Blair joined in with Nolan’s chanting, which continued until they were all safely in their seats and on the way to the carnival. Blair watched Erin as she drove, taking in every little thing she did, from the way she bit her lip when she made a turn to the small smile she got every time Nolan said something ridiculous. She had one hand on the steering wheel and the other was resting on the middle console, and all Blair could think about was reaching out and taking it in hers.

When she tentatively rested her hand beside Erin’s, Erin quickly looked over at it, before putting all of her focus back on the road. A few seconds passed, and Blair was about to pull her hand away when Erin intertwined their fingers. Blair could barely focus on the conversation for the rest of the car ride, because all she could think about was that hand in hers.

After parking at the carnival, it was a different hand that found hers this time. As soon as they were out of the car and Erin told Nolan that he needed to hold someone’s hand, he took Blair’s. As they walked around the front of the car to where Erin was standing, she looked at their hands and smiled, but there was also something else in her gaze. A little bit of jealousy?

Blair held out the hand that wasn’t holding Nolan’s and wiggled her fingers. “I have another one, you know.”

Erin gave her the sweetest smile before grabbing onto her hand and squeezing it tightly like she was worried Blair might actually let go. As if.

“No.” Nolan pointed right at their interlocked fingers. “I want to hold both hands.”

Even though she could see it in Erin’s face that she wanted to let go of Blair’s hand just as little as Blair wanted to let go of hers, they both did since they understood that Nolan was the priority.

They walked like this throughout the carnival, Nolan only dropping their hands to play games or go on rides. After hours of games and rides, they had all worked up an appetite, so they shared a big bucket of chicken fingers and fries, then got ice cream at Nolan’s request. As they walked toward the Ferris Wheel, which Erin miraculously agreed to ride on with them, Nolan pointed to a little girl sitting on her dad’s shoulders, then looked up at Blair. “I ride on you!”

Blair shrugged. “Sounds good to me!”

As she was picking him up, Erin started to laugh. “I hope you realize what a terrible idea this is. You’re definitely going to end up with ice cream in your hair.”

Blair shrugged again. “It is what it is.” Nothing could ruin this day. She was sure of that.