Pal-entine's for Single Parents

"So what you're saying is you want to be Facebook Friends Official," I grinned at her.

"Shut up," she laughed, slapping my arm.

"I have entered the Inner Livvy Circle."

"You're making me regret this decision already," she smirked.

"How many times did you go through that little speech in your mind?" I asked. "Or did you practise it in front of the mirror?"

"Shut up, you asshole," she laughed. "I didnot practise in front of the mirror.Maybe I over-thought it a lot."

"I like being your friend too, Livvy," I said, looking over at her and winking.

"Thanks," she said.

- - - - -

The pirate phase was unfortunately short-lived, which meant that as Olivia and I followed May and June from house to house we were trailing behind a couple of Ghostbusters. The good news was that the jumpsuits fit over the girls' coats because it was gettingcold already.

"I still can't believe you had them watch that movie," Olivia said as we stopped at the next house on the block and the girls scrambled up the driveway towards the lit jack-o'-lanterns and goofy cobwebs at the front door.

"What's wrong with Ghostbusters?" I asked. "It's a classic, and they loved it." The girls had had a half-day at school, something I never remembered having from my own time in elementary school, and I'd offered to take May for the afternoon since Olivia had mentioned she'd been working on a big project for one of her clients. We'd watched Ghostbusters after making a blanket fort, and then the girls had spent the rest of the afternoon trying to write their own story about being Girl Ghostbusters until Olivia had brought over dinner.

"Other than the Keymaster-Gatekeeper stuff?" Olivia smirked at me. "Or the fact that my daughter, on multiple occasions, has busted out the 'It's true, this man has no dick,' line?"

I snorted and couldn't stop from coughing as I tried to suppress my laugh. "OK, maybe I should have waited another year," I admitted.

The man who had opened the door and was doling out candy seemed thrilled by the girls' costumes - something he recognized for once! - and Olivia and I both waved to him as the girls called their thank-you's and rushed back down the driveway and rounded the corner onto the sidewalk, headed for the next house.

"God, they're cute though," Olivia sighed, watching them go.

"You can pick the next movie," I offered.

Olivia thought about it for a moment, thinking it over. "Are they too young for George of the Jungle?"

"The old Brendan Frasier one?" I asked.

"Yeah, that one."

"They're probably the perfect age," I chuckled. "But do you really want them doing the 'Awawwwaaa' yell all the time?"

"Daddy," June asked while giggling, turning before heading up the next driveway. "What was that?"

"That was my Jungle Call, baby," I said. "Wanna hear it again?"

"Yes," June giggled, and May was right beside her smiling and nodding.

"Oh, God," Olivia said.

I sucked in a breath, held it as I gave the girls a silly look, then let it out in a bellow that echoed down the street while I beat my chest. "AaaaaAAAaaaAAaaAAaaAAaaAAaaaaaaah!"

The girls broke into giggles and Olivia was facepalming as she laughed as well. And then, from somewhere far down the street that was dotted with other sets of kids scurrying from house to house, someone returned the call.That got me laughing as well.

"Careful," Olivia said after urging the girls up the driveway for their next trick-or-treat. "Someone might think that's your mating call, and I don't know if you want to meet the guy who responds to it."

I grinned and shook my head. I would need to see if I could find a copy of that movie. "So I got a new update from Rebecca about Francine," I changed the topic.

"Uh oh," Olivia said." Don't tell me - let me guess. She... threw a fit because she wasn't allowed to be a chaperone for the high school dance?"

"Worse," I smirked.

"She killed a guy?"

"Little less than that," I chuckled.

"Alright, I'm stumped," she said. "Somewhere between a public fit and a murder."

"She tried to stage a protest in the middle of the high school PTA meeting because the Senior Trip out to New York in the spring got tickets to see the Book of Mormon on Broadway," I kept chuckling. "She thinks it's, quote, 'Sacrilegious to expose our kids to a weird cult.'"

"Wait, isn't her oldest kid a sophomore?" Olivia asked.

"Exactly," I said. "She got so mad when Rebecca started laughing at her from the PTA board seating that she turned red and started screaming obscenities. Apparently, she can swear like a sailor when she wants to. She got kicked out and isn't allowed back until the new year."

"Jesus," Olivia laughed. "I would have paid good money to see that. Please tell me there's a video."

"A couple of people tried, but no good shots," I said. "And if there was, I would feel bad for her kids. Can you imaginethat going around the school?"

"Good point," Olivia grinned and shook her head. "You know that means she's going to double down on the whole PTA thing at the girls' school."

"Rebecca already called Principal Jackie to give her the heads up."

"Fuck," Olivia muttered, lowering her voice to drop the F-bomb as we waved to the little old lady who was handing candy to the girls at the next house. "Your sister might actually be my hero."

"I think she'll appreciate that," I said. "And you can tell her yourself. They live two doors down from here." Olivia's smile always brightened my day, but her joy at hearing she'd meet my sister was that little extra heart-warming.

- - - - -

November

AaaaaAAAAaaaAAaAaAAaaaAaaaaa!

I snorted and chuckled as my phone rang, playing the George of the Jungle yell. Over in the playroom, Juneimmediately called out, "Look out for that tree!"

Picking up my cell, I thumbed it open. "Hey Livvy," I said. "What's up? Need help installing a new TV?"

"Adrian, can you do me a huge favour and take May for me today?" Olivia asked, and I could immediately tell that something was wrong.

"Absolutely," I said, standing up from my desk. We hadn't seen each other since the previous weekend - Thanksgiving had been the day before, and family stuff had dominated the week for both of us. I'd assumed she'd bought something in a Black Friday deal or wanted to set up a time for the girls to play on the weekend. Now I felt bad for making a joke. "What else do you need?"

"I- She might need to sleep over," Olivia said, her voice cracking with emotion just a little. "My Mom just called, something is going on with my Dad and they are rushing to the hospital in an ambulance. I need to drive out to the city but I don't want to freak May out."

"OK," I said. "I'll be over to your place in ten minutes to pick up May. Just have a bag with her PJs and stuff, I've got everything else."

"Thank you," she said. "I just-"

"It's OK," I assured her. "Take a breath or two, then go get her ready."

"Thanks," she said.

I tried not to let my own mild anxiety for her show as I scooped up June from the playroom, got her bundled up in her coat and winter gear, and trudged out to the car. Winter wasn'tquite in full effect yet - when I was a kid it was maybe a fifty per cent chance of a snowy Thanksgiving, but these days it was more like thirty from what I heard - but it was still cold and we'd seen a few dustings of snow. Thankfully the car didn't need scraping, and I got June buckled into her booster seat and headed a neighbourhood over to Olivia's.

June, much to her dismay, stayed in the car with the window down once we were in the driveway while I headed up to the door and knocked.

I could hear activity behind the door and then it opened, Olivia grimace-smiling as May yammered away while getting her own winter gear on.

"Keys," I said. "I'll get her booster seat."

Olivia grabbed her keys from a bowl near the door and unlocked her SUV, and I went and got the booster out of Olivia's car and started putting it into mine. We'd traded off driving to the girls' gymnastics enough now that I knew how to get it secured quickly, and I was just getting it finished when May scampered down the driveway with a stuffed backpack on her back.

"Well hello there, little traveller," I said. "Are you ready to come on an adventure?"

"We're not going on an adventure, we're going to your house," May said, giving me a silly 'stern' face.

"That's what you think," I said. "I was pretty sure we were going on safari, though. Deep into the wilds to hunt for lions, and tigers, and bears!"

"Daddy, that's from the Wizard of Oz," June laughed from her seat.

"Yeah, with the flying monkeys and the red slippers," May said.

I tutted and shook my head. "You two are getting too cultured. We need to stop watching good movies."

"Nooo," both girls disagreed, and I snorted and moved aside to let May climb into the car and start buckling herself in.

Olivia came out of the house, still with that same expression of trying to hide her worry. I moved further aside and let her lean in, saying hello to June and then kissing her daughter on the cheek and telling her to be good before standing back up and shutting the door.

"Thank you for this," she said. "I know it's last minute, I just-"

"Hey," I said, taking one of her hands to interrupt her. "Anything you need, OK? I'm here for you and May. Emergencies are emergencies, and I'd take May whenever you need even if it wasn't one."

She took a deep breath and then nodded, and then she let me pull her into a bear hug and she hugged me back tightly.

"Everything will be OK, Livvy," I tried to soothe her. "Don't panic. Drive carefully. If it's bad enough that you need me to bring May out to you, don't hesitate to ask. I've got you."

"Thanks, Adrian," she said into my chest, squeezing me a little tighter.

I rubbed her back softly for a moment and then we let go and she stepped back. She took a breath and wiped under her eyes with a couple of fingers and then nodded with her lips pressed together. I nodded back, hoping she believed me that I'd do anything I could to help her out with this, and she went to grab her stuff from the house and lock up while I got into the car and tried to turn on my 'Fun Dad' persona again instead of worrying for her or thinking about how it could have been my own father that was having a medical emergency.

- - - - -

"Here, come on," I said as I opened the front door. It was dark out - I hadn't looked at the clock when she texted, but it was definitely after midnight. Olivia looked exhausted, physically and emotionally. She let me usher her into my house and I shut the door softly then pulled her into a hug.

"He's OK," she said quietly as she hugged me. "It was a heart attack, but he never went unconscious or anything. He's going to go into surgery tomorrow."

"I'm so sorry, Livvy," I said softly as I rubbed her back.

"It just doesn't feel like it makes sense," she murmured. "He's relatively fit, no major health problems before..."

"Sometimes it sneaks up," I sighed.

"How is May? Was she worried?"

"May was as perfect as usual," I said. "Come on, come see." I led her deeper into the house to the living room, where the largest blanket and pillow fort we'd ever built was erected. I'd set up an air mattress as its base and the girls were snuggled up in their PJs as they slept peacefully. There was still some popcorn in the bowl next to my daughter, and May had one arm wrapped around her. "We had burgers for dinner and they helped me smash the patties, and we had a movie night. Tonight was Muppet Night, so we watched Treasure Island and Muppets in Space. I figured we should save Christmas Carol for December."

Olivia sighed looking at the girls where they were passed out and leaned into me. "Thank you again," she whispered.

"Anytime you need," I said. "Come on. Did you eat dinner?"

"I ate with my Mom," she said. "I just need to get us home and get some sleep, I'll need to head back tomorrow."

"Not a chance," I said. "You're not driving even a few more blocks when you look like this. Come on, come here." I pulled her over to the couch and got her sitting down, moving the footrest around so she could lay back, and grabbed one of the few blankets that hadn't made it into the fort structure.

"Tucking me in?" Olivia asked with a tired smirk.

"Are you kidding?" I chuckled, sitting down next to her and putting my feet up as well before spreading the blanket over the two of us. "You think I'm going to miss out on a classic sleepover event like this?"

Olivia snorted softly but let her eyes close. "Just get the light, Adrian," she said. I reached and flicked it off, the room delving into darkness, and when I settled back down she looped her arm through mine and leaned into me until her cheek was pressed to my shoulder. "You know, that first time we met Iwas worried about you trying to sleep with me. I wasn't exactly expecting the attempt to be so wholesome."

"Well, I wasn't expecting your elbows to be so nobby when I finally got you under the covers," I whispered with a little grin.

She scoffed and then chuckled, then elbowed me gently. "Like that?'

"I'll make breakfast tomorrow morning," I changed the subject. "And I'll keep the girls entertained until you can head home and get cleaned up and bring a change of clothes back for May. I'm sure your Dad would like to see her once he's out of surgery."

"Thanks," Olivia sighed. "You're a good man, Adrian."

"You say that now, but you haven't seen the big fake tattoo sleeve both of the girls have on," I said. "June got mermaids and May got a dragon."

Olivia groaned and chuckled at the same time, causing her to wiggle against me lightly and reminding me that I really was under the covers with a woman I cared for and found attractive. I quickly squashed that, knowing we were just friends.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

"I mean, she looks pretty badass," I grinned. "And they wear off in about a week, but you can take them off earlier with a little olive oil. That would be denying the girls the chance to show their classmates and get all the parents annoyed at us though."

"Fuck, Adrian," Olivia sighed. "You say the sweetest things."

I leaned my head over and kissed her on top of her head, and in response she hugged my arm a little tighter, and we just enjoyed being next to each other.

- - - - -

December

"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Robin laid an egg," June and I sang. "The Batmobile lost a wheel and the Joker ran away, hey!"

"OK, jokers," Olivia said, shaking her head as she opened the front door wider. "Come on in. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," I said, and June echoed me joyfully as she stepped inside, hugged May and immediately started shucking her coat and boots. "Juney, we're not- Aaand they're gone."

Olivia was laughing as the kids disappeared into the next room.

"Sorry for the impromptu drop-by," I said. "June really wanted to do her gift exchangeon Christmas."

"Oh, it's fine," Olivia said. "Thanks for coming over to my parents' place to do it, we stayed the night last night."

"No problem at all," I said. Then I grinned and shook my head. "Merry Christmas, by the way."

"Merry Christmas," she replied, and we hugged. Ever since the emergency on Black Friday, we'd become huggers - not constantly, or all the time, but when appropriate. It was like, knowing there was safety between us, the touch barrier had lessened and it just felt good to have that sort of contact sometimes. I was still trying not to dwell on the feeling of her more womanly features when we hugged - that soft pressure of certainassets was a temptation I didn't need.

"Daddy, I need the present!" June called from the next room, and I gave Olivia a chagrined smile as I kicked off my own snow boots and followed her into the living room.

The house was warmly decorated, maybe almost a little too much, for Christmas and immediately felt homey and familiar with thefeel of it even if I'd never been there before. The girls were on the floor in between the couches surrounded by what I presumed were the various presents May had received earlier that morning. I handed June the present I was carrying, and she took it with a big, toothy grin and then sat back down with May and handed it over. "Merry Christmas!"

"Thank you," May accepted the gift, then set it down beside her and scurried on her knees to the tree, pulling out a similar-sized gift that was still wrapped and going back to June. "Merry Christmas!"

The girls started unwrapping their gifts and I glanced over at Olivia, who glanced back and we smiled at each other. The moment was disrupted, however, as a woman came into the room from what looked like the kitchen. She was brunette with thick, wavy hair and a dusky complexion that I immediately realised must have been where Olivia and May got their complexion, but beyond their colouration and shared thick hair, they didn't look very similar. I also couldn'tnot notice that Olivia's mom was also fit for a woman who must have been in her late fifties at least with the fairly tight sweater and jeans she was wearing - she looked better than a lot of the mothers of June's classmates.

"This must be the infamous Adrian," she said as she came in with a warm smile, holding her arms out as she approached me. She spoke with a slight accent, something European, but I couldn't quite place it and it was faint enough that I knew she must have naturalised well before she'd had Olivia when she was younger. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," I replied, accepting her offer of a light hug. "I don't know about infamous though."

"Don't be so modest," she said, patting my arm. "Olivia and May both talk about you all the time. And thank you so much for your help watching my granddaughter when Sota needed his operation. I'm Carmen, by the way."

"Always happy to help out," I said.

Carmen turned to the girls and started talking with them excitedly as they were both unfolding their gifts. Olivia caught my eye and mouthed, 'Sorry,' over to me, obviously a little embarrassed by her mother overdoing it just a little. I mouthed back, 'It's OK,' and gave her a wink.

"Look Mom, I can be a dinosaur!" May exclaimed, holding up her gift with big, excited eyes.

"Daddy, May got me a dragon one!" June was saying at almost the same time.

I broke into a grin and we spent a few minutes exclaiming in 'surprise' at the almost-matching gifts. Olivia and I had worked together to figure out how to get the girls something comparable, and that they'd both love. We'd ended up going for kid-sized onesies with hoods and add-ons that made them look like animals. Olivia assured me that the 'Kigurumi' were super popular now, and I couldn't fight the fact that the girls would look cute as hell in them, so we'd both introduced the idea to the girls separately and let them pick out which one to buy for their friend.

"We need pictures," Carmen said and went looking for her phone. I also heard her calling up to the second floor, but my hands were full with helping June into hers as Olivia helped May. Soon we had two little terrors making roaring sounds as they ran around the couches chasing each other with their hands in fierce little claws in between their giggles.

I snatched June on her way by me, lifting her up and spinning her around before tucking her under one arm like I was carrying her like a football, her feet dangling behind as she laughed and squirmed. She was just about too big for me to do that anymore, which was a bittersweet thing.

"Alright, you two," I said. "I think you two fearsome beasts should have some ground rules about your gifts."

"Awwww," June immediately said.