I didn’t eat much since the nerves in my stomach were all over the place. I kept holding my breath and waiting for him to tell me he hates me and that no one is going to love his dad. But none of that happened; it was the opposite. He sat there with a huge smile on his face the whole time, while he ate two huge plates of my mac and cheese. And then when he took a shower and came out in his pjs, I wanted to hug him and smell his hair. Instead, I blinked away the tears, watching Jacob be a dad. I always knew he would be a great father, but seeing it is so much more.

We ate apple pie, which is now Ethan’s favorite, and he asked if he could bring a piece to school tomorrow, so I already cut and packed it for his lunch. I sat listening to Ethan rehearse his nighttime story, and just when I thought my heart couldn’t get fuller than it was before, it almost explodes.

Jacob comes to the couch after turning off the lights, and he lies down and takes me with him. After kissing and him holding me and me almost falling asleep, I got up and got ready to go, except he was hijacking all my stuff.

“Jacob, please,” I beg, and he grabs my hand, turning and walking to the kitchen where he turns off all the lights except for the light on the stove and then walks to his bedroom. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I think we are thinking too much, and we should get into bed.” He tosses my things down on the bench in front of the bed. “How is this? I will set the alarm for six thirty.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Okay, fine, six because I want to get some loving before Ethan gets up at seven.”

“Oh, no way, mister,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s one thing for me to sleep here but something else entirely for us to have sex here with your son five feet away from us.” I point at the door. “This is not even an option.”

“Let’s play it by ear.” He winks at me, and I just roll my eyes. “Do you want to shower first, or should we?”

“I’m not even going to give you an answer to that question,” I say, and he goes to the bag and takes all my stuff with him. “What are you doing?”