Page 72 of Faking It With My Pucking Protector

“Daddy.” Liam’s voice is quiet. “Do you think Ava will like our costumes?”

I glance at him in the mirror. His brow is furrowed under the helmet, his fingers nervously tapping on his plastic sword.

“She’s going to love them, buddy.”

He nods, some of the tension easing from his shoulders, and something inside me does the same.

When I pull into the community center’s parking lot, Liam and Noah scramble to grab their props. I turn around to face them.

“You boys ready to impress?”

Liam gives a tentative nod, eyes flicking toward the building.

Noah pumps his tail in the air. “Dragon’s always ready.”

The lobby doors swing open with a quiet hiss, and we step into a swirl of color and kid-sized chaos.

Liam clings to my side immediately, his fingers gripping my jacket. I glance down. His eyes are wide, scanning the room, already overwhelmed. I crouch a little, adjusting his helmet.

“You good, bud?” I murmur.

He gives a stiff nod, but I can feel the tension in him. Noah, meanwhile, launches ahead in a flurry of felt wings and tail swishes, immediately drawn toward the craft table.

The community center’s main room is buzzing. Book-themed decorations line the walls, tables are set up with crayons and storybook trivia cards, and soft music plays over the hum ofchatter. Parents and volunteers move through the space, but my eyes are searching for just one person.

Ava’s near the front, talking to a volunteer. Her hair’s in a ponytail, and she’s wearing jeans and a navy shirt with the Open Pages logo. When she turns, her whole face lights up.

She starts toward us, weaving between tables, and when she crouches in front of Liam, her voice is soft and warm. “Whoa. Is that Sir Liam, defender of the book kingdom?”

Liam’s mouth twitches. “I’m a knight,” he whispers, but there’s a hint of pride in it now.

“I can see that,” she says seriously. She adjusts his helmet gently. “You know, we need knights today. The story time dragon is very mischievous.”

That earns a tiny smile. His grip on my jacket loosens.

Then Ava glances up at me, and something shifts behind her eyes. “Hey,” she says. “Perfect timing.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I say, voice low.

Noah bounds back over, thrusting a glittery bookmark in the air. “Look what I made! It says DRAGONS RULE.”

Ava laughs. “They definitely do. But knights keep ‘em in line, right Liam?”

Liam nods, a little more confident now, stepping forward on his own.

Just like that, the tension eases. The boys follow her toward the activity tables, their chatter rising as Ava guides them through the crowd. She moves through the space like she was born to do this. Gentle, capable, magnetic.

I used to think caring about someone else would mean letting Claire go. But maybe it’s just about holding her memory differently.

The next hour is a blur of craft tables, sticker sheets, costume parades, and the kind of laughter that makes everything else fade out.

Ava moves through it all with ease, somehow everywhere at once. She’s helping kids pick out books, crouching next to Noah to admire his glitter-covered tail, and giving Liam a quiet nod when he hesitates near a crowded station.

Now, the crowd’s shifting again, blankets being spread, kids settling near the front.

It’s story time.

Liam’s sitting next to Noah, his plastic sword across his lap, eyes wide as the volunteer reader starts in a theatrical voice.