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Sophie squealed and hugged me again before saying goodbye to Juniper and doing their special handshake that involved fist bumps and hip bumping and high fives. It was a whole thing.

“Have fun, Larison,” Sophie sang. “You’d better give me all the details.”

“I will,” I said, and she left.

“Hey, Juni, why don’t we pick up before Jo gets here?”

“Okay!” She cooperated with me in picking up the house.

“Is Jo Jo staying for dinner?” Juniper asked. I assumed she would, since it was close to dinner time.

“I think so. Should we make something for her?”

Juniper liked that idea, so I looked through the fridge and freezer to see what we had on hand. There were still a few meals that Jo had made for us last week in there. She was so generous. I wanted to try and do the same for her.

I had some chicken and mixed up a quick marinade and I could throw some rice in the rice cooker, some veggies in the air fryer. It wasn’t fancy, but it would be good.

Before she showed up, though, I made a little snack plate that Juniper kept trying to sneak little bits of cheese from.

“Save some for Jo,” I told her when I caught her the third time.

My heart didn’t normally jump when someone knocked on my door, but it did that time because I knew who was on the other side.

Jo.Josephine. She seemed to enjoy it when I used her full first name so I was definitely going to do it more often.

“Hey,” Jo said, beaming at me.

“Hi,” I breathed, moving toward her and stopping myself at the last second. Right. We weren’t doing anything in front of Juniper. My daughter. Who was now throwing herself at Jo.

“Hey, PJ! Did you have fun with Auntie Sophie?”

Juniper dragged Jo inside and over to the couch, showing her the plate of snacks and telling her what she’d done today with Sophie.

Jo gave Juniper her attention and for half a second, I was jealous. Then Jo looked up at me and winked and I had to clench my hands into the arm of the couch so I didn’t reach for her and just yank her into my arms.

“Jo Jo, will you do my hair?” Juniper asked.

“Hey, how about we let Jo sit and relax, Juni?” I said, but Jo shook her head at me.

“I would love to do your hair, Princess. Go get the stuff.”

Juniper dashed off to the bathroom and I sat on the couch next to Jo.

“You don’t have to do all that stuff.”

She reached out and squeezed my thigh before pulling her hand back. “I want to. I promise. I love doing it.”

Juniper came back with a brush and handfuls of accessories that she dumped in my lap.

Juniper crawled between us and rested against Jo.Something about the way they were so comfortable with each other made my eyes want to tear up.

Jo gently brushed out Juniper’s hair and then carefully braided it in sections before pinning those sections to Juniper’s head in a twisted crown.

Every now and then I would hand her some crackers or a piece of cheese since her hands were busy with the braids. Every time we touched, I’d get a little rush of heat at the contact. Jo kept smiling at me and her cheeks would flush so I didn’t think I was the only one who had a reaction.

Juniper was unaware, singing to herself and asking both of us random questions. That was another thing I hadn’t exactly prepared for when having a kid. The constant strange questions that I sometimes didn’t know how to answer. And the older she got, the more her questions would probably stump me.

“Mama, can we get a dog?”