I woke to the sound of Britney Spears’ voice blasting near my ear. I winced and flinched away from the sound as Ashley groaned loudly, shifting and pressing her face into the side of my neck. Her hand blindly slapped onto her bedside cabinet, looking for something. I smiled, a little confused, then I realised she was reaching for her cell phone. I laughed as I noticed what the Britney song actually was, ‘Womanizer’ was blasting way too loud for this time of the morning. Finally, she found it and pressed it to her ear without moving her face away from my neck. She didn’t bother with any hellos. “This had better be important or I’m gonna kick your ass,” she growled into the phone, her voice thick with sleep. I laughed and wrapped my arms around her tighter, kissing the top of her head as I blinked, trying to get my stinging eyes to adjust to the light in the room. “Heck yeah you woke me up! What time is it anyway?” she asked, then she groaned again. “Josh, I hardly ever ge

I grinned happily, ignoring the comment about my sisters. My mom was going to pitch a fit when I told her. “And if Josh cancels this weekend, then my mom insisted that we bring DJ too,” I said, playing down my mom’s enthusiasm a bit. Ashley recoiled. “Well let’s just hope that Josh doesn’t cancel this time then. I mean, surely your parents are a little apprehensive about you dating a girl with a child. I think it’d be best if they just got used to the idea a little before I throw my four-year-old into their faces.” I smiled, unsure how I could phrase my reply without telling her that my mom was already bragging about her grandson down at the bowls club. “Stripes,my parents don’t mind in the slightest. They want to meet him actually.” Wow, understatement of the century! A nervous smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. “Really?” “Really,” I confirmed. “If Josh cancels then we’ll take him with us. He’d love it there. We could play on the beach, and they have a

“Momma, wake up,” I heard DJ say as he squeezed my hand. Grinning, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in the bed, yanking the duvet over our heads, making him giggle and thrash around as I tickled him. “Morning, Baby.” I yawned as he hugged me back. “I made you breakfast, Momma,” he chirped happily. I smiled. “Yeah? What did you make, pancakes and bacon?” I asked, playing along, holding my hand out for the pretend food. He laughed and pulled the cover off our heads. “No, we made eggs and I mades the toast.” My eyes flicked behind him and I jumped as I saw someone standing in the doorway. My mouth popped open in shock. I’d forgotten that Jace had stayed last night. I wasn’t used to waking up having someone else in the apartment at all. He smiled, probably at my shocked face, and I couldn’t help but smile back. Of their own accord, my eyes wandered down his body. Just the way his jeans hung so dangerously low, showing off all of the muscles to perfection

DJ skipped back into the room, smiling, with his bag on his back. I wiped my face quickly before picking him up and putting on a fake smile so he wouldn’t know anything was wrong. “Momma, why are you crying?” he asked, looking at me worriedly. I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I’m being silly. I’m just gonna miss you, that’s all,” I lied smoothly. He hugged me tightly. “I won’t go then, if you’re sad.” I smiled at how sweet he was, and rubbed his back. “I’m fine, DJ. You have to go because otherwise your daddy will be upset. And Nanna Juliet, she'll be sad too if you don’t go there to see her.” He smiled but still looked a little worried. “Yeah, I know. I’ll bring you back a cake from Nanna Juliet’s,” he said before turning to Josh. “We will be baking cakes at Nanna’s, won’t we, Daddy?” Josh nodded. “Probably, Buddy, she loves to bake cakes with you.” I kissed his cheek and set him down on his feet, avoiding eye contact with Josh so I wouldn’t get angry an

All my girls… Wow, there she goes with the accepting me thing again. I smiled back gratefully. This woman had sucked me right in. I defied any person to have one conversation with Dawn Roger and not fall in love with her. “Thanks, Dawn, that’s sweet.” She smiled. “Now, onto DJ,” she stated, looking at me expectantly. I looked at her uncomfortably, and waited for her to continue and tell me what she wanted to know. “Jace said he’s four?” she questioned. I nodded in response. “And what kind of thing is he into?” “Anything Disney. Or building stuff, Lego, bricks, cars, anything like that. He’s a typical boy in that respect; he likes climbing trees and making a mess. Him and Jace seem pretty well suited,” I joked. Dawn laughed. “He sounds so adorable, just like Jace when he was a kid, always building something with his father. Jace used to like Disney too,” she replied, nodding enthusiastically. “Oh yeah? I bet he liked Peter Pan.” I could just see a yo