"Mommy," Jasmine shouted once she spotted me. She’d forgotten all about our talk regarding inside voices. "You should've seen my solo. You were right. Even though I didn’t get to practice with the children's choir, I didn't mess up."

I hugged my daughter. "I knew you would be awesome. Auntie Dru recorded it for me, so I'll get to watch it again and again."

Dru nodded as she stood. "Who wants a Frappuccino?"

"Me!" both Jasmine and Jayden sang in unison.

Dru took their hands and led them up toward the counter, leaving me and Jeremy alone. It was an awkward silence which was amplified because of just how crazy this was. Who would've thought the two of us would ever be at a loss for words in each other’s presence?

"How are you?" Jeremy finally said as he reached in for a hug.

Inside his embrace, I inhaled the fragrance of his cologne, then stepped back. "I'm well. What about you?”

He began to nod slowly as he glanced over at Jasmine and Jayden at the counter. "I’m well and I’m happy." He turned back to me. "Thank you for letting them come. This was a big day for me."

“You’re welcome,” I said.

And then, the silence returned. I shifted from one five-inch boot heel to the other, once again marveling at how crazy it felt to be in his presence. But though we talked often about the children, this was the first time we were face to face since I’d rolled out of our driveway heading to Dallas. He’d been to Dallas dozens of times to visit the children and to see them over the holidays, the visits always facilitated by my mother. But even though he’d asked to have Christmas dinner with us, I hadn’t been ready. And now that he stood here in front of me, I wondered if I’d been ready even now.

When I glanced back at my ex, Jeremy was studying me and a mist glazed his eyes. "You...look...stunning."

"Thank you." I wondered if the polite thing to do was to ask about his other son, but I decided I definitely wasn’t ready for that. It wasn’t like he and Sharonne had a relationship. I wouldn’t have been able to ever see Jeremy with someone like her; she was exactly what First Lady Eunice had told me all those years ago: Sharonne was good for a roll in the bed, but she’d never stand next to Jeremy at the altar.

Turned out First Lady Eunice had been right. My mother had told me (again, though Lizzy) that Jeremy was taking care of Andre and he was present in his life. But beyond co-parenting, he had no relationship with Sharonne.

Trying to fill the silence, I said to Jeremy, "I heard the sermon today was, how did Dru put it, fire.”