Edgar sat in the guest room of his house that night, impatiently waiting for Alex's call. Starting around 7:30pm, he checked his phone every few minutes. This is ridiculous, he thought. I am reading way too much into this and I'm way too invested already.

Alex pulled into her parking lot at 8:11pm and turned the car off. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. Edgar had texted, "are you there yet?" She pulled up his number and hit call.

"Alex!" Trying to talk himself out of being so invested so soon? Pointless.

"Hey! I just pulled in to the parking lot at home. Haven't even gotten out of the car yet," she chuckled.

"Glad you made it there safe. Thanks for calling to let me know, I was worried about ya."

"I made it just fine. Thank you." He heard her smiling into the phone and it made him miss her presence even more.

"You must be exhausted."

"I am. I'm gonna head in, get a shower and head to bed pretty soon."
"Okay. I'll let you go but can I call you soon? In a day or two?"

"Yeah, any time."

"Alright. I'll talk to you soon."

"Good night, Edgar."

"Night Alex." He hung up and while he felt better that she'd made it home safely, he still felt sort of empty.

Edgar tucked his kids in to bed that night then retired to the guest room again. Lying in bed, unable to fall asleep, he scrolled through Alex's Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Alex was lying in her bed scrolling through the photos and videos that she and Edgar had taken on her phone. She came across the video of him telling her to be naked more and she laughed. He winked into the camera at the end of the brief video and she sighed happily to herself. Alex had a history of hating parts of her body and its imperfections but spending those two nights and three days with Edgar had shifted her thinking. He didn't acknowledge or say anything about what she considered flaws. He had seen her as a whole being and they had both greatly enjoyed each other's bodies. She felt better about herself not for Edgar but because he helped her see that she was awesome the way she was. Maybe I can be more comfortable with my naked self, she smiled. Deciding she had to get some sleep so she could get up and go to work in the morning, she set her phone down and turned off the light.

**** Tues 4/24 ****

Tuesday, Edgar and Alex texted back and forth a little bit. He was trying not to contact her too much; he didn't want to smother her despite the fact that he thought about her every minute of that day.

Wednesday, Alex was at work when someone brought a vase of flowers back to her in the office.

"Hey Trish."

"Hey Alex. These just got delivered for you!"

"For me?" She looked at her best friend and office mate, Lani and grinned.

"Must be from your new man," Lani smiled back.

"Probably! Thanks Trish." The deliverer from the front desk left the room and Alex pulled the card out of the bouquet. "I hope you're having a great week. I miss you already and hope to see you very soon. Edgar."

"Aww, that's so sweet!"

"It is," Alex smiled and smelled the flowers. "I've never gotten flowers delivered by a guy before. Not my ex-husband or anyone!"

"That's awesome. You deserve them."

"Thanks Lani."

That afternoon, Alex's son Austin was just getting home from school and raiding the fridge around 3:15 when his phone rang with a number he didn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is this Austin?"

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"My name is Edgar Hansen... I'm a friend of your mom's."

"Whoa, no way! What's up, Edgar?"

"I was thinking that me and my kids could come down and take you guys out to do something fun this weekend."

"Cool. How old are your kids?"

"I have a 17 year old daughter, who wouldn't be able to make it this weekend, and sons that are 14 and 10. So, what's fun to do down there?"

"Um, like movies or bowling or Bullwinkle's or something?"

"What's Bullwinkle's?"

"It has like bumper boats and go carts and mini-golf and arcade games and stuff. It's pretty cool."

"You wanna go?"

"Yeah. Sounds awesome!"

"Sweet. I'll call your mom after work and make plans. Nice talking to ya, kid. Sounds like I'll see you this weekend!"

"Awesome! Later Edgar!"

Alex walked in the door after work around 5:15 that night. Austin was sitting in the living room killing things on his PlayStation when she got home.

"Hey mom."

"Hello, my baby! How was your day?"

"Boring... but not bad."

"Well that's good." He finally looked at her and saw the flowers. "Where'd you get those?"

"Edgar sent them to me at work," she smiled.

"Oooh, mom's got a boyfriend!"

"Whatever," she laughed.

"I got to talk to your boyfriend today."

"What are you talking about?"

"He called to see if we wanna do something with him this weekend."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. He said he'll call you tonight."

"Interesting." She had just changed out of her work clothes and into her sweats when her phone rang. "Hello?" she smiled into the phone.

"Hey paparazzi," he smiled back. "How was your day?"

"I got the most amazing bouquet of flowers today!"

"Oh yeah? Who's been sending flowers to my lady friend?"

"They're from this super-funny, incredibly witty, smokin' hot guy I met..."

"Well he better back the hell off!" he laughed.

"Right," she giggled. "I really love the flowers, Edgar. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome."

"How was your day?"

"Good. Just hanging out with the kids. Helping my middle kiddo with his homework."

"Nice."

"Hey, I was hoping that you and me and our kids could do something this weekend. I talked to Austin earlier and he said something about Bullwinkle's?"

"You talked to Austin?" she chuckled.

"Yeah. Hope that's not overstepping or anything."

"I think it's cool. Yeah, we'd love to hang out with you guys this weekend. What are you thinking?"

"Well, I found a hotel just up the highway from you guys and thought we'd stay there Saturday night. The Best Western on Highway 99... Is that a decent location?"

"Oh yeah. It's only about 6 or 7 minutes from us."

"There's a pool too so I thought we could play in the pool for a while too... I mean if you guys like to swim."

"We do. That sounds like fun."

"Awesome! I know I'll talk to you before then but we'll probably head down there Saturday morning and get into town around 12 or 1. We'll check into the hotel then I'll call you. Does that work?"

"Yeah. Sounds great!"

"Great. Well, I know you just got home from work so I'll let you go and make dinner and hang out with Austin. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay. Bye Edgar."

"Bye Alex."

"Mom, you can't stop smiling!" Austin teased. "So is he your boyfriend now?"

"No... I mean, I don't think so. I don't know."

"But you want him to be?" She shrugged.

"I mean he's great and we had so much fun together... But he is still legally married and I really do need to get to know him better before we become a thing. Not that I even know for sure that's what's potentially happening here."

"Mom, that's totally what's happening here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, a hundred percent. But I get that you just met him."

"Alright, kiddo. I'm gonna make dinner."

"Kay-kay. Lemme know if you want help."

"Thanks, baby."

**** Friday 4/27 ****

The remainder of the week felt like it dragged on for an eternity for both Edgar and Alex. They kept in fairly close contact but talking and texting were no substitute for actually seeing each other. Friday night, Alex and Austin were watching Wheel of Fortune together when Edgar called.

"Hey!" she smiled into the phone.

"Hey! How was your day?"

"Not bad. I'm just hanging out with Austin now. How was your day?"

"Decent. Logan and Erik are looking forward to this weekend so we were just talking about it."

"Nice. Still hoping to get into town around 1ish?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

"Can I ask you something?" The seriousness in her voice concerned him.

"Of course. What's up?"

"Are your kids gonna hate me?"

"What? Why would they?"

"I mean, I don't know who they think I am to you or even what I really am to you and I don't want to upset them if they think I'm messing with their family or anything. I don't want them to think I'm trying to break up your marriage or anything..."

"You worry too much."

"That's accurate," she chuckled. "Sorry, I just want them to feel comfortable here."

"Don't be sorry. Being concerned about how my kids feel is super thoughtful and it's gonna be fine."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart. We can talk more tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll call you when we get into town."

"Okay. Good night, Edgar."

"G'night Alex." They hung up and she took a deep breath and looked at her son.

"I was babbling, wasn't I?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "But it was legit stuff so I wouldn't worry about it."

"He said I worry too much."

"He's not wrong!"

"I know," she smiled.

**** Saturday 4/28 ****

Edgar texted Alex in the morning to let her know that they were leaving Seattle to head south. She spent the next three-and-a-half hours worrying about meeting Logan and Erik... and cleaning the entire apartment in case they came over.

"Chill, fam," Austin told her as she put the vacuum away. "It's gonna be totally fine!"

"Okay," she chuckled. "I'm sure you're right."

"I usually am," he smiled his cheesiest smile making her laugh.

"True!"

By the time Edgar and the boys reached and checked in to the hotel, it was almost 1:30. The second they got into their room, he called Alex.

"You made it!"

"Finally!" he chuckled. "There was a lot of traffic through Portland."

"Yeah. It gets pretty crazy sometimes. Everything go okay otherwise?"

"Yep! The boys are psyched to be here and we're all looking forward to hitting Bullwinkle's."

"Nice! Want us to meet you at the hotel?"

"Yeah, we have an SUV that the five of us will fit in nicely. We're in room 239."

"Sweet. Me and Austin will head that way. We'll probably be there in like 15 or 20 minutes."

"Sounds great. We'll see you soon!" Edgar tucked his cell phone into his pocket and turned to face his kids. "What?" he smiled.

"Just a friend?" his older son asked with a knowing smirk on his face.

"I mean, yeah," he fibbed.

"That's not how a dude looks when he's talking to just a friend."

"You can tell us, Dad. We won't be mad." Edgar decided that he just needed to spill the truth so that he could act how he felt around Alex and so he could grant his boys the common courtesy of being honest.

"You sure?" They both nodded. "Okay... Alex is someone that I really, really like... Like a lot. I just don't want you guys to hate her because of what's going on between me and your mom. It's not Alex's fault. It's nobody's fault." His sons agreed not to hate her then hit him with a barrage of questions. When'd you meet? How'd you meet her? What's she like? What's her son like? What does your future with her look like? He answered them as carefully and generically as possible while waiting anxiously for Alex and Austin to arrive.

Austin knocked on the door and excitedly waited for one of his favorite "celebrities" to answer. Edgar knew how much Alex's son was looking forward to meeting him so he'd have to resist the urge to ignore everyone else and just take Alex into his arms and never let go. He took a deep breath then opened the door.

"Hey guys!" His eyes met hers and he nearly melted.

"Holy shit! I can't believe it's really you, Edgar!"

"Language, kiddo," Alex laughed.

"Sorry but holy shit, you're Edgar!"

"Yeah," Edgar chuckled and shook the teenager's hand. "Nice to meet ya, kid. Come on in guys." He shut the door behind them and gave Alex a long-overdue, warm embrace. "So damn good to see you."

"You too," she smiled. It looked like love in her eyes and he prayed he wasn't reading too much into things with her.

"Austin, this is Logan and Erik." Austin shook their hands and they said their hey's and what's up's to each other. "Guys, this is Alex." Her heart pounded as she shook the hands of Edgar's sons.

"It's really nice to meet you guys. Your dad talks about you and how proud he is of you all the time."

"Aww, thanks dad," Logan teased. "Nice to meet you Alex."

"Yeah," Erik agreed. "And thanks for the idea to go to Bullwinkle's. It sounds like it's gonna be awesome!" She gave Edgar a look, knowing that he'd told his kids it was her idea to go do something fun together to earn her some brownie points.

"You are welcome!"

"Why don't you guys head down to the car," Edgar suggested. "We'll be right down." The boys took the car keys and headed out the door leaving Edgar and Alex to finally greet each other properly. After kissing their hellos for a solid minute or two, he pulled back to smile at her. "God damn, I missed you."

"I missed you too! And as much as I'd love to stay here alone with you in a hotel room all day... I don't wanna make it weird for the boys and take too long to get out there."

"Dammit!" he laughed. "You're right as usual." He tucked the room key card into his wallet then took her hand to lead her down the elevator and outside. When they reached the SUV, the boys were all sitting in the backseat playing on their phones and talking about school activities and video games. Edgar and Alex buckled their seatbelts and smiled at one another. The boys sounded like they'd known each other forever.

"Everybody buckled?" Alex asked and a chorus of yeah's came back to her.

Twenty-five minutes later, the group of five were standing at the ticket counter at Bullwinkle's in Wilsonville trying to decide what games and attractions they wanted to do.

"Why don't you guys just get bracelets," Alex suggested. "Then you can do all the things." The boys excitedly agreed and Edgar reached for his wallet. "My treat."

"I'm not gonna let you do that."

"Oh, did I ask your permission?" she quipped, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking at him.

"Ooh, paparazzi is feeling a little bit feisty today!" He continued opening his wallet and pulled out his debit card.

"Edgar, your finances are none of my business but I don't think you're rich... Let me pay for some stuff."

"You'll get your chance, girlfriend."

"Let me pay half... Please." He finally conceded and they each handed their debit cards to the completely uninterested 19-year-old behind the counter. The boys got their bracelets and all took off to do who-knows-what, leaving Edgar and Alex to themselves for a while. They found an unoccupied bench outside near the mini-golf course and sat down together.

"Did I tell you I missed you?" he took her hand in his and smiled.

"Yeah." She gave his hand a loving squeeze and leaned over to kiss him. "I've been trying to figure out how to get some alone time with you this weekend without making it weird for the kids."

"You and me both, girl."

"So, Logan and Erik don't seem to hate me..."

"How could anyone hate you?"

"You know what I mean. I just don't want them to feel like I'm a threat to them or their family."

"They don't. They said they could tell by the way I looked when I talked on the phone to you that you weren't just some girl to me. They said they understood."

"The way you looked when you talked to me?" she smiled. "Please explain."

"You know," he shrugged shyly. "I guess I was just smiling and happy looking and stuff. I don't know."

"Edgar Hansen... Do you... like me or something?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Whatever!" she pushed him playfully and he grabbed her, pulling her close to kiss her again.

"Hey, what are you doing next weekend?"

"Not sure. What about you?"

"We're gonna do some cod fishing out in the Sound. You wanna come?"

"Really?" she grinned. "That would be so much fun! But would Sig and the other guys be okay with it?"

"Yeah. It's just one day and it'll just be you, me, Sig, Nick and Jake. It'll be great!"

"I'd love that!"

"Sweet! Can you come up Friday after work? We're planning on leaving early Saturday morning."

"Absolutely. Yay! I can't wait!"

"Me too."

Edgar, Alex and the boys all played a round of mini-golf toward the end of their four hour stint at the amusement park. She offered to pick up some take-out from somewhere and bring everyone over to the house for dinner. With a large bag of chicken teriyaki, rice and steamed veggies in hand, the five-some arrived home shortly before 7pm.

The boys wolfed down their portions then all went off to play video games in Austin's room. The two tired adults sat down on the couch together in the living room and turned the TV on.

"You look sleepy," she yawned over at him, making him laugh.

"You're yawning and I'm the sleepy one?"

"Okay, we're both sleepy." He kicked off his shoes and put his feet up on the coffee table before patting his thigh with his hand. She laid down beside him and rested her head on his leg. Mindlessly flipping through the channels with the remote in his left hand, he gently rubbed her upper arm with his right. "You're gonna make me fall asleep," she spoke softly.

"Me too." He tucked a small throw pillow behind his head and leaned back, closing his eyes.

When the boys came out to raid the snack cupboard an hour later, they saw their respective parents dozing on the couch. Austin pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a couple of pictures of them to text to his mom. Having seen what a crappy husband his dad had been for so many years, Austin longed to grow up to be a good, kind, attentive man. Seeing how Edgar was treating his mom made him happy. All Alex ever wanted to do was show her family how much she loved them and how much they meant to her. She definitely deserved the same love and appreciation in return. The boys quietly returned to Austin's room and sat back down on his bed.

"Your mom seems pretty nice," Erik noted.

"Yeah. I got lucky in the mom department. Your dad seems cool too."

"He's gone kind of a lot but I know it's for work so he can take care of us."

"How come him and your mom broke up?"

"I don't know. They just stopped getting along or liking each other or whatever. It's not like they hate each other or yell or argue all the time or anything. They just kinda stopped caring the way they used to, I guess. My sister's taking it harder than we are."

"Yeah, she's like 'team-mom' and we're just like we want them both to be happy and right now neither of them is so... If not being together make them happier, then whatever."

"Where's your dad?" Logan asked.

"I spend like four or five days with him then a week or 10 days with my mom. Or whatever works out. They got divorced a long time ago. My dad's kind of a dick."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Nope. Just me."

"Maybe we'll end up being your brothers," Erik chuckled.

"That'd be cool," Austin shrugged. Having had enough discussion about real-life stuff, they went back to battling aliens and monsters on the PS4.

Alex woke up shortly thereafter and carefully got up so as not to disturb Edgar. She used the bathroom then went to check on the boys.

"Hey guys," she poked her head in the door and smiled.

"Hey mom."

"Whatcha playing?"

"Mortal Kombat."

"Did you play Jade for me?"

"Duh! Of course I did... but she got her butt whooped."

"Oh dang."

"You play this?" Logan asked.

"Not very well but yeah," she chuckled. "I'm sure Austin can tell you all about how bad I am at it."

"You just need practice. Here Erik, take over. BRB." Austin stepped out of the room and closed the door. "Look, I took these pictures." He showed her the shots of her and Edgar sleeping on the couch.

"Aww, they're so cute."

"I sent them to you."

"Thanks, babe." She kissed her son on the side of his head.

"He seems really cool, mom. And he is totally into you... like no turning back kind of into you."

"I see it too," she smiled. "How's it going with the boys?"

"Good! They're cool too."

"Hey," Edgar came down the hallway and greeted them.

"Good morning," Alex teased. "Feel better?"

"Yeah. How are my rug rats doing in there?" He opened Austin's door and went inside. "How's it going, guys?"

"We're good. Austin's playing Mortal Kombat with us."

"Nice. Hey are you guys gonna want to go swimming at the hotel tonight? The pool closes in like 2 hours."

"Can we just go in the morning?" Seeing how comfortable and content his kids were hanging out with Austin, he agreed.

"Absolutely, buddy. Your old man's gonna need to hit the hay in an hour or so, though. Driving back up to Seattle tomorrow after the pool and whatever else we do."

"So just stay here." Erik suggested. "Then you can go to bed whenever." Edgar looked back over his shoulder at Alex.

"We do have sleeping bags and blankets and pillows if you guys want to stay. I could make breakfast in the morning," she offered.

"Can we?" Logan asked his dad hopefully.

"Yeah," Edgar spoke to his son but smiled at Alex. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Sweet!" Austin brought sodas and chips into his room and that was the last Edgar and Alex would see of the boys that night.

Shutting the light off and climbing under the blankets together, the lovebirds snuggled up facing one another in the middle of her queen sized bed. Moon light flooded the room just enough that they could see each other's faces.

"I've tried real hard," he swept the backs of his fingers across her cheek and spoke softly. "Not to fall too fast, Alex. But I cannot deny how I feel about you." She smiled and just listened. "The way you treated my boys today was so cool and I can tell they like you. I really like Austin too." She leaned up on her elbow and leaned down to him.

"What are you saying?" her lips brushed lightly against his ear when she whispered to him.

"I wanna be with you." She looked down into his eyes and let him continue. "I want this to be real and official. I want people to know that you're with me. Hell, I want everyone to know that you're with me. I can only think about the long-term when I think about you. Where will we be in five years? Ten years? What will we be doing?"

"Really?"

"Really. And I don't know how or where else to begin but will you be my girlfriend? Like for all the world to see?"

"Yes." He pulled her down into a slow, warm kiss and made her feel his love for her.

"You wanna go make out in the shower?"

"Yes," she laughed. "Come on."