But today Harper had wanted him with her. It was the first time she’d had him on her own. This was all still new. And it was the first time she’d really, truly considered the idea that he could be hers long term. In her mind, he’d been James’s son all along, but she hadn’t really let herself think about how she fit into it beyond the next day or so. Now she had. And she wanted the baby with her. She knew her boss would be okay with it. She had a class and then a long break, then another class, then a break. Isaac was still young enough that he was sleeping a lot, and if she planned feedings and changings just right, he might sleep peacefully to the side of the classroom while she lectured.
The first period had gone perfectly. She just had two more to get through.
But now she had to answer the question about who he was. Celia knew. Her boss knew that she was dating Isaac’s dad—she’d given her department head that much information, at least. She supposed she could tell Sophie the same.
“Kind of,” she said with a smile, turning him so Sophie could see him better. “This is my… boyfriend’s son.” Nope, she just couldn’t use the term fiancé yet.
Sophie looked surprised then frowned. “Oh. You’re dating someone with a baby?”
Harper had recognized early on that one of the things that had drawn her to Sophie was how much she’d seen herself in the girl. Harper had appreciated Sophie’s color-coded planner and that she’d attended office hours nearly every week and had volunteered to tutor other students. Harper had found her intense and interesting and incredibly relatable.
But in spite of her buttoned-up, perfectionistic, clearly ordered personal priorities, Harper was sure Sophie knew people sometimes got pregnant without meaning to, and she knew that people who made babies together didn’t always stay together. She surely knew lots of kids had four parents because of divorce. Or grew up in foster care. Or were adopted. While Sophie clearly avoided all things unpredictable herself, she had to know that life sometimes threw curveballs that people couldn’t dodge.
There was something about making Sophie understand this fact that suddenly seemed important to her.
Because Harper was Sophie. Or had been. And she would have been very judgmental about a favorite professor, a woman who had worked for a doctorate degree and had her eyes set on a department head position and authoring research papers and getting tenure, who suddenly found herself tied to a jazz musician with a baby who had been dumped on his doorstep.
“Yes. I’m dating his dad.” Harper gave Sophie a smile. She shot Celia a look. Her friend was watching with interest. “It’s a little complicated,” she told Sophie.
“I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend,” Sophie said. But then she smiled. “Not that I expect I would have known, I guess. It’s none of my business.”
Harper didn’t share things about her dating life with her students, but she had shared where her love of languages came from and her family history. She’d thought it would make them feel more able to connect with her if they understood her passion for what she taught. So yes, she’d been a little personal with them and had encouraged them think about what the class—what all of their classes—really meant to them and how their chosen major mattered and was influenced by their personal stories. That was how Sophie had ended up in her office sharing about her dedication to her education and how hard she’d worked to get where she was.
“Oh, I don’t mind you knowing,” Harper said. “It’s all kind of new.”
Sophie took a step closer to their table, and Harper turned more fully in her chair.
“He seems really little,” Sophie said. “How old is he?”
“Only a couple of weeks.” If James and Isaac were going to be a part of her life then she needed to get used to telling people about them.
“What’s his name?” Sophie asked.
“Isaac.” Harper felt that same surge of pride and love go through her saying his name.
“Oh.” Sophie gave her a smile. “I like that name.”
“It means ‘God laughed,’” Harper said. “Or, ‘He laughed.’ And that makes me think of words like ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’ and ‘delight.’ Those are all things he makes me feel.” James did, too. She couldn’t avoid that thought.
“Wow.” Sophie nodded. “I should have expected you to know the meaning of a name.”
Celia gave a soft laugh at that.
Harper smiled at them both. “I helped pick it out.”
Sophie smiled again. “I’m glad.”
“You are?” That seemed like a strange thing to say.
“That means you’re really involved, right? That’s great. You’ll be a great mom.”
The compliment shocked Harper. No one had ever said that to her before. People rarely asked her about having kids since she wasn’t married. Her parents didn’t even ask. She supposed they just assumed it would come up when it was time. But she hadn’t been around kids much in her life, so she’d never had anyone comment one way or another about how she’d be with one. “You think so?”
“Of course. You’re so patient,” Sophie said. “And, of course, a great teacher.” She smiled. “But you’re also so smart and clearly driven and goal oriented. Those are important things to pass on to a kid. And you have a steady job and a family you care about a lot who are really supportive and all of that.” Sophie shrugged. “Seems like you’re in a great place to be a mom now.”
Harper looked at Celia again. Celia nodded with a smile.
Harper thought about all of that. It was all true. She was stable in her job. She wanted more out of her career, but her goals were things that would take years, and that could be accomplished while having a family. Many women had done that before her. She did have a supportive, loving family. They were far away, but she could imagine that her parents would fall in love with Isaac right away and would be emotionally supportive even from a distance. And her propensity for organization and planning would only be an asset when it came to being a working mom. She’d have to be organized to handle work and soccer practice and sleepovers. But she and Isaac could sit at the table at night and work together—him on his homework, her on grading her students’ homework.
And it didn’t surprise her at all that the table which came to mind when she pictured that was James’s.
“Thank you, Sophie,” she said sincerely. “That is really nice of you to say. I didn’t realize that I needed that little confidence boost.”
Sophie smiled. “I can’t imagine you ever feel less than fully capable.”
“Oh, I do.” Harper laughed. “I definitely do. But—” She looked down at Isaac’s head and ran a hand over his hair. “I think when you do something that you really care about, then your love for it helps make up for the nerves about doing it.”
Sophie nodded. “I like that.”
Harper smiled. It was good for young women to see women a bit older, women they admired, dealing with real life, and she was thrilled to be able to do that for Sophie. Harper did know that Sophie was from South Dakota so was far from home and any positive female role models or support she might have there. If there were any.