very helpful."

"I don't know what to do daddy! Should I be mad or sad? What if she doesn't like me at all? Or what if she likes someone else? I'm so confused."

"Buddy, first of all, you don't have to feel any certain way. However you feel is fine. I think that you should give her the benefit of the doubt though, and assume something else came up and she couldn't make it to eat dessert with you. You can talk to her about it later and make sure everything is okay."

"But what if it's not? What if she doesn't like me?"

"Just because she doesn't like you doesn't mean things aren't okay. It just means she's not the girl for you."

"But she is daddy! She very much is! I know it deep in my heart and soul."

"How do you know?"

"Because of the feelin' I get when I talk to her. Like everything is happy, you know? The same way you get when you're with mama."

Adam sighed and tossed his feet up on the coffee table, figuring this was going to be a long night with his middle child.

"Daddy, I will tell you a secret. I like girls. A lot. I like how they are different than boys. I like that they play different things and like different things. I like how they look with their long hair and pretty eyes. I like being friends with boys but I like being friends with girls too. There is something beautiful about them. And it's not just on the outside like just how they look you know? I like girls what look all different ways. Even there is one girl what gets made fun of because the other kids say she's fat but know what? She's beautiful. Because she's a woman. And all womens are beautiful. Don't you think so daddy? I mean, I know mama is the most beautiful to you, but don't you think every lady is beautiful?"

"Of course I do."

Ben nodded and scratched his ear.

"I just don't want Charlotte to not like me even for her friend. I really think I love her. And maybe I don't because I am too little to really know what love means, but I love her with a lot of my heart."

"I don't think you're too young to love someone buddy, but you are too young to go getting married."

"Oh daddy I won't get married soon. I don't want to leave mama. It would break her heart because me and her are special sweethearts you know. Kindred spirits, that's what Austin calls it."

"Well good, I don't really want you to get married and move away yet either."

"Daddy, how did you know mama was the lady for you? Out of all the other womens in the world, how did you know that she was the one you were going to marry and love forever and ever?"

"There were a lot of things," Adam started with a sigh. "The biggest thing was that she was the best person I've ever known and I wanted to be with her all the time because she made me a better person. I loved everything about her, even the bad stuff. I still love all that. I love everything that she is."

"Know my favorite thing about Charlotte? She laughs a lot. She is always smiling and happy. And when she laughs it sounds like there's little birds in her throat and I don't even care that she probably gots girl germs."

"Want to have a cup of cocoa and tell me more about this girl?"

"Yeah daddy, I would. Could I tell you all I think about stuff?"

"I'd love to hear it, son."

Ben didn't stop chattering about love, girls, dinosaurs, and the world in general until the sun came up. Several times Adam had convinced him to try sleeping on the couch, but it only lasted a minute or two before Ben would think of something else he wanted to discuss. Adam didn't mind too much; he was glad Ben was so open with him about his feelings, but it made for an exhausting morning.

"I am going to go take a shower now, and wake up Cole and sissy for school. Oh boy, I'm sure tired."

He started his climb up the stairs while Adam got the coffee out of the fridge and filled the machine with water.

"You never came back to bed," came a scratchy voice from behind him. He turned to find Lindsay wearing her bathrobe and a smirk.

"Sorry. You gave birth to a chatterbox."

"Why didn't you just put him back to bed?"

Adam shrugged and started the coffee.

"I figured it was one of those times an exception could be made."

"You're a good daddy."

"Thanks."

"How's our kiddo doing?"

"He told me more about life and love in six hours than I have ever learned in my life. Did you know that when you love someone you give them a little of your heart and you can't get it back because they put it into their heart, but if you really love them it doesn't matter that you don't have that part anymore?"

"I suspected, but I didn't really know it."

"And did you know that until you have really loved someone, you can't really hate? And if it's real love, you would never really want to hate someone because you know that someone out there really loves the person you hate?"

"He's blowing my mind."

"I think he's pretty wise. I have no clue where he gets it."

"Is he going to be able to go to school today?"

"Nah, I'll keep him home this time."

"You and I both have to go to work. Remember you said you would come in on your day off to finish up that paperwork. You said you could do it because all three kids would be at school in the morning and that would be enough time. You made a deal with Jo, remember?"

"Crap. I guess I'll take him in with me. He can sleep on the couch in your office right?"

"Yeah, that would be fine. But don't let him nap too much or he won't sleep again tonight."

"Okay. Can I say you look delightful this morning?"

"Do I?"

"Yes. Can I put my hands all over you?"

Her amused answer was cut off by a shout from upstairs.

"Uh-oh! Ben's sleepin' on the toilet!"

"Yeah, definitely too tired to go to school."

"I'll go wake him up then. You did parent duty all night, it must be my turn."

He chuckled as she went up the stairs to find Ben sitting on the toilet lid, his head leaned on the counter, snoring gently. She smiled and crouched down in front of him, brushing his hair back from his face.

"Hey little boy."

His eyes cracked open and he gave her a smile and a small nod.

"Hey mama. I was just dreamin' about you."

"You were?"

"Yep? Dreamed we were swimmin' in the ocean. Real deep down where there's all that coral and stuff. It was pretty."

"I bet it was. Why don't I tuck you into bed so you can take a little sleep for a while?"

"I gotta go to school!"

"No, you get to stay home today honey. You're too tired."

"Never thinked I'd be too tired to learn."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, then lifted him into her arms and carried him to his bed. He slept hard enough that tucking him in didn't wake him up, but he did grab for his old stand-by, White Teethy the Bear, which he always claimed was just there for decoration. She kissed him a few times then tucked the blankets around him, wondering what he was dreaming about.

"Mama, need my bath!" Avery announced, poking her head in the door. "I smell of Thomas."

"You always smell like the dog when you wake up. Maybe Thomas needs to sleep in her own bed."

"No! I'm her mama and she needs to sleep with her mama!"

"Alright, I'll run you a bath."

"Thomas too?"

"No, Thomas can have a bath later."

"Oh. Ben's stayin' home to sleep?"

"Yeah. He's going to have to go to work with daddy for a little while though."

"I wanna go to work with daddy!"

"Maybe someday sweetie. Let's get you in the tub."

Avery sighed and shook her head.

"Ben gets to have most fun."

"Hey Ben! What are you doing here?" Jo greeted as Adam and Ben stepped off the elevator.

"I didn't sleep last night and mama and daddy said no school. So here I am!"

"Oh, are you going to help daddy get his work done?"

"No, he said I gotta rest in mama's office."

"Do you want to come keep me company instead?"

"Could I daddy? Could I please go with Jo-Jo?"

"Yeah that's okay but you need to be good and use an inside voice and not talk her ear off, okay?"

"I can do that! C'mon Jo-Jo, you got some posty notes on your desk?"

"Of course I do," she laughed, taking his hand. He pulled her towards the office, settling down in the chair on the other side of her desk and grabbing a pencil.

"Here's a brand new pad of Post-its for you honey."

"Oh cool, they're green! I am gonna make what's called a flip book!"

"Go for it kiddo."

They worked in silence for a while, Ben humming to himself and drawing something on every page of the Post-Its. He was concentrating hard on what he was doing, occasionally erasing something to perfect it before moving on to the next page.

"What are you making honey?"

"I am drawin' a dude pitchin' a baseball and some other dude hittin' it with a bat! I am makin' it for Dunner so he can have a baseball movie to watch all the time!"

"That's very nice of you."

"Wanna see it?"

He slid off his chair and walked around the desk, climbing into her lap and showing her how far he had gotten in the project so far.

"Sarah's the one what teached me how to do this. She has one of a ballerina she maked. The ballerina she says is sissy and I asked her why the ballerina is not chubby and falling down and she just made a big breath and ignored what I said and instead she told me how to make one of my own! I can't wait to show her. She will be so proud of me."

"I bet she will."

"Hey Jo-Jo?"

"Yeah honey?"

"Let's say there was this girl I really, really liked. And she said she liked me too. And then we were going to have a date and she never showed up. Why do you think that would be?"

"Are you looking for the female perspective?" she chuckled.

"I think so. I didn't have time to ask mama."

"Well, one reason might be that she forgot. Another reason might be that something else came up and she didn't have a chance to tell you."

"Could one reason be that she doesn't like me?"

Jo sighed and took his glasses off of him, wiping away a smudge with her shirt.

"I don't know. Personally I don't see why any girl wouldn't like you, Ben. But if she doesn't, it's probably that she just likes a different kind of guy, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just thinked me and her could have a great love story! One what they would make a movie about. And it would be called "Ben and Charlotte are in Love." It would be a very happy movie."

"You know what I think, Ben? I think that someday you are going to make some lucky lady very, very happy. I think you are going to find someone that sees all the best things about you and loves you so much that you will wonder how you went your whole lives without each other."

"Do you think that girl could be Charlotte?"

"I don't know. Maybe it is, but if it's not, don't be sad. This mystery girl is out there somewhere."

"Know what? I am not going to get married for a long time. I will fall in love, but I want to get married when I am grown up, like mama and daddy did. I gotta find a girl what makes me a better man. That's what daddy says mama does. I would like a lady what wants to be a mama and is a good one and loves the kids and kisses them a lot like my mama does. Plus she will be part of my family, so she needs to like Cole and sissy a lot and be friends with Dunner."

"I'm glad you know what you want, Ben."

"The perfect lady. That's what I want. And we will have a happy life and I will smile all the time. Did you know that you would love Mac from the first time you seen him?"

"No, I didn't know right away. It's something that happened over a lot of years and neither one of us realized it very quickly. Sometimes love sneaks up on you like that."

"I never knowed that. What happens if love sneaks up when you don't want it? Like how Dunner likes girls for in the future but right now he just likes sports. What if love sneaks up on him?"

"I don't know. Maybe he will have to make himself ready. But you guys have a lot of years before love with sneak up on you like that, okay?"

"Okay. Maybe I won't have a broken heart over Charlotte no more. Because there's other girls in the sea, you know?"

"I know," she chuckled kissing his cheek. "Ben, you're the sweetest little man in the whole world."

"That's what mama says too! I must be real great."

"I think you are."

"Thanks Jo-Jo, that warms my heart."

She laughed and hugged him tightly, suddenly aware of how lucky she was to get to be a part of the kids' lives. She couldn't imagine what life would be like without their smiles and silly stories and countless hugs. It was like being a grandmother, something she'd wanted to be since the moment she'd figured out what a grandmother was. Being able to be so close to the kids without a genetic relation that forced it was quite simply one of her greatest blessings.

"I love you, Jo-Jo. Someday when I find my special lady, I can't wait for her to meet you. You two will get along I think."

"I think so too."

"I bet it will be 'bout the time I'm thirty. We will wait and see."

"Okay."

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, leaning back against her, running his fingers up and down her arm.

"Could I take a nap in your lap?" he asked softly. "It's cozy here."

"Sure sweetie," she answered, dropping a kiss to his forehead.

"Thanks Jo-Jo. You're the second most wonderful lady in all the world."

Ben shuffled his feet reluctantly as the rest of his class ran happily out of the classroom for recess. He'd caught a glimpse of Charlotte across the lunchroom earlier and he knew he needed to talk to her, her just wasn't sure where he was going to get the courage. Even now after being stood up, just looking at her gave him a good feeling in his heart.

"Hey Ben, want to play with us?" Junior asked, running up to greet him as he stepped onto the playground.

"In a bit. I gotta have a talk with Charlotte."

"Oh boy," Junior sighed, rolling his eyes. He thought girls were pretty too but he didn't know why anyone would waste so much time on them. Of course, he'd never completely understood his best friend anyway.

"Ain't ya gonna wish me luck?"

"Sure, good luck Ben."

"Thanks! I'll be right back."

He trotted off to the other side of the playground, cowering behind a garbage can and giving himself a pep talk before he puffed out his chest and walked across the bark chips to Charlotte who was waiting her turn for the tire swing. He stayed a few paces back for a moment, watching the way the sun shone on her hair, the way her bracelet glittered on her wrist and how she stood up tall as if she was the most powerful woman in the world. He really liked that about her.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked finally, taking a tentative step forward.

Charlotte dropped her eyes to the ground and nodded, following him a few feet away to stand under the shade of a tree.

"I just would like to know maybe if I did somethin' wrong and that's why you didn't meet me under the slide the other day," he started, leaning against the tree trunk and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"You didn't do anything wrong," she whispered, tucking her light hair behind her ears as the wind blew against them. "But I just couldn't make it."

"Why not?"

"Because… because I didn't have a dessert."

Ben was taken aback at this admittance. He was expecting that there was another man involved, or that Charlotte found him repulsive. He'd never even thought that this could be the reason he'd been left under the slide alone.

"My mom forgot to pack me one and so I didn't have one to bring out to the slide and I felt kind of bad about that so I just didn't come. Ben, do you hate me? I don't want you to hate me!"

"I don't hate you!" he assured with a crooked grin. "I would have shared my dessert with you anyway. It was Swiss Rolls and there's two in the package. And even if there was one, I would have broke it in half."

"Really?"

"Sure! I like you and I really wanted to have dessert with you."

"Maybe we could do it tomorrow instead! I will make sure my mom packs me something good."

"Okay! I will tell my mama too. She likes to give me special stuff in my lunch."

"I'm glad you're giving me a second chance."

"One thing you will learn about me Charlotte, is that I don't give up. I learned that lesson from my daddy and from superheroes."

Charlotte giggled and Ben grinned, feeling a warmth in his stomach that spread all over him, making his heart thump harder against his chest.

"Ben, you're real funny."

"Thanks! I like to make people laugh and be happy. Want to play?"

"Sure. What should we do?"

"Whatever you want. You always think of good games."

"Well that's what I like to do."

"Could I ask you something? Would you be my girlfriend?"

Charlotte giggled again, nodding as she slipped her hand into his.

"Okay. I think you're a really nice guy."

Ben beamed joyously as they ran across the playground together. It seemed that he was going to get to be the happiest guy on the planet after all.