Page 117 of Forbidden Kisses

Jeremy didn’t feel better Tuesday either. I told his nanny not to come by. I was going to spend every day with him until he got better.

"Okay, buddy. I think that's it for breakfast." He’d only had toast.

"Dad, can I have a pancake?" he asked.

I looked at him. "If you don't get sick for another few hours, then I'll consider it. How about that?"

"Okay,” he said. Then he put his hands under his chin, his elbows on the counter, as he looked up at me. "Dad, do you think I can see Riley today?"

I shook my head. "No, buddy. She's got a lot on her plate this week, but we'll talk to her on the weekend."

"I really, really like Riley."

I smiled. "So do I."

He straightened up. "Really? But then it's perfect. I like her, and you like her, and I know she likes both of us because I asked her, so that means she can be my mom. Don't you think so? My actual mom, not my Dublin mom." He said that as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Riley and I had planned to talk to him about our relationship when we were together, but the timing felt right now. He’d given me an in.

“Jeremy, let's go sit on the couch and talk a bit.”

"Am I in trouble?" he asked me timidly.

I realized that I only used that when I wanted to chastise him. “No, not at all. There are just some things I've been meaning to talk to you about for a while and never found the right moment.”

As we sat down on the couch, I looked for signs that he was about to get ill again. But he seemed in top shape so far. He'd even gotten some color back in his cheeks.

“So, as you know, Riley and I have gotten very close. We’re dating.”

Jeremy stood up on the couch abruptly so he was towering over me. Then he came right up to me, holding my head and laughing. "Yes, yes, Daddy, yes. I told Grandma that I wished you would find a nice lady like Uncle Chase, and you did. Riley is the best."

“I agree.”

"Then she can be my mom," he said. “When can she move in with us?”

"One thing at a time!" I patted the spot on the couch next to me.

He sat down, looking at me. "She will move in with us, right?"

"I’ll ask her."

"Can I do it?"

I laughed, but an idea was starting to form in my head. Now that I was talking to Jeremy, my neurons lit up out of the coma they'd been in.

Fuck!Griffin was right. I’d been harsh on the phone.

"Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?"

"What?" I opened my mouth and closed it again.

"Dad, you have to do it. That's what they say at school."

"Right," I said, trying to sound like I was on the same page with him. I didn't like for my son to see me discombobulated. He needed to know that I was in control of the situation and could take care of him. "She is my girlfriend," I assured him.

"Since when?"

"Why does it matter?" I asked.