“Mom! Wake up. I need to potty.”

Pam lifted her head and looked into Scarlet’s eyes. She was standing there doing a little dance and had a concerned look written on her face. Pam rubbed her eyes and then noticed that she was sprawled out on the couch, lying on Jim. He was still sleeping with his hands on her back. Pam moved slowly as to not wake him.

“Mommy! Come on. I need help!”

Jim jumped and sat up at the sound of Scarlet’s squeal. Pam was still trying to move herself off of him when he jerked up and they bumped heads. As they let out a laugh and started rubbing their heads, Scarlet had taken off towards the bathroom.

“I’ll be right back. Nature calls,” Pam said as she regained her balance and followed after Scarlet.

Jim sat up and rubbed his eyes. He felt a little wet spot on his shirt and wondered if it was her tear stains or drool. He decided he should ask her when she came back into the room.

“Good morning Jim!” Scarlet said as she skipped back into the room.

“Good morning Scarlet,” Jim mocked with a smile.

“Did you stay the night?” Scarlet asked as she grabbed Lindie.

“Umm..”

Pam entered at the right time to reply. “We had a slumber party.”

“You did? I haven’t been to a… slumber party before,” Scarlet said stumbling over the words.

“We’ll have to throw you one,” Jim said as he tugged on her sleeve.

“Thanks Jim. Do you really think I can handle a bunch of little girls running around here for a whole night? I can barely handle her by myself,” Pam said as she set the table with plates and forks.

Jim stood up and walked into the kitchen. “I could always help.”

“Sure. You would be bald by the time the sun rose.”

“It’s inevitable. I will be bald in ten years anyways. Why not get it over with?”

“Oh, don’t say that. I love your hair.”

Jim dodged his eyes from his feet to Pam’s face. Pam was doing the same thing.

“So, what’s for breakfast?” Jim asked.

“I don’t know. I was going to see what everyone wanted.”

“I can make some killer pancakes.”

“Oh, I think that will do.”

Jim smiled and looked down to find Scarlet standing at his side.

“Would you like to help me make pancakes Scarlet?”

“Pancakes….I think I like those. Mom, do I like pancakes?”

“Yes, you do baby.”

“Well, if you do, then you will love mine. I put a secret ingredient in them.”

“What?” Scarlet asked.

“Well, if it’s a secret, I can’t tell you.”

Jim walked over to the counter where Pam was pulling out the mix and the pans for the pancakes.

“What’s your special ingredient?” Pam whispered.

“It’s a secret, Pam,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, Mom. He won’t tell us,” Scarlet said as she pushed a step stool up to the counter.

-----

Pam sat at the table reading the paper as Jim and Scarlet mixed the pancakes. She would glance up every few minutes to see Scarlet sitting on the counter with her hands in the batter. Jim poured the mix into the hot pan where it made a sizzling noise. Scarlet would tease him and then they would both burst out in laughter. Scarlet had the powder mix on her nose and cheeks. Pam noticed that Jim had patted some on his own cheeks too and then let Scarlet put some on his nose. Pam’s thoughts reveled with him being in their lives. He was such a great father figure.

“Time for the secret ingredient!” Jim announced. “You can’t tell anyone, Scarlet.”

He poured a cup of chocolate chips into the batter and Scarlet made an excited noise. Jim laughed and then handed her some chocolate chips. She sat quietly eating the chocolate as Jim finished up the cooking. He lifted Scarlet off the counter and brought the pancakes to the table.

“Bon Appetite!”

Pam folded up the paper and the helped Scarlet into her booster seat.

“Wow! You and Jim did such a great job!”

“The secret ingredient is chocolate chips, Mom,” Scarlet said as she put another piece into her mouth.

“Scarlet, it’s a secret!”

“Oops!”

“I think I could have figured it out when I ate them. It’s okay. But, we need to wipe some of that secret ingredient off your face and hands,” Pam said as she wiped Scarlet down.

Jim sat and dished out pancakes onto the girl’s plates. Pam sat back up and held out the napkin. Jim looked up at her.

“Do I need to wipe you down too?” Pam said with a grin.

Jim leaned in and she patted his cheeks and nose to get the dry powder off. He smiled and went back to cutting Scarlet’s pancake into bites.

“This is very yummy you guys,” said Pam.

“Thank you. Scarlet did everything,” Jim joked.

----

After breakfast and a quick clean up, Pam ushered Scarlet to the bathtub. Jim lingered for a moment and knocked on the bathroom door to let Pam know he was stepping out.

“Hey, I think I’m going to go on home. Thanks for everything.”

“Wait! Just one second Jim.”

“Okay. I’ll be in the living room,” Jim said as he walked towards the couch where he slept last night.

“You better not leave!”

“I won’t, I promise.”

A few moments later, Pam carried a clean Scarlet out of the bathroom. Pam put Scarlet down next to Jim and pulled out the brush and started pulling Scarlet’s hair through the bristles. Jim laughed at Scarlet’s faces when Pam would catch a tangle.

“So, I have to take her to pre-k in about an hour. Would you want to stay around until then? Maybe we can get a decent adult conversation in afterwards,” Pam asked.

“That sounds great, but at some point I might need to put some clean clothes on and brush my teeth Pam.”

“That’s true. Well, how about you go get cleaned up and meet me at Cugino’s at noon?”

“Great.”

“Okay, that’s great. Scarlet, tell Jim bye.”

“Bye Jim,” Scarlet said as she stood on the couch to hug him.

Jim hesitated, not knowing what she wanted, then leaned over and hugged the tiny little girl.

“Bye Scarlet. Thanks for cooking with me today.”

Pam smiled. “See you soon, Jim.”

----

Sitting in Cugino’s waiting for Pam, Jim bounced his leg up and down. She walked in, looking refreshed and happy. He waved to her and stood to greet her. She gave him a hug and then sat down.

“Hey. I haven’t seen you in what? Almost an hour?”

Jim laughed and picked up his menu. “I know you can’t resist me.”

“Listen, I wanted to explain how embarrassed I was when I freaked out on you last night. I just broke down I guess.”

“Hey, don’t worry about that. I would too if I was a single mother.”

They both gave a chuckle.

“I’m glad that you aren’t a single mother.”

“Me too.”

“So, I just wanted to clear that up. I didn’t mean to. So, sorry for freaking you out.”

“I wasn’t freaked out. I was just concerned.”

“You know you are very good at comforting people. I don’t think I have slept that well in a long time.”

“Oh, really. I didn’t do anything.”

“I have to say that I love Scarlet. She is the cutest kid I know.”

“She seems to think the same about you. After you left, you were all she talked about.”

“Really?” Jim said with a smile.

“She asked when you were coming over again.”

“When am I coming over again?”

----

After lunch, they lingered by Pam’s car still chatting.

“So, are you not working anywhere?”

“I can’t with Scarlet. I would really like to be there for her since her father isn’t. So, I don’t have a job at the moment, but whenever she is older and the inheritance checks aren’t enough anymore, then I think I will have to find one.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I think I want to go back to the gallery here in town. I worked there before I had Scarlet. I would like to work just a few hours a day when she is in school full time. It would be great to get out of the house every now and then.”

“I see.”

“So, I need to run and get her. She will probably have some stories to tell when she gets home.”

“Yeah, well I guess I’ll see you around,” Jim said as he took a few steps back to leave.

“Hey, do you want to come over again tonight?”

“I don’t know. What’s going on?”

“I think the usual. Making dinner, bath time, cleaning up, putting her to bed…all that stuff.”

“Are you sure you want company another night?”

“I always want company Jim.”

He laughed at Pam’s expression. “Okay, I’ll definitely be there Bees….I mean, Pam.”

She smiled and then turned to unlock her car. “Beesly is fine.”

He nodded and winked. “Bye Beesly.”