“It’s seriously no big deal. I would’ve done the exact same thing.” Erin pulled away from Nolan but kept her eyes on his. “What do you say we stay back here away from the water? We can play in the sand and make sandcastles.”

Nolan took a few deep breaths and nodded slowly. “Okay.”

They found an empty spot and put down their towels. Blair volunteered to walk back down to the ocean to put water in a bucket so they could have wet sand to build with. Once she was back, the three of them got to work and Nolan quickly forgot about his fight with the ocean waves. They had only been at the beach for a few hours when Erin noticed Nolan could barely keep his eyes open.

“Are you tired, buddy?” Erin asked him.

Nolan shook his head, but he wiped a sandy hand over his eyes, which made him have a complete meltdown because his eyes hurt. While Erin helped Nolan wipe the sand off of his face and out of his eyes, Blair gathered their towels and beach toys back into bags without even being asked.

When Nolan let them know he couldn’t possibly walk all the way back to the hotel, Blair offered to carry him, which made Erin have to fight to hold back tears because she was so thankful. She wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without Blair, and she wished she knew how to properly thank her. They weren’t even halfway back to the hotel before Nolan passed out in Blair’s arms. He was so tired he didn’t even wake up when she laid him down on the bed. Erin pointed out the door toward the other room of their suite and she and Blair tiptoed out, shutting the door behind them as quietly as possible.

Erin squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable “Mommy,” but it never came. She took a deep breath and blew it out then threw herself onto the small couch that took up a big portion of the extra room of their suite.

Blair flopped down beside her and laid her head against the back of the couch. “No wonder my parents were always tired when I was growing up. I don’t know how you do this by yourself most days.”

Erin sighed. She had gotten so used to having Blair around so much of the time she almost forgot she was doing this alone. “It’s not easy, but I also don’t have a choice.”

Blair turned her head and stared at Erin for a long time before she said anything. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re fucking amazing. Nolan’s the luckiest little boy in the entire world to have you as his mom.”