“Are you hung up on the fact that James is young?” Celia asked, sipping again.
“He is young,” Harper said.
“He’s not young,” Celia disagreed. “He’s younger than you. But it’s not like he’s barely legal.”
“He’s…” Harper trailed off.
“He’s what?”
Young. She’d been about to say young. But it wasn’t true. She sighed and looked at her friend. “He used to seem young. I wanted him to be too young. I thought he was this party guy who just went out all the time and loved to joke around and didn’t take things seriously. But he’s none of that.” Which meant all her excuses to not fall for him were gone.
Probably a good thing. Since she’d fallen for him about three months ago.
“He does hang out at the jazz club a lot,” Celia said.
“He plays there,” Harper said. “I think just because he really loves it. I’m guessing it’s the people as much as the music. There are probably guys there who he buys meals for or waitresses he overtips to help them out with their bills or something.”
“I was trying to be helpful,” Celia said with a little laugh. “But yeah, he’s a great guy. So for the record, I’m on Team James.”
“Team James?” Harper said. “Who’s the other team?”
“Team Stay Single and Celibate,” Celia said with a grin. “I guess I could call James’s team Team Orgasm Central or Team Happily Ever After.”
Harper shook her head. “Those seem like two kind of different things.”
Celia gave her a look that said she knew Harper knew better. “But they’re really not, are they? They’re the perfect combination.”
Harper stirred her now cold tea. Finally, she nodded. “Yeah, they are.”
“Is he the forever type?” Celia asked. “I mean, that’s really the question. Can all of this stuff… the stuff you’ve fallen for and talked about a lot over the past six months… last? Is this the real him, or do you think it will change?”
Harper knew the answer immediately. “It will last. It’s the real him.” She sighed. “But this is about Isaac. And the idea of losing him. He’s thinking this will make it easier to keep him.”
“It probably will.”
Harper nodded. “He wouldn’t have proposed without the baby in the picture.”
Celia shifted forward in her chair to rest her forearms on the tabletop. “Well, so what? It’s not like you’re a total stranger. It’s not like you don’t already like each other. You have chemistry. The baby has fast-forwarded things. So what? 'Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.'”
Harper rolled her eyes. As a planner, she’d always hated that quote. “You think it’s okay to get married because of the baby?”
“I think there are worse reasons to get married.”
Harper sighed. “I’m not sure you’re being helpful.”
Celia laughed. “It’s incredibly helpful to tell you to relax and to follow your heart.”
“Unless it ends up getting broken.”
Celia reached out and grabbed her hand. “Honey. Look at that baby.”
Harper looked down at Isaac.
“How is that baby going to break your heart?”
Harper shook her head. “Not him. James. I’ve never felt this way about a guy before,” she told Celia. “I’ve never been in love before.”
Celia rewarded her with a bright smile. “Well, I have a feeling being in love with a hot, charming, funny firefighter and jazz musician, who’s a softie for dogs and babies and who knows how to find your G-spot in point three seconds is going to be really, really easy.”
In spite of the butterflies swooping in her stomach, Harper nodded. “You have a point.” Too easy really.
Celia gave her a sly smile and leaned in farther. “So he did find your G-spot in point three seconds?”
Harper couldn’t have hidden her satisfied grin if she’d tried. Which she didn’t. “Point two seconds.”
Celia sat back with a sigh. “Oh my God, that’s awesome.”
“It really was,” Harper agreed. “I’m starting to understand why new parents don’t have a lot of sex, though.” She shot the baby an affectionate look. “It’s been a whirlwind, and I don’t think we’ve slept more than about five hours at a time.”
“Then it’s extra good that James can find that spot so quickly. No need to waste time looking around.”
Harper couldn’t disagree. They both laughed and sipped their nearly cold beverages, and Celia turned the conversation to wedding venues.
But Harper couldn’t ignore the little niggle in the back of her mind. She was falling in love with James. But he was in love with the idea of… them. But them as a group. Making this work. Making this family happen. For Isaac.
She loved Isaac, too. Yes, being a family with him, for him, was great. But she would love James without the baby in the picture. Was that true of how James felt about her? Had he even thought about that?
That question was easy to answer.
No.
He hadn’t really thought about how he was feeling, or why. James just rolled with things as they came. He charged through doors in buildings that were, literally, on fire, not knowing what was on the other side. He came home to a door that often had surprises outside of it. Surprises that never made him even blink. Not really. No matter how he tried to pretend when he knocked on her door. He was fine with spontaneity and surprises and adventure.
This might just be another surprise that he was dealing with as things came. Like Henry outgrowing his first tank and Ami needing major bathing after he’d gotten off the leash and rolled around in a pile of trash. James grinned through it all and just dealt with it.
A baby showed up on his doorstep? James took him in. The baby has an explosive poopy diaper? James jumped in the shower. The baby needs a mom? James marries the woman who's already coming into the apartment to feed the lizard and dog. Pretty efficient, really.
Harper fought the urge to laugh hysterically. Suddenly she leaned in and unstrapped Isaac, lifting him out of the stroller and cuddling him to her shoulder, rubbing his back. He nuzzled in against her neck in a way that was becoming very familiar and felt completely natural.
“Professor Broussard?”
Harper looked over her shoulder. The one not occupied by a baby who needed help holding his head up but who was checking the world out from his perch.
“Sophie. Hi.” She gave one of her favorite students a smile. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Sophie was staring at Isaac. “You, um, have a baby?”
Harper had known bringing Isaac to campus today would be cause for some questions. But she hadn’t wanted to leave him with Bea today, after all. The other woman was available, and Harper had been in her car with him on her way over there, but with every passing block she’d been less and less okay with the idea. He’d been with Bea the other night, and everything had been fine. Harper and James were both going to continue working, so they’d have to figure out a plan with care for Isaac during their work hours.