“And if she ever seems sad, it’s not because of you. You make her really happy.”

“I know.” Nolan nodded even faster this time. “She tells me that.”

“Good.” Blair kissed the top of Nolan’s head and tried to ignore all of the mixed emotions swirling through her body. “As long as you know that, that’s all that matters.” Enough of this sappy shit, though. Keeping my lives separate , Blair reminded herself once again. She hopped off of the bed and held her hand out toward Nolan. “Are you ready to go to the pool?”

She didn’t have to ask twice. Nolan was off of the bed and out the bedroom door before Blair could process what was happening. She caught up to him on the stairs and led him through the house and out of the sliding door in the dining room that led to the pool. Nolan’s reaction to the pool was about the same as it had been to the rest of the house, and Blair had to quickly take off her shirt and shorts to keep him from jumping in before she managed to put on his swimmies.

After swimming for a few hours, they took a break to eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips she had packed for them. As soon as he took his last bite, Nolan jumped right back into the pool. They hadn’t been in there very long when Blair’s mom walked through the sliding door.

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

Her mom laughed. “This is  my house.”

“I know, but shouldn’t you still be at work?”

“I get off early on Mondays. I have for years. You never realized that?”

Blair shrugged. Talk about worlds colliding . At least it was only Nolan with her and not a certain someone else.

“And who is this?” her mom asked as she knelt in front of the pool.

“I’m Nolan!” he answered with a giggle.

“Hi, Nolan. It’s very nice to meet you. Blair has told me so much about you.”

“Bear told you about me?”

Blair’s mom nodded. “She told me how much fun you two have together. But you know what? You’re even cuter than I thought you would be.”

“I know.” Nolan put his hand over his mouth and giggled again.

When her mom stood back up, she focused her attention on Blair. “What are you two doing here? I thought you normally went swimming at the public pool.”

“Bear said someone shit in it,” Nolan answered before she could.

“Blair Dallas Breckenridge, you do not use that sort of language around a young child, do you?”

Blair could feel her face turning red in response to her mom using her middle name. “It slipped…?”