Page 50 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas

“Hey, I know that it’s a little unorthodox, considering we just met, Jeannie, but I was about to take my kids down to the playground since it’s been partially defrosted, so I don’t mind taking this young man along with the girls. That way, you and Remy can do a quick walkaround to get familiar with the place. He can bring you by when you’re ready to pick Max up.”

In any other circumstance, that would have been a hard and immediate no. No way was I going to leave my kid with someone I’d just met. It didn’t matter if they were male, female or anything else, that was too high of a risk. But she was Remy’s sister-in-lawandwas also taking along Addy and Eva, who had both proven to be very vocally protective of my son, so it seemed safe enough to make an exception.

“Max, would you be comfortable with that? Or do you wanna wait until I’m done unpacking?”

“I don’t mind going with Auntie Ana if Eva and Addy are going to. And you’ll catch up with us, right?”

“Yeah, but I might be a bit. Is that okay? Are you comfortable with that idea?” Just because I was all right with her babysittingdidn’t mean my son was. He was in a completely new environment.

“Yeah, it’s all skibidi.”

I blinked at him, but Addy didn’t miss a beat. “You didn’t use that word right.”

“What? Yes, I did!”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Yes, I did!”

“You’re totally negative aura farming right now.”

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Def are.”

“Well, you’ve got skibidi Ohio rizz!”

The three of us adults watched them, and I was reminded a bit of people in church speaking in tongues.

“This is what Valencia meant when she said your girls ‘made talking fun’,” Ana mused, looking somewhere between entertained and a bit concerned.

“I like Valencia,” Eva said with a sort of finality that seemed to work on both Addy and Max. That was a relief because I legitimately couldn’t tell if the two were having an actual argument or just engaging in over-dramatic conflict for funsies. Either seemed equally possible. “Where is she?”

“She’s over at my cabin with her siblings. We can grab her on the way to the playground if you three are good to go?” She glanced at me and Remy, and I appreciated that she was giving the kids the impression that they were being independent and choosing to leave, but was actually checking in that it was okay. I liked that.

I nodded, and Remy did, too. Without much more hubbub, the kids were rushing out the door with Ana.

“I know she’s your sister-in-law, but I’m having a hard time not feeling like an irresponsible mother for letting my son go off with someone I just met.”

Remy sent me a surprised look, like that possibility hadn’t even crossed his mind. “We can go with her if you want. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. But I will tell you that it’s really common for all of us to watch each other’s kids. Kind of like a shared cla—family responsibility. I promise you, as long as Max doesn’t purposefully go gallivanting off into trouble, this is the safest place he could be. And it’s not like your son is the particularly mischievous type.”

“No, not in that way.”

Max loved a good prank, but the emphasis was ongood.He’d do things like get me two cookies instead of the one I asked for, or put on one of my shirts as a dress and my accessories, then haul his play table next to my desk and pretend we were coworkers, or set surprise alarms on my phone, telling me I was beautiful, or loved, or even that it was time to stretch. Really, the worst he’d ever done was hide behind a door to jump out at me, but I’d beensostartled that I’d screamed and fallen on my ass. Max had burst out in tears, thinking he’d hurt me.

“He didn’t seem like the type. But seriously, if you want, we can go right to the playground and do the tour later. Maybe even tomorrow?”

“No, no, it’s okay. We’ll just swing by there at the midpoint?” I asked. “And after?”

Remy chuckled, but he didn’t look at me like I was being paranoid or a helicopter parent. Maybe he was simply being a Southern gentleman, but I liked to think that somehow, despite not actually knowing each other for long, he got me.

“We can swing by whenever you want. I mean it when I say we can push the tour to a later time, Jeannie. Really.”

I nodded, and although I was tempted to go hover, I needed my son to do his own thing. And he was with Addy and Eva. They would never allow anyone to mess with him.