Page 89 of As the Years Pass

“They’re for you, actually.”

“For me?” Judy asks in a whisper.

“Well, some of them. Can I come in?”

“My god, yes.” I laugh. “Sorry.”

I step aside and let him in. He bends down on one knee. Therearea dozen roses, but they’re split into three sections. I hadn’t realized that. He hands one to Judy and one to Ian, the last staying in his hand.

“For boys?” Judy asks with a frown, looking at Ian.

“Everyone should get flowers on Valentine’s Day,” Emmet says, getting to his feet and handing the last bunch to me.

“Where are yours then?” she asks.

“They’re at work, actually,” he answers.

“Are they as pretty as these?”

“Hm… not quite. I picked the best out for you three.”

“Thank you, Emmet,” she says, hugging him again.

“Thanks, Emmet!” Ian says, running after Judy.

“Those need to be in water!” I shout after them, but they don’t stop. They run right back to the living room.

“I’m not staying,” Emmet repeats.

“I’m not upset you’re here. It’s a nice surprise.”

“I was worried.”

“Why?” I ask as I check on the water. It seems just about done, but I’ll give it another minute or two.

“One: you’re here with your kids, and we don’t usually see each other on Fridays because of it. Two: I showed up with flowers, and I know you haven’t said anything to them yet. I didn’t want it to be weird, I just wanted to see you smile.”

I lean in to kiss him, letting it linger for a moment, despite my better judgment. “It was so nice. I love that you stopped by, and your explanation was perfect. Thank you for doing this. I think it’s a good start to letting them know about us.”

“Are you staying?” Judy asks as she walks over,withouther flowers.

“Where are the flowers? They’ll die.”

“Ian is holding them. He looks cute.” She giggles.

“I wasn’t going to stay. Just wanted to drop off the flowers,” Emmet says.

“But we’re having hot chocolate, and you should have some too. I have a unicorn mug you can use. I don’t like unicorns anymore.”

“That’s too bad because I love unicorns.”

“You do?” she asks, almost like she doesn’t believe him.

“Um, yeah.” He bends down, lowering his voice. “I hear they poop glitter, and that’s cool.”

She gasps, then makes a disgusted face.

“Well, you can have this one then because I still don’t like them even if they do poop glitter. Poop is yucky.”