Two weeks later, after talking and texting nightly on the phone, Lucas and Elizabeth finally saw each other at their parenting class and both were really looking forward to their date after.
Lucas pulled her chair next to his so not only their chairs were touching but they could hold hands easier. He winked at her and threaded their fingers together. He felt like a teenager and his first crush.
She felt such relief and nerves seeing him again. "I missed you," she whispered into his ear, making him blush.
Molly smiled at them from the front of the class. Thankfully, she didn't draw attention to them. She just continued talking about the importance of finding time to spend one-on-one, quality time with your child.
"Are there any parents here that already make this a priority?" she asked.
Lucas raised his hand that wasn't occupied with Beth's.
"Lucas." He stood, keeping her hand in his.
"I can say with certainty that I am not a pro at this yet but I do try to talk to both of them after school separately. I try to dig into how school went that day and find out if they are worried about anything."
"That's an awesome place to start, Lucas."
Lucas sat back down, his hand still holding hers. Right now, he was doing as much as he could for the kids. He felt helpless a lot of the time but this week, now that both kids weren't sick anymore, Beth would be coming over to help Ace read. So he could do something with Amie at that time.
Later, they entered the diner where they often spent time after class and sat down on the same side of the booth.
"Hey Lucas, Beth. Welcome," Henry greeted them from the kitchen.
"Hey, Henry."
"Do you want the usual?" he asked.
"Yes, please."
"So, I have a thought," Lucas said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "And a question."
"Okay."
"I think we need a date. Just you and me, not here at the diner and not at our houses where little ears are everywhere."
"I agree."
"So the fall carnival is in town in Providence and I wondered if you might want to go with me?"
"I haven't been to the carnival in forever. Yes, I'd love to go." She blushed as she pictured and hoped for the very handsome man next to her to kiss her on top of the ferris wheel.
"You're beautiful when you blush," he said quietly, his eyes roaming her face, stopping briefly on her mouth.
"Thank you."
"I missed you too," he told her, responding to her admission from earlier. "Would you like to take a walk down to the park?"
"Yes." Where she hoped he would kiss her for the first time as they listened to the ducks and geese at the pond.
"Henry, can we take our dessert to go, please?" he asked, bringing her hand to his mouth. She sighed, imagining the gentle pressure of his lips on hers. The slight scrape of his beard on her skin.
"You got it."
They were on their way within about three minutes. "Lucas?"
"Hm?"
They stopped on the sidewalk and she reached up, touching his beard. "I know that this is not the best place," she started, pausing when he leaned down, hesitating. "Are you ready? If not, I understand but…"
"I'm ready, Beth. I was thinking about the ferris wheel but…I don't, we don't have to wait."
"Oh thank goodness," she muttered, bringing her mouth up to his. That heavenly sensation she had imagined a lot over the last few months was now reality and she wasn't afraid of it or what it meant anymore. His hands rested on her hips, holding her close and right where he wanted her.
She pulled back too soon for his liking but that kiss had stirred something inside his heart. He may want to go slow, but this gorgeous single mom was who he was going to marry one day. She would be his kid's Mom and he would be Nora's Daddy.
He wrapped her up in his arms and they held onto each other for a few long moments.
"Should we go to the park?" she asked with a laugh. "I mean, we could stay here, but it is quieter and less…public."
"Yeah, lets go."
….
Elizabeth was feeling amazing by the time they walked back to their cars. He opened her door for her and stepped closer, a new light in his eyes. "So, what do you think about riding to class together next week?"
"I say let's do it."
Her phone buzzed again in her back pocket. She had been ignoring it while they spent their evening but she pulled it out, putting a hand on his waist while she answered it. She didn't want him to step away. He smelled way too delicious for that.
"Vi?"
"Hey, I'm getting sick, Beth. I don't think I can watch Nora tomorrow."
"Oh. Okay. I will figure something out. I will be home soon."
"Everything okay?" he asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"I need a sitter for Nora tomorrow. Vi is sick and I need to work."
"I can watch her."
"Are you sure? It will be from like 7:30 to 3:30. That's a long day with a three year old."
"I'm sure. She loves me." Truthfully, Lucas was extremely fond of the little girl too.
Elizabeth almost blurted something that she wouldn't be able to take back so she bit her lip. That drew his attention to her mouth and set off a domino effect of affection that neither wanted to stop. Now that he knew what kissing her was like, he wouldn't be able to keep from doing that when the opportunity was there.
"Um," she said, pulling back a few long moments later. "I'll see you around 7:15 then?"
He gave her one more dreamy kiss and nodded. "7:15."
"Bye."
"Night, Beth. Sweet dreams."
Oh, they would be.
…..
Next morning
"Daddy, I don't want to go to school if Nora is going to be here with you. I want to play with her."
"Babydoll, I'm sorry. You can't stay home from school. But I'm going to try to convince Miss Elizabeth to stay for dinner."
"Okay. I guess that's alright. Did you kiss her yet?"
He laughed and picked Amie up. "Why do you think I'm going to kiss her?"
"You said you were going on a date. That's what people do on dates, isn't it?"
"That's not all that people do on dates, Ames."
"So did you?"
"Know what? Its time to go eat breakfast. I'm going to wake up your brother."
He put her down and watched her skip to the dining room.
"Ace?" Lucas said softly, walking into the master. "Bud? Time to wake up."
Ace stared at Lucas and smiled. "Hi, Dad. Guess what."
"What?"
"I didn't have bad dreams."
"You didn't! That's awesome, bud. I'm so glad."
"Me too." Ace stood up and gave Lucas a hug, holding on a bit longer than usual. "I love you, Dad. Thank you for keeping me safe."
"I love you more."
Ace walked off to the bathroom and Lucas headed to his own to brush his teeth and hair and get ready for his day with Nora. He let a few tears fall from the sheer happiness of Ace finally sleeping well as he brushed his teeth.
"I can't find my skirt, Daddy," Amie yelled from her room a few minutes later.
"Oh! Its in the dryer. One second, babydoll."
Before he knew what was happening, the doorbell rang. "Miss Elizabeth is here, Ace. Can you let her in, please?"
"Okay, Dad."
"Are you excited, Nora?" Elizabeth asked her, bouncing her on her hip.
"Yay! Daddy!"
"Can you say Lucas?"
"No. Daddy."
The door opened and Ace stood there.
"Hey, bud. You look like you slept well."
"I did! I didn't have any bad dreams."
"Wow! That's so great."
"Come in, please," he said, stepping back. "Are you going to help me with my reading tomorrow night?"
"I am. I wouldn't miss it."
"Cool."
Lucas walked up and Nora reached. "Daddy, up!"
"Hi, buggy boo. Ready to take Ace and Amie to school with me?"
"I will put her backpack and her car seat in your truck."
"I'm taking the sedan today. I'll help you. Ace, Amie. Five minutes and you need to be in the car. Got it?"
They nodded and scampered off. Elizabeth followed Lucas to the garage. It was large. Four car, two of which were taken up by his fancy BMW sedan and Cadillac SUV.
Elizabeth knew he did well for himself. She'd known that from the beginning when she was decorating the kids' rooms. He told her that he owned three real estate companies in various states which didn't require very much interaction from him. He was set and that allowed him to do the best job he could as a parent.
"Beth?"
"Hm?"
"You okay?"
"Yes. Of course." She handed him Nora's backpack. "There are two sets of clothes, pull-ups and her sippy cups in there."
"Sounds good. Do you want to stay after you get back and have dinner here?"
"Sure."
"Great." He smiled at her, looked behind him and not seeing the older two, bent down to kiss her softly. "Hi."
"Hi."
"You okay today? You seem off a bit."
"Just…this relationship is new. Its good, great even, just maybe I expect things to go south eventually. It doesn't make sense. You definitely aren't Trevor."
"Beth," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her. "I won't ever cheat on you."
"I know that, logically. I trust you."
"But…"
"No buts. I'm glad we are going to go slow. Get to know each other as well as possible before…"
"Before..?"
"Before we maybe move on to more serious levels of a relationship."
"I need that too. Slow and steady wins the race, they say."
"Am I the turtle?" she teased.
"You're the prize."
"Mama! I ready!" Nora said, from inside the car where her carseat had not been put yet.
"Is it time to go, Daddy?" Amie asked, her shoes on the wrong feet.
Lucas squeezed Elizabeth's hand and looked at Amie. "Shoes, babydoll. They are on the wrong feet."
"Again?"
"Sorry, honey."
Elizabeth walked over to Amie and helped her so Lucas put Nora's car seat in the car and buckled her in.
After Amie was squared away, she saw Ace staring. "Bud?"
"Are you and Dad going to get married?"
Elizabeth ran her hand through Ace's disheveled hair and smiled. "Not right away. We are just getting to know each other."
"But you might? I need a mom and Amie definitely needs a mom. And don't tell him I said this, but Dad needs a wife so he doesn't have to do everything himself."
"That's very sweet, Ace. That you are looking out for your Dad."
"Dad's the best."
"Ace, hop to it, son."
"Coming, Dad."
Ace hugged Elizabeth and then rushed off.
"Bye, Mama!" Nora yelled, waving through the window, a huge smile on her face.
Yeah, Nora would be fine with "Daddy."
Lucas started to pull out and rolled down his window. "Hey, Beth?"
She walked over and raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"
"I'll see you later."
"Yes, see you later." She didn't know what came over her but she walked closer and bent in his door and kissed him goodbye.
"I knew it!" Amie yelled. "Woohoo!"