“Zoey seems like a kindhearted girl, but tread carefully with children who seem mature for their age. It’s not uncommon for only children like Hazel to be seen that way, but sometimes it’s a bit of an act to hide their fears.” He shrugged. “They’re mimicking what they see, and what they see most in their world is adults. So they act like adults without being an adult.”

Mike did his best to tamp down the panic rising inside him. How could he possibly relate to a teenage girl when he had no idea if she was pretending to be mature beyond her years? Mary had said more than once that Hazel had always been a miniature version of Zoey. Was she mimicking her mother, or did she really have Zoey’s strength of spirit? Maybe Zoey’s worries were justified—Hazel could be more fragile than he’d thought. He looked between Joe and Logan.

“Where do I even begin?”

Logan scrubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t help you much when it comes to girls. Lily was four when Piper and I met, and she fell for me before her mom did. She called me her giant.” That made total sense—Logan was well over six foot and built like a mountain. “Ethan was around Hazel’s age, but...he was a boy. It was like dealing with a younger version of me—a sullen, moody teenager who was mad at the world. I understood him, and I respected his need to be the man of the house.” He paused. “If it helps, what worked for me and Ethan was honesty—I laid it all out on the line, man-to-man, and reassured him that I wasn’t taking over, and that his mom could love me and still love him and Lily just the same as always. It was touch and go for a while, but he finally let me in.”

“Honesty is always a good place to start,” Joe said. “But you can’t work on winning Hazel’s approval until Zoey is ready to share your relationship with her daughter. It’s not your place to go against a mother’s wishes.”

“I know, Father Joe. I think the sooner we tell her, the better, but every time I bring it up, I get reminded that...” He formed air quotes with his fingers. “... I’m not a parent.”

“Ouch,” Logan said. “That’s why you asked me if I was a real dad?”