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Alice reached for the remote and paused the movie. “Are you going to marry her?”
My heart caught in my throat. I'd been dragging my heels on talking to Luna and maybe it was because I needed to have this conversation first.
“If you marry her, will she become my mom?” Alice's face filled with hope.
I swallowed. “If that's what you want and what she wants. But I haven't talked to her about that yet. I would never talk to her about marriage without talking to you about it first.”
Alice raised a brow. “That's why we're talking about it now, duh.”
I went in for a tactical tickle. “Let's not use the word duh, it's not nice.”
She squealed. “No tickles.”
I stopped immediately. “No tickles and no ‘duhs,’ got it?”
She sighed as if this was a major concession. “Fine.”
“But seriously, would you be okay if I asked Luna to move in with us?”
“She already lives next door, and she's here most nights.”
I dragged a hand through my hair. “That's true.”
“If she wants to live with us, she should.” Then Alice grabbed another handful of the buttery popcorn and turned the movie back on.
My jaw dropped. “So, I guess we’re done talking now.”
“Shhh, Dad. The movie's on.”
I stifled a laugh and shut my mouth.
* * *
I fell asleep on the couch after putting Alice to bed, waking frequently to make sure I didn't miss any notifications from Luna. I wanted to make sure she got home safe.
When I hadn’t heard from her by two, my willpower ran out, so I texted her.
Beck
I miss you. Is Darnell driving you home from the club tonight?
While I waited for a reply, I cleaned up the kitchen and put some water in the electric kettle so that Luna could have a cup of herbal tea when she came over tonight.
I assumed she planned to come over.
Beck
The kettle is hot. The tea bag is in the cup.
Luna
I’m really hoping that's a euphemism for something.
I smiled, happy to get a response.
Beck
Let's explore that.