Blair was surprised when she walked into the house and Nolan ran over to greet her. “Bear! Mommy says we are having special day, then I’m having special night with Mommy.”

Blair knelt down and held her hand out for a high five. “That’s so cool, buddy.”

When Nolan hit her hand hard with his own, a warmth spread throughout Blair’s body. In the two weeks she had been babysitting him, she really had grown to love him. Sure, he had his moments that made her want to rip her hair out, and he had conned her into taking him to McDonald’s three more times since the last trip, but he was also a huge sweetheart and incredibly funny. Well, as funny as a three-year-old could be. They always had fun together, but this was the first day Nolan had actually acted excited that she was there. Every other day, it had taken him time to warm up to her and get over the belief that she had stolen him from his mom. It might be strange how happy it made her that this three-year-old wanted to spend time with her, but Blair didn’t care. She was going to enjoy the moment.

“I’m happy you’re excited to spend time with me.”

Nolan scrunched up his nose and looked toward the kitchen counter where his mom was hunched over, intently focused on something on her computer. “I’m more excited about my time with Mommy, but we’ll have fun too.”

Ouch. Shot to the heart. That’s okay, though. Blair would take what she could get.

“And guess what else?” Nolan jumped up and down in front of her as if he was on a pogo stick. “Mommy is going to eat lunch with us.”

Blair inadvertently licked her lips. I’ll definitely take that.

Three hours after locking herself in a room upstairs, Erin came down to join them for lunch, as promised. “Who wants mac and cheese?” she asked, as she opened the door to the refrigerator.

Blair figured Erin was getting milk to make macaroni and cheese from a box, so she was shocked when Erin took out a Tupperware container and opened it to reveal homemade mac and cheese. Blair pointed to the container as though it were a fine piece of art. She was sure her mouth was hanging open in awe. “You made that?”

Erin nodded. “It was our dinner last night.”

“You came home from work last night and made homemade mac and cheese for dinner?” Who was this woman? Superwoman? She definitely wasn’t human. She was like no one Blair had ever met. That could also be because she was older and a fully functioning adult, but she had to assume not all single parents worked a long day, came home to their son, and still  found the energy to make macaroni and cheese that wasn’t from a box.