As expected, the four-year-old caught on to the second language much quicker than Leah had. Her eyes shone with pride. Marigold may have had more Stone features, but she had Ben’s fast learning skills. While Evan went through the motions of the first French lesson, Leah lost herself in her thoughts, unable to keep from imagining Ben in Evan’s place, but instead of speaking French, he was reciting a Dr. Seuss story. She blinked back to the present when Evan’s lesson was over and Marigold began repeating her new nickname. What was your first English word? Another thing Leah would never know.
“Good luck trying to find past me. These days, she’s about as hard to find as Waldo.” She couldn’t express how good it was to be able to say that now. The old, closed-off version of her was buried deep and she hoped it stayed that way. Simultaneously, a smirk and a frown crossed her face when he mentioned the facial quirk that used to annoy him. “We have. Nothing we couldn’t handle, though. Except for the Wakers. Those bast— uh, beasts are a pain in the butt.”
“Oh, now you’ve done it,” Leah said, watching Marigold’s face light up when Evan said he could make her a pair of glass slippers just like Cinderella. “You’ve made yourself her favorite person. Better watch out, she’ll be begging you for piggyback rides next.”
Leah nodded when Evan told her not to worry. She forced one side of her mouth into a smile. “Momentary lapse into Worrydom. I’m chasing it away right now. Promise.” It was a vacation, after all. Not like they’d abandoned Sing Sing for good.
“Can’t argue with that.” It was Leah’s turn to laugh. This was an absurd conversation. The sunlight was too hot on her face for her to tell if she was blushing, but she dropped her gaze to her knees for a moment, a tad bit embarrassed by the subject matter.
Catching the hesitance in Evan’s offer, Leah lifted her eyes again. The mom part of her wanted to say no, she didn’t want to pawn off babysitting duties on two people who were also on vacation, but the girlfriend part of her wanted that intimate time alone. After some thought, she shrugged her shoulders and raised her lips into a small smile. “Alone time would be nice, but I wouldn’t feel right interrupting someone else’s relaxation time for babysitting duty.” She bit her lip, conflicted. “Do you think they’d mind?”