Page 65 of Fall With Me
“Last question,” Lucy says, raising a finger in the air. “Have you kissed her?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and repeat what I said before, but this time slower and louder. “Chloe and I areworkingtogether. Yes, I like being around her. No, you won’t get to meet her anytime soon because you have no chill factor.”
Lila, my oldest niece, leans over to Finn. “Bruh, your dad is not being a slay queen and do you know if she’s a baddie or not? Because if she isn’t bad, then I’mma say he shouldn’t.”
“What?” Finn asks, completely confused.
I understand the words coming out of Lila’s mouth, but they don’t belong together. I worry about this rising generation Finn’s in. I mean, a hundred years from now when people look back at our writing, will they comprehend anything these kids say? Slay? Queen? Baddie?
“Does your dad like Chloe?” Lila says in a sentence I understand.
“Yeah.” Finn rolls his eyes. “It’s what I’ve been telling you the entire time. I like her too.”
Thankfully, the kids chatter about other topics, taking me out of the hot seat. I take the opportunity to text Chloe.
Me: Finn blurted to my entire family about finding us on the couch together. He also told them I like you. [embarrassed face emoji] I guess we need to talk to him about us. My plan to keep him out of the loop backfired. Big time.
She immediately responds.
007: D’oh. [wince face emoji] Sorry about taking the heat. Kate guessed after spending two minutes with me. [annoyed face emoji][laughing face emoji] Do you want me there when you talk to Finn? What should you/we say?
Me: Maybe I should google advice about how to tell him. I’m worried how he’ll take it. Or if he’ll get too attached too soon, you know? And I don’t know how much detail to share. [overwhelmed face emoji]
My phone pings with multiple texts coming in.
007: Sending you a bunch of links on how to go about it. Most of them say to tailor the conversation to their age, reassure them the new person is not a replacement, and ask them how they feel about it.
007:How to tell your child(ren) you’re dating again
007:Tips for telling your child you started dating
007:Help! I’m dating again. How do I tell my kids?
Me: Uhh are you bored? You responded incredibly fast. But super helpful. I’ll talk to him first tonight. Maybe you can come over when we get back from my parents’ house and we’ll discuss more with him then?
007: What time? [clock emoji] I’m at my grandparents’ right now, but I’ll be home at 8.
Me: Instead of going home, want to meet me at my place at 8?
007: Always. See you then, B. [blowing kiss emoji]
Me: See you soon, 007.
I’m looking forward to spending time with Chloe, but dread snakes through my veins.Please don’t let Chloe hurt Finn like Willow did.
Chapter 30
Dawson
Picking up the remote, I press the pause button, then settle on the couch next to Finn.
“Hey! I was watching that,” Finn complains, trying to get the controller out of my hands.
I lift it above my head where he can’t reach it. “We need to talk for a minute.”
“About what?” he huffs.
I did a quick read-through of the articles Chloe sent me as soon as Finn and I got home.
